ORC – Weeks 4 & 5 – Pillow Fabrics & Paint Choices

An update on the slow going basement project for One Room Challenge. Having furniture (who knew?!) has made a huge difference and now we use this space all the time. I finally started painting because I want it to be brighter down here but still cozy.

I am using mystery paint from Restore. Usually I’m picky about my colours but in this case these shades of what seem to be warm and light grey/beige should work. I’m not done yet but it is already feeling brighter in these back corners.

The colour is a smoother transition to the downstairs bathroom.

This wall will be a slightly darker greige and I’ve mapped out the picture frame moulding here that I will install eventually. I decided to do moulding that would be manageable with my limited tools – hello handsaw, plastic mitre box and tiny hammer. Below is our last home where I installed this Metrie moulding behind our banquette.

Picture frame moulding I installed in our last home.

This mirror is now finally hung up to maximize the light coming in from the window. It is one of the few decor pieces I brought in the move.

Pillow: Shibang Designs – www.shibangdesigns.com

There will be lots of pillows on the large sectional so I will be using my own pillows and will add some other basics to go with them.

This lamp was from Restore and was exactly what I had in mind.

This is a sketch of how I planned to make the cabinets into a unit and add moulding, it’s slowly starting to come together. The plywood was cut at Home Depot and still needs some more finishing details.

To see what everyone else is working on here is the link below:

https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/blog/orcguestss20wk1-khx3f-955p7-bj33w-24pb8-kfs9p

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ORC – Week 6

The shared nursery/bedroom is coming together and luckily the One Room Challenge has been extended by one week so that should be enough time to finish installing all of the Metrie trim.

I’m using the garage as my workshop and borrowing my friend Kate’s mitre saw to cut the pieces there. Then, I bring the cut trim up to the bedroom to double check measurements and install it using basic hand tools like I did in my previous moulding tutorial.

I have a sketchbook where I planned the trim and I also use it to keep track of the lengths I need to cut.Removing and replacing window and door casings is new for me and so far it’s going well. Above is how the window looked after I ripped off the old casing. I pried it off with a screwdriver and then pulled out the nails with a hammer. Where there was a build-up of paint from before, I used a chisel to carefully create a smooth surface.

Here is the new Pretty Simple Casing up around the window. Combined with the 5 1/4″ wide Pretty Simple Baseboards,  the room is already looking better.

This side of the room has two doors that I’m still working to remove the old casings from. In the meantime, I have started putting the Solid Pine Lattice up on the top edge of the room.

Once the lattice was up around the top and the baseboards were in, putting up the vertical lattice went quickly.

While I was working in the room these two were napping in the hallway …

That’s it for this week. My sister is here visiting for a few more days which will help me get the rest of this finished in time for the final reveal at the end of next week.

 

To see how all of the other rooms are coming together, click on the link below.

Fall One Room Challenge – Week 1

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared any new projects on my blog. Now that The One Room Challenge Fall Edition is here I’m joining in to create a shared bedroom for my son and his baby brother who is due this month.

This photo is from exactly 3 years ago when I painted a simple mountain mural for my 1-year-old. It was a quick and easy project (see the post here) that I still like but, that 1-year-old is now almost 4 years old and with a baby coming I know it’s easier to redecorate now rather than later.

Before I show my plan for this room I’m sharing photos of the whole space as it currently is. The crib has worked very well as a toddler bed but soon we will need it back to use as a crib.

The desk worked as a change table & dresser before and now it’s still used as a dresser. The rocking chair was one of my first chalk painting projects.

 

This little installation I created with some secondhand mirrors as well as canvases and painted them with paint samples.

This is the view of the room from the hallway that I completed with Metrie Moulding last fall. The gallery wall is made of wood secondhand frames that I painted white and distressed.

The pineapple quilt was made by my mum who will soon be opening an etsy shop with baby quilts.

That’s it for this week. All of the other people participating have shared their plans for The One Room Challenge and it looks like a few nurseries are being created as well as many other rooms.

How to Install Board & Batten

Today I’ve got a tutorial and reveal of the completed board & batten wall, created in collaboration with The Home Depot Canada. Since I’m usually learning as I go, The Home Depot staff are who I rely on to answer questions and give advice for whatever project I’m working on.

These are the steps that I followed. It’s important to measure, plan, keep lines level and plumb, nail into studs when possible and when in doubt – ask for advice!

Removing the baseboard was my first step because it was thin and wouldn’t look right with the pine boards. I used a flathead screwdriver to pry it off and it came off much easier than I expected.

Next, I marked all of the studs and finalized the placement of my vertical boards. These boards I had cut to length at The Home Depot Canada. Since I live close to the store I planned to start with only these 1″ x 4″ Pine Select boards and then return to have the horizontal pieces cut. When choosing boards make sure to get ones that are straight. If you don’t know how to check, just ask for assistance. If the boards are warped it makes it more challenging to attach them to the wall.

I used 1 1/2″ spiral finishing nails which were recommended to me since they have more grip than a regular finishing nail. For some boards that don’t stay on the wall flush, I used a few dots of Construction Adhesive to make sure they held.

The next step was to take the measurements between the boards before heading back to get the horizontal pieces cut.  The policy is us that you pay after the first two cuts but if you visit when it’s not too busy the staff usually go above and beyond. Having a sketch helps to remember which pieces go where and what lengths are required.

When I got home I started figuring out spacing on the wall. I did have to adjust a couple of boards with my hand saw because I had taken the wrong measurement.

I started with the top pieces and made sure they were in a level line. It turns out that our basement height is quite uneven so to create a level line across the top I left a gap (which will later be covered with moulding). These smaller pieces are held up with 2 -3 nails. Along the bottom edge, I wanted to make sure that in the future if we were going to replace the flooring it would be possible to easily remove the bottom boards.

Painting the bottom pieces before adding them to the wall would have made it much easier. To save yourself some hassle, paint them first!

Where the boards intersected I used a wood filler and sanded once it was dry.

When it comes time to paint, if you’re using a product that has a primer built in you can paint directly onto the wood. Along all of the edges where the boards meet the wall, I ran a strip of caulking along it. I have a caulking gun and have found it to very worthwhile to have. It allows you to purchase tubes of caulking or construction adhesive which are easier to apply than little containers that you squeeze out.
After final sanding, painting and caulking.

This reveal wasn’t about changing everything in the room. The paint colour stayed the same but now the basement has a feature and interest that it didn’t have before.
Thank you to The Home Depot Canada for helping make this vision a reality! If you have an idea of a project but don’t know where to start they are a wonderful resource of information and guidance.

Here’s a little reminder of where it started and some of the steps along the way.

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Basement Before

As featured on

 

 

Dining Area Update

After finishing the moulding installation throughout the staircase with Metrie I had a bit of extra panel moulding, just enough to do one more project. After seeing how much depth and interest trim brings to the walls I decided to do a quick project above the kitchen table. It gets so much easier with practice and something this scale could be done with a hand saw, mitre box and hammer, no special tools required.

This is the wall before.

I put scrap pieces of moulding up and tried different placement, taking photos to get an idea of what would look best. Then, I did a sketch with the final measurements before cutting the moulding to size.

These boxes are 54″ in height and since I was only doing three, I put the pieces up one at a time. With the height, I left enough room at the top so that if one day we wanted to add crown moulding that could still be an option. Not every step is pictured here but there are more general instructions in my first tutorial.

This is what the area looked like in the real estate listing.

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How to Install Panel Moulding

Staircase Makeover Reveal

Farmhouse Table Makeover Featured on Apartment Therapy

Staircase Reveal

If you’ve been following along on Instagram or previous blog posts, I’ve been sharing glimpses into my staircase makeover. The wall had been painted for two years, waiting for moulding and thanks to Metrie it has become a reality. There was no major renovation involved. I broke down the steps, starting with painting the walls & staircase spindles, refinishing the banister and finishing with  chair rail and panel moulding that starts at the front entry and continues to the upstairs hallway. The painting and refinishing had a lot of impact, but it wasn’t until I added the moulding that the staircase became a strong feature.

This was a big learning curve for me, but it’s not impossible, it just takes patience and attention to detail. It’s amazing to see how much dimension the moulding brings, and it makes this formerly overlooked space seem larger. Immediately after finishing I made a fresh garland to dress up the staircase since it’s now a main focal point and I was feeling the holiday spirit.

This is the view from the main floor.
That’s the kitchen off to the right.The view from the kitchen.The moulding continuing through the front hallway.

This is a reminder of what it looked like when we first moved in and what I did to get here.

Below are the Moulding Profiles that I Used:

Metrie MDF Chair Rail

Metrie French Curves  Panel Moulding

With this project now completed I definitely have my eye on some other plain walls in the house that could benefit from some architectural elements. Are you thinking about adding some moulding to your home? If so, I have shared my process with lots of photos in the blog posts below.

Previous Posts:

Adding Architectural Elements – BEFORE

DIY Trim Tutorial

Panel Moulding & Trim Tutorial

Have you ever imagined how your walls would look with panel moulding or a chair rail? Without any previous experience, I tackled this, and the result is even better than I imagined, and it’s easier than I thought it would be to make and install. As I mentioned in the previous post, I have partnered with Metrie to acheive this look. I was already choosing their products before and besides having a vast selection of affordable profiles, their MDF is made in Canada, Ontario specifically.

I’ve broken down the moulding applications into three categories: beginner, intermediate and advanced. I would recommend starting from beginner to get comfortable with the process. It takes some practice to wrap your head around angle calculations but once you start it begins to make sense. The chair rail that I used is this one and the panel moulding is this profile.

The staircase was the hardest part to do. Not only are the angles up the stairs but there are a lot of irregular angles on the landings as well. Doing a staircase requires dusting off your geometry skills and it is not impossible, but if you area a beginner, I recommend starting with a typical room instead.

The process that I followed included some instructions I learned from books that I took out from the library, and some was my way of figuring it out. Planning is important to know how much material you’ll need and to consider how it will flow with potentially adding more moulding in the future. These are the books that I borrowed from the library that gave me some guidance: Decorating with Architectural Trimwork by Jay Silber and Trim Transformations. I found that these books were a useful reference and give lots more useful information as well.

To get started, choose your moulding and sketch it out in a little book. It helps with planning, if you have all notes contained in one place. To determine the placement and get a rough idea of how much material is needed, I found that using painter’s tape helped to get a quick visual. From there I was able to roughly figure out the size of the boxes and placement of the chair rail before sketching out and planning the exact sizes.

Calculating how much moulding is required for the paneled boxes requires a lot of planning. As a starting point, I used painter’s tape and placed it on the wall and adjusted as needed. You can also draw this out on paper, which I did afterward once I was ready to finalize the sizes. Even though I thought I had planned everything, little changes came up along the way so having extra material helped.

I am more comfortable using hand tools, but for the panel moulding, I borrowed my friend’s mitre saw to speed up the process. I also found that gluing the frames corners and then carefully installing the frame on the wall made it manageable to work alone. It is very helpful to write the length on the back because it gets confusing once you have multiple pieces cut.

For frame assembly, I originally made jigs and attempted to use a nail gun, but it split the MDF that I was using. Instead, I ended up using construction adhesive to connect the corners, and after checking that the corners were square, I left them to dry and carefully moved them and hammered them to the wall as pictured below.

To install the frames, I used a level and marked a consistent space between the chair rail and the top of the moulding frame. As I’ve mentioned before, I am more comfortable with hand tools and working with a hammer and nail setter allowed me to install the frames alone, which I couldn’t have done with a nail gun. That’s just my preference, but of course, nail guns work and are faster, just watch out for what’s behind the wall to make sure you don’t knick any wires.

The final step is caulking, which makes a huge difference for filling the cracks and giving the moulding a polished look. Of course, this doesn’t hide huge gaps but it does help get a nice finished look. I bought a caulking gun, just a basic one, and have found it to make a huge difference when applying caulking evenly. Cut the tip off with scissors to get a finer tip. On my model, if you use the spout cutter it cuts too big and makes the application sloppy.

I’m just about done, only part of the stairs remain and the whole process has become so much easier and it has completely transformed our home. Now the other walls seem so boring without any trim and after completing the staircase anything else will seem easy in comparison.

For more ideas of how interior finishing can be used, I’ve created an Architectural Elements Pinterest board which has some ideas from designers for inspiration. In addition on Metrie’s Pinterest page they show finished rooms using their Finishing Collections, which is helpful in selecting the right trim style and profile.

The previous post with before photos can be found below:

Adding Architectural Elements – Before

Since moving into our home two years ago I have been on a mission to update, improve and add character to this builder basic home. The main entry and staircase are a focal point that I wanted to emphasize with moulding. I am so excited to be partnering with Metrie to use their beautiful mouldings to add the style and substance to our home.

The Main Entrance & Staircase Before

A Rough Sketch of the Moulding

I chose this chair rail for its thick profile and rounded shape that would work with the rest of the home. I had been searching for the moulding to use below the chair rail for quite some time then I came across panel mouding from Metrie’s French Curves Collection. It has lines that coordinated well with the chair rail I had selected.

I started out by painting the walls and doors as well as refinishing the banister railing to get the other main elements in the room ready. Since I knew that I wanted a chair rail, I went ahead and painted the wall white, using painter’s tape to make a clean line on the lower portion of the wall. Going up the staircase I used the shadow that was cast by the railing to get an idea of the angle and adjusted it from there. Painting gave me an instant visual for how the walls would look with the moulding.

The installation of the chair rail has been a huge learning curve. When I started out, I had no idea about the angles so I bought a very basic mitre box, hand saw and nail setter. Thinking about how wood panelling would have been installed by carpenters before power tools gave me the confidence to ease into the project with limited hand tools.

These are the tools that I used to install the chair rail. If I had known how much I would use my mitre box and saw, I would have bought a slightly better quality one. This one works fine but there are others available for not too much more.

Here’s a look at how the front entry is looking so far. The moulding makes the space seem larger in this tight space.

Working through the main entrance was pretty easy once I got the hang of understanding how to cut the angles. What I didn’t consider was how angles would get a bit trickier on walls that aren’t square and staircases that have complicated angles.

Here’s a look at the upstairs hallway where I’m continuing the moulding for a cohesive look.

I’ve begun cutting the panel moulding and I’m in the process of creating jigs to assemble the frames before attaching them to the wall. For this part and the complex angles on the stairs, I am using books for guidance and technical advice.

Once I start to get the frames cut and up on the wall, I’ll make a tutorial showing more of the steps. What I’ve learned so far is that installing interior mouldings is much easier than I thought it would be when you’re sticking to rooms with square corners. Installing a chair rail in a powder room or hallway could easily be done with a hand saw if you don’t have a mitre saw.

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Black Interior Doors

Black Interior Doors

Have you ever thought about painting your interior doors black? I saw a story on Houzz this summer about painting interior doors black, and they had great reasons to do it. While picking up the black paint roller seemed risky at first I never second guessed that decision.

We have a narrow hallway with four doors in a very tight space. After painting the inside of the front door, I hesitated about doing the closet door too and waited a few days to paint it. Then I also changed the basic door leading to the garage into a chalkboard door. The hardware was all shiny brass, and I spray painted them following the instructions from The Creative Cubby using oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

Here’s a look at the basement door that I just painted black a couple of weeks ago after re-reading the story on Houzz about how a black door can make the ceiling look taller by drawing the eye up with the contrasting colour.

I recommend reading 11 Reasons to Paint Your Interior Doors Black on Houzz if you haven’t already.

 

Related Posts:

Adding Architectural Elements