DIY – Page 24

How To: Update a Room with Trim

Published on August 10, 2010March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Over the weekend, a few readers asked about our trim and how we make it. Well, it’s your lucky day, because I’m here to do just that.

I’m going to explain my how to with the dining room as my example, but it’s almost the exact same for each room.

First, determine the design you would like to have. In our case, we needed a plate rack and that determined the 67 inch height of our trim. We already had our 5 inch tall baseboard installed, so we left those. Ben had installed chair rail, so we removed that. We decided to place the top of our horizontal piece at 36 inches from the floor. We measured the length of our wall to find the center. Once the measuring was done, we bought our trim and got started.

Most of the trim we use throughout our house is MDF (medium density fiberboard – pretty much sawdust glued together). I will note where we have used real wood. We use MDF for several reasons. 1. It’s cheaper than wood and we know we’re going to paint it anyway. 2. MDF is very flexible, especially compared to wood, so it’s easy to work with. 3. Because MDF is mostly sawdust, it’s a green material.

We went to a local home improvement store and bought several pieces of 3 1/2 inch wide by 1/2 inch thick square style trim. This trim does not have any decorative cuts, but does have slightly rounded edges. We also got one piece of MDF crown moulding , 2 pieces of wooden symmetrical trim for the horizontal center, one piece of 3/4 inch wooden quarter round moulding and one sheet of 3/4 inch thick MDF.

As I said before, we left the existing painted MDF baseboard. We knew we wanted the reveal (the amount on each side of the symmetrical piece) of the horizontal piece to match the width of the verticals. Our vertical trim pieces are 3 1/2 inches wide, so we doubled that and added 1 1/2 inches for the symmetrical trim spacing. So, Ben cut an 8 1/2 inch piece from our 3/4 inch thick MDF sheet. Then he nailed that piece at 36 inches from the floor, making sure to nail into studs.

Ben cut another piece from our MDF sheet for the top horizontal, to be almost completely covered by the crown moulding. To determine the size of this piece, measure the height of your crown moulding and add 1 inches. Secure the trim to the wall 3/4 of an inch lower than your final height. Nail your crown moulding in, making sure the top of the crown is even with the top of the MDF piece. Cut another piece from the MDF sheet 1/4 inch deeper than the crown moulding and MDF backing. Secure this piece on the top of the crown, leaving a 1/4 inch overhang, completing our ‘shelf.’ If you choose to display plates or rest other items on top of this, add your quarter round trim. Keep the quarter round flush with the edge and nail it into the 3/4 inch MDF piece.

After completing the plate rack portion, Ben started installing the vertical trim pieces. First, he placed one in the very center of the room. If you can’t locate a stud, angle your nails toward the center of the piece, helping keep the trim on the wall. Next, place verticals in the corners as shown on the diagram below, leaving a dead space. This will leave the same reveal of the corner pieces.

Depending on the length of your wall, you can place additional verticals centered between the middle and corners or break it up in to thirds. Our verticals are 12 1/2 inches apart. Do this to the entire room and you’re ready to fill and sand about one million holes. Caulk all the seams and smooth out. Prime and paint all the trim pieces as well as the wall. The end result will be a seamless panel look. Stand back and enjoy the view.

Additional Notes: Measure the depth of your trim. It is much easier to create a wall of trim if your depths a slightly different (1/2 inch and 3/4 inch). If you use all of one depth, you may have uneven joint that will require sanding until smooth.

If you don’t already have baseboard, it may be easier to install square stock. This will allow butting the verticals right up to the baseboard, rather than notching out the baseboard to accommodate the verticals.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please ask!

How To: Add a Personal Touch

Published on August 9, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

I have already given some ideas on how to add a personal touch to framed photos, and now I have some ideas to add personal touches throughout the home.

1. Add monograms or your family name. Monograms are a quick and inexpensive way to make a room your own. Michael’s and Hobby Lobby are great places to look. The letters on the picture rail hail from Hobby Lobby and cost $9.99 each.

I had some scrap fabric lying around, so I made custom monogrammed pillow covers for each of our boys. You can’t really tell, but the painting in the photo above has their monograms, too. If you don’t want to spend $10 on monograms, craft stores also have cheaper MDF and paper mache versions, like the ones in my office.

Just add a few coats of paint and you’ve got a custom art piece. We also have a few monograms in our living room. I recently picked up some Power Ball-esuqe monograms from Pier 1.

You could also use monogram hooks in an entryway or bathroom to keep each family member’s items separated.

2. Choose prints and art with personal meaning. I also create custom prints if I am in need of a personal touch.

I love this bird print we have in our entry way because it shows our little family, wedding date, names and the colors are specifically coördinated to our room.

Another easy DIY project to inject a little more of you into your space are custom silhouettes. When I make our silhouettes, I take photos of each person in complete profile. Kids can be much more difficult, but with digital cameras, just keep taking pictures and eventually something will work. Then I open my photos in Photoshop and trace the outlines. Then I print right on to my colored cardstock and cut them out. Simply tape the silhouette onto another piece of cardstock and frame.

Don’t limit yourself to silhouettes of your family. The process is the same for making anything, so choose your favorite flower, tree, whatever and make another design.

Choose prints that have a meaning to you, not just something that looks pretty. Again, I make my own prints, but my I Love You This Much print began as something I say to my boys. Other typographic prints could look great, too. Choose a favorite quote, song lyric or phrase. Translate a phrase to another language for a less obvious, but still meaningful print, like the Je T’Aime (I love you in French) print above. A great place to start your search is Etsy because you can talk to the seller and ask to have something customized.

3. Spruce up a box store item. Don’t be afraid to spray paint something to take it from the big box store look to fit your home. Spray paint frames, sculptures or figurines, even furniture. It will definitely become more personal with little time, effort and money.

Young House Love Feature!

Published on August 6, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

My favorite bloggers, YHL, featured our dining table today as a Reader Redesign! You seriously have no friggin’ idea how very excited I am right now! If I weren’t holding a baby I think I would have jumped about three feet off my chair, really. If you haven’t seen it already, head on over to Young House Love and check it, check it, check it ouuut.

Choosing Paint Colors

Published on August 6, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Paint colors can be difficult to choose. A lot of colors look great as paint chips, but not as great in mass quantity on a wall. We have definitely had our share of colors that seem great, but are atrocious. We have learned a few tips and tricks (some the hard way) about painting.

A few months before Ben and I were married, I came out to Montana to visit. During that visit, we started brainstorming ideas for the first few rooms we planned to finish. We easily agreed to install white trim in every room. Then, we chose paint colors, bought a few gallons and went back home. We chose Ralph Lauren’s Riesling and Behr’s Squirrel. I liked the airiness of Riesling and the moodiness of Squirrel. Ben lovingly agreed. We painted the first finished bedroom Riesling and loved it.

Then we finished the guest room. Then we repainted the living room. When we finally got around to the master bedroom, the tone of the house had been set. Dark, moody Squirrel was out. It just didn’t fit. I loved the color, but it didn’t work with the rest of the house. We tried a lighter grey, but decided we needed a color that coördinated with the finished rooms.

Moral of the Story: When choosing paint colors, first think about if the color will coördinate with other colors in your house.

I am more drawn to colors on the cooler side of the color wheel, like greens, blues, and purples. Red, orange, and yellow are on the warm side of the color wheel. In my opinion, pale blues and pinks are by far the least forgiving.

Our master bedroom color scheme is green with pink accents. When we finished our master bathroom, which is attached to our bedroom, I wanted to switch things up, but not too much. Rather than green walls with pink accents, I wanted pink walls with green accents. Well, I chose a light pink, got home and started painting. Oops! Definitely not a light pink. More like bubblegum pink! Needless to say, our bathroom did not stay pink. Nope, it’s the same color as our bedroom.

Moral of the Story: If you’re looking for a pale color, choose one that you like, then buy the lighter version. Believe me, paint seems to get brighter when you start putting it on your walls.

By far, my favorite paint colors are from Restoration Hardware. Saturated hues toned down with grey equals perfection in my book. Thus, many of the colors in our house are Restoration Hardware colors, color matched at Wal-Mart. Our main bathroom is RH Lilac:

The guest bedroom is painted RH Sea Green:

Our master bedroom and bathroom is RH Bay Laurel:

Our basement and dining room are mis-tinted versions of RH Silver Sage.

The basement bathroom is RH Sycamore Green:

Moral of the Story: When you find something that works, stick with it. I love that most of our colors are from the same line of paint, so everything is cohesive and goes well together.

We use satin finish paint in almost all our rooms, with the exception of the bathrooms, where we used semi gloss. We chose these finishes for durability purposes. Flat finishes do not stand up to the damage our two-year old doles out on a daily basis.

Dining Room: Updated

Published on August 3, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode23 Comments

Over the weekend, we decided to repaint our dining room, completing the transformation. We used the same color as the basement, which extends up the staircase and is visible from the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

I cleared the room and taped off the trim while Ben was at work. After removing the curtains, I decided that I liked how open the window looked. So, I took the outer curtain supports down, patched the holes and sanded it smooth.

I don’t have much time to paint with a three-year old and four-month old. Fortunately, Ben is a quick painter and the area is small. It literally took about eighteen minutes to repaint. Here he is, hard at work.

We had to do two coats. One on Saturday afternoon.

And another on Sunday morning.

Ben hung the curtain brackets about 5 inches from where they were. It’s really amazing how much more open the window seems now. I love it.

I did love the old, dark blue color (Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy), but this definitely fits in with the rest of the house. The curtains are more fitting with the wall color, too. Sure, the plates don’t pop as much against the new wall color, but the dark table top was just too dark with the old wall color.

The room has come a long way in the past few years. Now it’s exactly as I had imagined. The plate rack is a nice feature, serving as art and storage.

We have some touch up paint to do, especially on the white, but it’s good enough for now. I’m a happy camper. Touch up paint can wait. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Here was the dining room as I received it, thanks to Ben’s decorating.