Panel and Picture Frame Moulding

I mentioned in my last post that we officially decided on Picture Frame moulding. Due to the texture of my walls, We decided to panel the walls first.  After measuring everything out we went to Lowe's to look at various paneling options. A lot of people use plain headboard paneling. I didn't like the texture and how easily it seemed to scratch and chip. After placing two boards side by side in the store, I was convinced the seams would look awful. Most of all the other paneling was more of a tranditional wainscoting with ridges. I was getting frustrated and ALMOST settled on the headboard when my dad suggested that we use  Lauan plywood boards. It would be more work to prep but better quality with a more seamless look.

So this is what we left the store with...

Shopping List:
 4- Sheets of 4X8 Lauan- $46.14
1- sheet 4X4 Lauan- $8.98
11-  8 ft pieces of Base cap moulding (we would have preferred to use 12 ft pieces but they were in BAD shape, so we opted for the 8 ft pieces) - 77.77
3-  12 ft pieces of Chair rail moulding- 39.96
4-  Tubes of Power Grab All- purpose- 12.8

You will also need primer, paint and pins for the pin gun... all of which we had on hand.

After my shopping adventure with my dad, Tim and I went home to start all the prep work. Since all of the moulding was pre-primed, we just covered it with two thin coats of Benjamin Moore Advance paint in Super White. The Lauan got trimmed to size followed by a thick coat of primer and two coats of paint.

I parked in the driveway for the night and we covered our epoxy floors with plastic tarps so that we could lay everything out to dry.  With the fan on overnight, everything was ready for install the next morning.

We ended up using 3 ft height on the Lauan panels. We started with the "easy" walls. We used Power Grab on the back of the panels to secure the panels to the wall but then also used a Pin nailer to ensure a nice snug fit to the wall. We used a table saw to cut the Lauan panels to size where needed, like on this wall.

And a jigsaw to cut around holes for the outlets and a/c vent.

Speaking of the air vent. We decided that it would like dingy on the freshly painted paneling so since we already removed it, we gave it a coat of white spray paint. More on the vent shortly.

Next up, chair rail. Because the room is really only three full walls, we were able to get away with three 12 foot pieces of trim. This left no room for error but it ended up working out perfectly!  We used a miter saw to cut all the chair rail.. You can either install the chair rail directly above your paneling, adding a bit more height or on top of the paneling, if you want to stick with height of the paneling itself. We thought things would looks more seamless if we installed it directly above.

After a quick lunch break, we measured a second time for our picture frames. Since we ended up with 8 ft moulding, we were able to get two frames from each piece. We went with a height of 21 inches for each frame but adjusted the width based on the wall.  We preassembled six 21x32" frames for the two "easy walls". Again, we used the miter saw to cut all the base cap to size.

The a/c vent gave us some trouble. Since there was no room under the vent for any moulding, we weren't able to encapsulate it in a frame, like we did with the outlets. Because of that, the only real option was to make one larger ( 21 X 38") frame for this wall.

And of course we made a small frame ( 21 X 9") for the closet wall, just so everything was uniform.

We attached all the frames with the pin gun. And here is a little before and after comparison with one of our seams.

Barely visible after the frames went on! We still have have a few touch ups and some caulking to do but I LOVE it.  We will also be adding crown moulding to the nursery and guest room in the next few weeks, since they are the only two places in the house without it.

We spent just under $200 ( $198.65 to be exact), 3 hours prepping everything and about 5 hours on the installation. We seriously could not have done this project ( well at least not as successfully) without my dad!

I will post more ( hopefully better) pictures once we finish the touch ups and the installation of the crown moulding.

Nursery Pinspiration

From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was thinking about the nursery. I even created two secret boards on Pinterest to post Boy and Girl nursery ideas. Originally, I had a set theme in mind for each gender but decided I really didn't want to wait to get started.What can I say? I never claimed patience as one of my virtues.

So we opted to paint the nursery a gender neutral gray several weeks before we found out Baby H's gender.  I narrowed it down to two colors: Valspar's Coastal Jetty ( bottom) or Valspar's Wet Pavement ( top).

While I originally liked the bottom one more, it looked very blue in the daylight. So I ended up using the Coastal Jetty test pot on the bathroom ceiling and went back to Lowe's to purchase a gallon of Valspar ultra's wet pavement in satin finish. My dad was also a contributing factor since he knew the vision I was going for and thought the darker paint would provide the best contrast.

Aside from the gray paint, I knew I wanted to add moulding to the bottom half of the bedroom. I didn't want to use traditional Wainscoting though ( we have that in the guest bath). So I turned to Pinterest for some ideas. I loved the look of this moulding but didn't want to go quite so high. But when I came across the picture frame moulding, I was sold! I know it is more traditionally used in dining rooms but I  LOVE the look in a nursery.

So, we set out to paint the bedroom. I knew I wanted my moulding a minimum of 36 inches in height so we just painted to that point because everything else would be white.

One of things I forgot to mention in my post about our nursery challenges is the texture of the walls. Due to the bust, all of the walls were re-textured and they are not smooth. So while many people can get away with faux paneling, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. See, if you read A country farmhouse's blog that I link to above, she did not panel the bottom half of the wall. It is painted white and they added picture frame trim. It totally looks like paneling though due to the smooth texture of their walls. YoungHouseLove was able to pull off a similar look with their board and batten wall.

So, I took out some white paint to see how things would look:

Too much texture! So we had to come up with plan B for the walls ( more on that later).

A little more about the nursery plans. My parents wanted to buy the baby's crib. We selected this crib from Babies R' Us.

Which served as my color inspiration for our dresser renovation I shared a few weeks ago.

People keep asking me if I think it will be too much white but I really think it will balance out. We have the dark gray on the walls, dark wood flooring, the dark trim on all the furniture and I will add color in the accessories to break up the white furniture with the white on the walls.

Oh and I also ended up getting this rocking chair.

I really wanted a plush upholstered chair but I wasn't crazy about the space they took up nor the price tag. If I wouldn't spend $700 on a dresser, I am certainly not going to spend it on a chair!  I think we were able to get the chair down to around $180 after a coupon. I checked Craigslist first but the prices were $30 less than a new chair and not in very good condition.

So that is the direction we are going. I am in the process of writing up our "how to" on the picture frame moulding. I still can't get over how good it looks so far! :)

Installing a Fire-Safe Entry Door

Two of the items on our "to do" list, stem way back to recommendations from our home inspection back in December 2010. Since they weren't immediate issues, they have been put off for far too long now. And while I would love to say that we got both things accomplished... I am here to report we crossed 1 item off the list... #4 Replace door into the garage and clam shell moulding.

The existing entry door was a regular interior door that was not cut to size at all. It was such a poor fit the that door would "wiggle" in its jamb if we left the garage door open when it was windy out. And I am convinced this is how flies would get into our house! While our inspector did comment on the poor fit, his main concern was that it was not a fire safe door and should ideally be replaced with a true exterior door.

Awhile back, Lowe's had a sale on 6 panel steel exterior doors. I think they were marked down to around $119. After taking measurements, Tim went back to the store with me to pick one up. Sadly, the door has sat in our back bedroom (soon to be nursery) since then. This entryway was also the only remaining clam shell moulding in the house as we replaced all the moulding with colonial moulding after we purchased it. Since I didn't take a picture of the ill fitting door... for a visual it is the door on the left side of this picture ( back when we did the garage floor).

So one Saturday while Tim was at a training, my dad and I tackled the door.  First thing we did was to remove the door from its hinges. Then we popped off the clam shell moulding with a crowbar.

This is the view from inside the house. 

 We had a few minor damage issues on the garage side when we removed the moulding but nothing a little paint and spackle couldn't fix.

Next, we removed the door jamb itself since my new door was a prehung door that came with a new jamb and threshold. Turns out, it was the original door jamb circa 1976.

Then we placed the new door into place. It was a tight fit but we made it work.

The door is pre-primed but unpainted in the picture above. We kept the same hardware as the original door. The threshold was higher on this door, creating a bit of a step-up into the house. We just used regular trim caulk to seal under the threshold for a smooth look.

Even though the door came pre-primed, I added a coat of primer after my last door painting incident. We used the same paint and primer as we did on that door since they are SO close together( as you can see in the picture above).

Here is what it looks with new moulding and paint on the door:

Inside view, garage view. 

I know it is just a plain white door so it isn't a very dramatic transformation. However, it has made an impact on both sounds in our house and our electric bill due to the increased insulation. So not the most "fun" project but one that was completely necessary.

Unfortunately, we still have more more door to replace, the door that leads from the garage to the side of the house. This door is going to be very difficult to replace due to how it was installed. It is a wooden door that swells in the jamb and gets stuck every time it rains.  While there are no immediate plans to replace it, it remains a standing to do item. I would love to put in a door with a window and add a homemade roman shade...someday!

Week 22

+ 22 weeks already? Time sure is flying!
+  We made some major progress on the nursery over the weekend. I still need to edit a few of the pictures but hopefully I will be able to write up a post about it this week. Although, you can probably spot it in the picture above.
+ Baby is kicking more and more each day. It is such an amazing feeling.
+ I used Lacquer thinner this weekend... even though I wore a mask, I had a MAJOR meltdown because I forgot to wear gloves. I felt so guilty as soon as I realized. :(
+ I am still feeling really good for the most part. I feel really blessed that I have been able to stay this active. I do continue to get back pain if I do too much but I just try to take breaks often.

Week 21

+ Charlotte is moving quite a bit these days. I can feel her kick from the inside but not from the outside (as of yet anyway).

+We started planning out the next phase of the nursery project. I would like to get supplies this weekend and start some of the prep work but I am not sure if that will happen or not.

+ Little girl stuff is SO much fun to shop for!

+ I am really struggling with energy in the afternoons lately. Nap time should be part of any pregnant womans work day.

Week 20

I am little late with the week 20 post, considering today marks week 21!

 + Week 20 consisted of two doctors appointments, one of which was my anatomy scan. I am happy to report baby is not only healthy but also... still a girl!

 + Tim's parents offered to buy us our stroller. Since we selected a travel set, it also came with the infant car seat. We went with the Britax system. Lola got to go for a spin around the house... she LOVED it!

+ We also finished Baby's dresser! More on that here. Its still sitting in the garage but we hope to bring it into the nursery over the weekend ( Side note: I will be SO glad to be able to park in the garage again!)

+ I am up 7 pounds to date! At this rate, I am not sure I will stay within my 20 pound weight gain goal. My doctor keeps assuring me I am "right on target" but its HARD to see the scale creep up... even if it is for a good reason. Maybe I should just not look?

+Week 20 also introduced me to my first prenatal massage... WONDERFUL!

+ Baby Girl also has a name... Charlotte Grace!

Refinished Dresser

I mentioned here that I ended up getting a second hand dresser off Craigslist to use in the nursery. I went to Babies R Us and was shocked to find that most of the dressers were in the $700 range. I had always planned to use the dresser as the changing table instead of purchasing a stand alone changer but I was not anticipating the price for that quality of furniture.... a lot of it was particleboard!

I really love the look of two-toned furniture so I decided to start skimming Craigslist for a used solid wood dresser. The very first day I came across one I liked but thought I was rushing into it. A search a few days later showed that it was still available so I sent over an email and made plans to look at it the following day. It is a solid wood Thomasville Dresser with dovetails and hidden "jewelry drawers". It has a small blemish on the top which  didn't bother me in the least since we had plans to refinish it anyway. We quickly handed over $140 and took this guy home with us! 

The first thing we did was remove all the drawers and hardware. 

As you can tell by the stacked boxes, this was in the middle of our lighting project! 

The hardware was very unique and I contemplated keeping them and giving them a coat of ORB spray paint.  But in the end they got donated to the Habitat for Humanity Restore. They did leave us with two sets of holes in each of the 6 regular drawers. 

Next step was to get supplies. Since this was our first time refinishing furniture, we opted to borrow a sander as opposed to purchasing one. My dad let us borrow his Dewalt sander and luckily he had a ton of sandpaper as well so that was another savings. I did purchase a few 2 inch drawer and cabinet rollers, 2 trim trays made for the smaller rollers, primer, paint, wood filler and spray poly.

Since I knew I wanted a two tone look, we had to strip the top of the dresser and the two hidden drawers of all the stain. The bottom portion was only getting painted so we really just needed to rough the surface up so that the paint would have something to grab on to.

Tim started the sanding but quickly got bored and opted to go fishing instead.

 Meanwhile, I patched the hardware holes in the drawers. I just used basic Elmer's Wood Filler. I put on one thin coat, let it dry for an hour and then added a second coat.

While the filler was drying, I took over the sanding. The pregnant lady had to take lots of breaks but eventually got it done!

I started with coarse sandpaper and gradually worked my way down. On the top I used coarse, medium, fine and very fine sandpaper until a reach a nice even texture that would be ideal for staining. On the bottom portion I skipped the coarse and very fine paper. The worst part of sanding... the dust. It was EVERYWHERE. I waited for Tim to help me clean up the dust so we could get a coat of primer on the dresser that evening.

I purchased Zinsser primer since I heard good things on other blogs. I wasn't impressed and actually prefer my usual Valspar primer. I purchased this stain blocking primer. I purchased good paint that supposedly didn't need primer however since I opted not to sand it down to raw wood, I thought primer would work in my favor. The coverage was very inconsistent and although I only used one coat of primer, it probably needed two to be a good base for the paint. We rolled a quick coat of primer that evening and let it dry overnight. Since it is oil based, we opted to throw out the roller and pan and start over with fresh the next day.

On to paint. I have heard AMAZING things about Benjamin Moore's Advance paint. I went to the local Ace which carries Benjamin Moore since there isn't a regular Benjamin Moore Store near me. They didn't sell the advance formula but gave me the name of another retailer locally that did.  He also gave me a bunch of paint samples to go home and color match before heading to the other store. I held the samples up to the crib and selected "Super White".
Let me tell you, the paint ain't cheap! I purchased a gallon and it cost me $50! I opted for the gallon because I have some other upcoming nursery projects that will need it but I definitely could have gotten away with a Quart. After 4 thin coats on the dresser, I still have almost a full gallon. It is a self- leveling paint with alkyd so it hardens and has a really nice finish. It is recommended for drawers and cabinets, really anything with movement. Definitely worth the extra cost!

Like I said, we opted for 4 thin coats because we still had a lot of stain showing through the primer. They recommend 24 hours of drying time between coats and 4-5 days of dry time after the final coat before attaching drawers, doors, etc. So we simply did a coat a night after work, which maybe took 10 minutes?

Next up.. staining! We actually didn't have to purchase any stain for this project. Turns out the stain I purchased for this project was a dead match to the crib we selected. It is Minwax Red Mahogany.

Years ago, my dad used to professionally stain cabinets for a living. So he asked if he could stain the top of the dresser. Here he is hard at work.

He used cheesecloth and we applied two coats of stain to get the right finish.

After the stain dried completely, we were ready or polyurethane. I purchased three cans of Rustoleum's spray interior poly in gloss. We made sure to protect our white paint by taping a plastic tarp around the bottom portion of the dresser.

In between coats of poly, he used extra fine steel wool to remove any dust traces that bubbled to the surface. I think we used 2 1/2 cans of the poly for a total of 4 thin coats... which got us a really nice sheen.

Back to hardware. I selected two knobs from Lowe's.

The top knob was the cheaper of the two but I really felt like the size of the dresser called for something a little larger. Ultimately, this guy won the race:

Installing the hardware officially wrapped up the dresser project. Here is what the final product looks like:

 Oh and because I love comparison shots. Here is what we started with and the how we ended.

 I am in love with the way it turned out. I originally thought about  staining the drawers too but I am SO glad I decided to keep the whole base white. It looks so much better that I could have imagined and ended up being significantly cheaper that its $700 Babies R Us counterpart. I think we probably spent around $100 on supplies ( would have been less if not for the Advance paint but I have SO much left over). Not too bad for $240!

Closet upgrade in under 5 minutes

Since the back bedroom is becoming the nursery(more on that here), Tim and I have to address everything we have stored in those two closets over the past two years.

One of the issues is we do not have a hanging bar in the guest room closet. And because we had the empty back bedroom, we forgot about it.  Now that we are in clean out mode, we decided to fix the issue. The guest room closet at one point did have a rod, as evident but the holder marks on either side of the closet.

So I went to Lowe's and spent around $15 on two items:  White plastic Closet Rod socker and an expandable closet rod. 

Tim was working on another project and this was a one (wo)man job. I used simply attached the sockets inside the existing marks, since this clear was a good height for the rod at some point.

Ajusted the length of my bar to the wideth of the closet and attached the bar through the middle support bracket.

It seriously took my less than five minutes...which is good considering how much longer than expected it is taking to clean out those closets in the back bedroom! I am trying to get rid of as much as possible and took a few items to Clothes Mentor the other day as well. Unfortunatley, my husband is a pack rat. Anyone have any ideas on how to convince him he does not NEED to keep a 5 gallon Rubbermaid container full of empty CD cases? Cause I am at a loss....