So the bead board would be wainscoting and would show mainly in the banquette area? I'd put it so the cap is like a chair rail. Can it line up with your banquette top?

When we first moved into our home 16 years ago, we couldn't afford a full kitchen reno. I added beadboard to the walls and painted the cabs. I did our bead board up to about 5 feet. It looked lovely, but had the unexpected effect of making the walls seem more closed in and made the space feel visually smaller. Ours was not painted white, so that might mitigate the effect.

That's exactly what we were thinking....5 feet up the wall, with cap (more like plate rail than chair rail?) and painted creamy/warm white. We want to do something with the walls that's easier to clean and looks less like a manufactured home!

Our farmhouse remodel (next to us) is going to be a few more years away....after our finances recover a bit :)

Our kitchen has beadboard wainscoting in the breakfast nook, on the backside of the peninsula and goes around at the same height, with cap, 34". The windowsill apron drops over it a couple of inches.

I really like the height. It continues the line of the base cabinet height. So it defines the breakfast nook without overwhelming it.

In yours, I might do the same in the breakfast nook. But I'd take it higher, 5' or whatever, on the wall where the butcher block and aprons are.

Are you doing beadboard on the walls behind the hutch and bookcase? If they are freestanding, don't do a cap because you won't be able to dust it (don't ask me how I know this). Do something real simple to top it off instead.

Hi lavender lass, the bead board wainscoting in my kitchen is original to our 1910 house. It is 36 inches tall to the top of the cap. I would be afraid that 5 feet tall would be rather overpowering, but I do love my wainscoting. My ceilings are a little over 8 feet tall in the kitchen, but were originally 10 feet high. Sorry couldn't get the pic to rotate.

In general, I think I like plate rail height a little better than chair rail height in a kitchen. The countertops will be roughly at chair rail height, so doing the beadboard a bit higher can add some interest. I appreciate cookncarpenter's good advice to consider the height of window trim, switch plates, etc.

Our home is close to 100 years old and it has wainscotting to different levels. In one room it is within a foot of the ceiling but in the dining room and hall (and before I removed it in the kitchen), it is 50".

Thank you for all the great responses!

After measuring everything, I think we're going with the 5' in the kitchen. It's the same height as the bottom of the uppers in the baking area, which are the highest uppers we have. In the breakfast room, 3' might work if we had 8' ceilings, but with the vaulted space, I think 5' will look more in scale.

This is not my space, but the wood and creamy whites are about a match and the blues and greens are close. While I won't be using these patterns, I like the colors together. Add in the cream/light yellow dresser and a few pink and lavender accents...and that's going to be our kitchen :)

52" w/ 102" ceilings in my 1927 colonial.