I'd keep it. Love wainscoting. There are some neat ways to add interest to wainscoting too. And you can paint the chair rail, say, white, and the lower half a shade or two darker than the walls aboveâ¦lots of options. Add trim to create panels; I saw something once where a textured wall paper was pasted onto wainscoting, then paintedâ¦

Wainscotting ideas: http://www.remodelaholic.com/2013/08/25-wainscoting-ideas/

Here is a link that might be useful: wallpapering wainscoting

Tibbrix, what a lovely idea!

holly-kay,

Neat, huh? Remembered it the second I read diygirl's post.

I decided to keep mine and painted it, because if I were to remove it, there would have been a ridge where the upper walls had been painted multiple times and the drywall under the wainscoting had not. It would have required new drywall to eliminate that ridge. Just recently I updated my wainscoting, by trimming it out with a new cap and baseboard. It looks great! Now I'm really glad I kept it.

I cannot tell from your photo if your wainscoting has panels or if it is flat. If it is flat, I really like craftsman style wainscoting for an updated look.

I'm normally a wood person, but the grain on this is so busy. It could be calmed down with a much darker stain, but painting it would also work nicely. I would most definitely keep it one way or the other though.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Looks like I'll be keeping it.
I really like tibbrix idea of painting it a shade darker then the color above. That should definitely help it become more up to date.

diygirl,

Another thing you might want to do is get some more of the crown moulding and add a strip to the top of the paneling that is covering the ductwork, near the ceiling; paint the crown moulding white, along with the chair rail, and paint the paneling over the diuct work the same as the wall. That will help to blend the duct work paneling into the wall.

Also, if that paneling is flat, do take a look at the two links I put up earlier, because it might not be a bad idea to add something to give the wainscoting some interest and texture.

While I think you should keep it, I'd paint it white rather than have just the chair rail white. IMHO having too many shades could tend to chop up the room and look dated in a different way from what it is now. I think the color above shouldn't be too drastically dark either to keep the room looking light and fresh. I'm sure the other ideas have merit, but I can't see them in your room, but think it'll look great with all the trim white as well as the wainscoting.

Here's a link where they added wainscoting to a room and it looks so good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Room with wainscoting added

I actually agree with you, sujafr. I also prefer white wainscoting. I was just pointing out that there are so many options with wainscoting.

In this case, though, I'm not sure white would work unless diy enhances the wainscoting with wood strips or textured wallpaper. If the wood paneling is flat, I think white would look kind of odd, like she didn't finish painting. Could be wrong, though.

I think I would paint it. Make it look like the rest of the room but with a texture.

Ours was in a basement. When we purchased the house we thought maybe bats lived in it before us. It was a dark dark CAVE. We ended up paining the DARK wood white and giving the wall a lighter color. I added a wider chair rail trim while we were at it. I love it now. Your room is full of light. The wains cotting adds some architectural detail. I would keep it. Work with it.

I'd keep it and paint it white or off white and match all the trim color to it. Paint the upper wall sections a color. While the wood itself looks ok in the pic, the color reads very orange which is dating the room, IMHO.

I like the link Sujafr posted on building the trim. The paneling is currently flat. So I will definitely be adding more trim to create more texture. The only thing with painting it white is that our curtains are a champagne color and our couch is chocolate brown. So I'm not sure how white would look with those colors. And I had planned on painting the walls Kilim beige.

Kilim Beige with white trim. Beautiful! See second pic down.

Champaign curtains and brown sofa will be fine with white. Recommend Benjamin Moore White Dove, which is a very soft white, slightly warmer than stark whites, and will balance the warmth of your brown tones with the white of the trim and wainscoting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kilim Beige w/white trim

I think the wainscoting is an awkward height that throws the room out of balance so if it were mine and I was going to keep it, I'd paint it the same color as the walls. I'd replace all the trim around the windows with much wider trim, using MDX. A very cheap option that would add balance to the room.

Lots of really good idea here. You could go with a soft white if you think white would be too severe. I would definitely paint the wood box looking thing at the top of the vault the same as the walls. Kilm beige is a great color.

Wainscoting is "supposed" to cover the bottom third of the wall. If the walls are 8 ft tall, the wainscoting should only come up 32" on the wall. I think it looks fine!

I looked closely again. It may be the wainscot is fine. It's the slope of the ceiling that is throwing off the visual for me. The wainscot is straight while the ceiling is sloped. It Is awkward.