Gold Stars and Chair Rail 3/4 the Way up a Wall

Two of the best tools we ever invested in is a miter saw and a nail gun.  We purchased those when we ripped out all of the carpet in our home and installed laminate throughout the house.  Those two investment tools have been used in numerous projects ever since. 

The floors were our first BIG DIY project.  Since then, we've figured out how to install chair railing, wainscoting, bead board and all sorts of trim throughout the house to help add character to our home.  And when I say "we", I mean my husband.  I've said it before, but if it involves power tools, I'm usually the brains and he's the muscles. 

For Charlottes room, I decided on a trim that would draw the eye up, and went with chair railing 3/4 the way up the wall.  Our second floor has 8ft ceilings, so we painted the bottom 6ft. pink and the top 2ft. white.

To make this room look a little more whimsical, I bought these gold star decals from Amazon for $30.  They were very easy to apply.  I eyeballed the spacing of the them, but they could measured if someone wanted to be exact.

There are basic rules when making cuts for trim. 
1)  cut pieces at 45 degrees
2)  unless a piece is against a door/window or end of a wall, then make a straight 90 degree cut

I'm going to attempt to explain how we put up chair rail, but just incase I'm not clear, this is a fairly easy link for a tutorial.  The only thing we don't do that they say to do is use wood glue before nailing.  Our reason for that is incase we decide we want to take it down someday.

Here is how we did this project:

Step one:  Measure the room to see how much trim is needed.  Go to Lowes, or another lumber yard, and buy an interior chair rail of choice and any other supplies needed.  We always buy 8ft pieces, so they can fit in our vehicle.
 
Step two: Measure 2ft from the ceiling.  With tape or pencil, mark off a line across the wall. 
 
Step three:  Paint the top 2ft. white and the bottom 6ft. pink.
 
Step four:  Using a miter saw, make appropriate cuts on the first piece of trim.
 
Step five:  Using a stud finder, find studs in the wall.
 
Step six:  Using a nail gun, nail the piece of trim 2ft. below the ceiling. 
 
Step seven:  Repeat steps 4-6 until room is complete.
 
Step eight:  Fill in nail holes with nail filler.
 
Step ten:  Sand down the nail filler.
 
Step eleven:  Touch up trim with white paint if necessary.
 
Step Twelve:  Apply gold star decals to the wall once paint is completely dry.

I'm very happy with the character that the 3/4 chair rail gives this room.  I love it even more with the gold stars!  This really is another one of those posts that I wish I had some real photography skills to capture everything about this room!