How to Build a Chair Rail with Decorative Boxes

I have always wanted a room with a chair rail that had decorative molding boxes below it kinda like the picture below

I thought the living room would be a perfect place to add it. First I started with the chair rail itself. I decided how tall I wanted it be (about 3 ft) and measured 3 ft up from the floor all the way around the room

Then I drew a straight  line to connect all my measurements.

Then I double checked all my measurements and made sure the line was straight.

I had previous painted the living "Cement" by Martha Stewart half way down, to make it easier later.
After the chair rail lines were drawn,  John and I decided we wanted our boxes 4 inches from the chair rail, 4 inches from the baseboard and 4 inches from both sides. So I went around and measured where the boxes would go and drew the corners of all the boxes on the walls. The we added up all our measurements and calculated the amount of trim we needed. Once the trim was purchased, I started sawing the chair rail pieces. We have a circular saw that allows you to cut 45 degree cuts, which is absolutely necessary for trim. I measured each piece of trim and cut it accordingly. The corners had to be cut 45 degrees to match up with the other corner pieces. I was so scared of sawing my fingers off that I didn't get any pictures of it. John helped/supervised most of this, but I did the majority of the saw work. I was pretty proud.

Once the pieces were cut John used a nail gun to nail them on my line on the wall.

He used a stud finder to find the studs and nailed the chair rail there.

After a while the living room looked like this

After the entire chair rail was installed, I primed below the it since it was going to be white. Looking back I should have rolled on at least one coat of the trim paint before installing the boxes because it would have been a lot easier. Maybe next time.

Then it was one to the boxes, which were a lot harder. I measured the boxes I drew on the wall and used the saw to cut those pieces. Each edge had to have a 45 degree cut so that all of the corners could match up. This was super tricky, I kept sawing pieces the wrong way or upside down. We ended up have to get another 12 ft of trim because of the mistakes, but eventually I got the hang of it.

Once you have your 4 box pieces cut then lay them down on the floor.

The pick one corner to start with. Match the ends up perfectly and do not worry about the other box pieces.

 Stand on the trim to hold it in place and  use a nail gun to secure the two pieces together.

Make sure the nail gun is level or you could have the nail go through the floor or your foot. Then repeat the process for the other corners of the box.

Once your box is complete, hold it up against your markings and make sure it looks straight and fits right. Make any necessary adjustments. Then glue the back of the box with construction adhesive.

Find the studs and mark where they are on the wall. Then push the box into place and smush (yes that's a technical term ;)  it a bit to get the glue to stick. 

Double check that the box is still in the right spot, it may slide down a bit. 

Then when you are sure it is in the right spot, use the nail gun to nail the box to the studs.

Repeat this process for all the remaining boxes.

This is what our living room looked like after all the boxes were installed.

Ignoring the messy chaos in the rest of the room, its starting to look good.

FYI: we had to make some special cuts to make way for things like electrical outlets. Make sure you take any anomalies (outlets, vents, etc.) into account before sawing.

Next up is painting the boxes and the drywall. Also John will be installing lighted crown molding in the living room too. I can't wait for it to be finished.