I appreciate the replies! The rest of the room has dark wood trim on the doors, windows, some ledge trim, and vanity. The existing dark wood baseboard will come out and tile floor will meet tile wainscot. We have an existing light floor tile and I am using a complementary porcelain tile for the shower, vanity top, and wainscot. I am leaning to trying the stained chair rail to tie the woods together and not introduce a new material, painted wood, into the room. If the rest of the wood was painted, and I wish it was, I would paint the chair rail. I'll probably go ahead with it. If I don't like the end result, I can always remove the chair rail and install the ordinary bullnose tiles. Thanks for the input.

My $.02: I don't think picture-frame wainscoting is stylistically appropriate or practical for a bathroom. Also, painted MDF could seem cheap, especially in a home with solid wood wainscoting in other rooms, and I'm not sure how it would hold up it in a room/climate that is subject to mold. While I like true beadboard in vintage baths, it's often used just because it's trendy, fast, and cheap (if you use any of the various imitation beadboard products). Beadboard would look good with your Memoirs toilet and pedestal sink, but may seem too cottage-y for the rest of your house. My first preference would be for tile wainscoting, which need not be expensive in a small space if you shop around and do the tiling yourself. Are you really sure you can't use it? Unless the seasonal movement is really extreme (in which case you must have problems with all of your walls and wainscoting), you should be able to use tile as long as you have the proper surface, use small tiles, and flexible grout. (I'm no expert, but that's what I've been told.) Another option would be to simply install a chair rail around the perimeter of the room. You could then use different colors for the upper and lower walls, or paint the lower wall and use wallpaper or stenciling on the upper part (although extreme house movement could sabotage wallpaper).

I make frames out of any kind of wood I can find! If your dad is handy, he'll have no problem doing it. I've also used the decorative moulding HD sells as a border to a flat piece of lumber. Maybe you can use the crown and then accent with the egg & dart. Then, your painting possibilities are endless - paint & glaze, antiqued, crackled....I've even done gold leaf. So yes, it's possible.

Please leave the kitchen bead board alone. As others have said, it's most likely original. Agree with you that the paneling in the dining room and bathroom need to go. They are not original and are fugly. Because of the age of the house, I wouldn't paint a pure white if you redo the dining room paneling but instead something with more of a cream base. It will still read white but just a bit softer. Personally though, I'd probably just do the walls in paint or even find a beautiful wallpaper. Check out Bradbury and Bradbury wallpapers. Also we do plan on painting the homemade quasi-ugly fireplace mantel (and redo the tiles with something colorful that doesnt blend with wood - yuk). From here the fireplace and tile looks original to the house. Can you take a few closeups? If the tile is original, I certainly wouldn't cover it up. People pay huge bucks to find original tile like that. The best I can tell the trim on the floor and ceiling is original but the work around the doors is sort of junky with bad stain and has a 70's feel to it. If you're talking about the trim around the kitchen window and the trim in the dining room, from here that looks to be original and I wouldn't touch it. Be very careful about painting any original woodwork as once you do, your stuck with it. Plus for those who are looking for an original house, it will lower the sale price when you go to sell. What a gorgeous house.