DIY Picture Frame Molding

This DIY picture frame molding project was inspired thanks to our baby boy on the way!

I couldn’t wait to transform our guest room into a new nursery with its own unique character. It has turned out to be the perfect, timeless backdrop that I was hoping for.

Here is how we did it!

>> You may also love DIY Board and Batten Accent Wall

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Materials:

1-1/4-in x 8 ft unfinished chair rail molding
2-3/4-in x 8 ft unfinished chair rail molding
Level
Miter saw
Nail gun
Caulk

Using the level and nail gun, we put up the chair rail molding as our starting point. Knowing that this project would be for our son’s nursery, I chose to position the chair rail 40 in. from the floor so that the molding feature would be visible over the future crib.

The 8 ft. pieces were not long enough to cover the larger walls, so we did 45-degree overlapping bevel cuts at the meeting points to create a nearly seamless transition.

The adjoining corner pieces were cut at 45-degree meeting edges.

The more challenging part of this project was determining what size to make the boxes for the picture frame molding. I prefer to have a visual, so I found it helpful to use masking tape (or painter’s tape) to determine the layout.

There are plenty of ways to come up with your measurements mathematically, but simply put, I measured the length of the wall and divided that by the number of boxes I hoped to fit. Then we reduced that number to account for a 3 in. space from the chair rail and between each box.

Next, we made our 45-degree frame cuts and attached the smaller molding pieces to the wall using a nail gun and regular bubble level. (We tried a laser level and found it to be more complicated than necessary).

We used a piece of scrap wood to make a 3 in. spacer, saving us time checking the positioning around each box.

I will also mention that you can buy self-adhesive, precut picture frame molding kits. This may be a great option if you are renting or you are not ready to take on this DIY project from scratch. Shop >> here <<

Because our walls are not textured, we did not to pretreat the drywall or use board paneling behind the molding.

After filling nail holes and finishing the edges with caulk, the picture frame molding was finally ready for paint.

The green paint that I settled on is too good not to share! Royal Orchard by Behr (Premium Plus Paint and Primer in flat/matte). We used this same paint finish over the trim and doors also.

This color is in Studio McGee’s top 20 green paint colors, and now I know why!
It’s the perfect shade of green for a little boy’s nursery.