Morning Room Challenge: How to Trim an Arched Window

Welcome back to week three of the One Room Challenge, in which I am updating the look of our morning room! You can see the before pictures & plan here & last week's progress here.

 

This week we added trim to our windows. Okay, technically we did that a few weeks ago, with the exception of the half circle window, since the online tutorial for slicing the trim lengthwise into bendable pieces did not in fact turn the trim into bendable pieces.

After trimming the outer two windows, we turned to the window below the arch. The bottom window was slightly smaller than the arched window. We easily solved that issue by adding these decorative square pieces to each end of the trim. Then, we finished off the sides & the bottom of the window.

In order to frame the arch, we had to special order flexible moulding from Lowes' window department. This is more expensive than regular moulding, but also cheaper than having custom moulding made & installed.

The product we used is by Carter Flex & cost around $120 for 11 feet. We were able to find the exact profile of the moulding we used on the other windows.

It's a rubber-like super flexible material that easily trimmed out our window.

Once the trim was installed & all the gaps were caulked, it got a few coats of crisp, white paint.

It's not a huge difference, but we really love the way it looks, & it's definitely a step above "builder-grade" windows that are only trimmed along the bottom, as you can see below...

 While I was at it, I also gave the door & baseboards a fresh coat of white paint and touched up some of the wall paint.

 

The end chairs I ordered from Overstock arrived...

I was waiting on them to arrive so I could match the leather to paint samples for the side chairs I need to make over.

 The Ikea Malm dresser is installed & I just ordered some lamps to sit on top of it. I went the budget-friendly route & ordered the lamps in "off white" instead of the more expensive turquoise option. I am saving about $20 per lamp & plan on painting them turquoise myself. Hopefully, that will turn out well...

I ordered the curtains around labor day & just opened the box yesterday! I thought I could make the 84" curtain length work, but when we hung them up, they were really short. Looks like I will be spending some time with a seam ripper this weekend!

I do really love the color & pattern in the curtains though!

The Plans

1. Replace the small "buffet" with a white Ikea Malm dresser.

2. Add trim around the windows.

3. Replace the curtains.

4. Re-finish the table in a darker stain to minimize the "orange-y oak" look.

5. Replace the chairs with two different styles.

6. Give the secretary a makeover in the form of black paint.

7. DIY artwork

8. Add new lamps & accessories to provide cheerful pops of color.

Now, to balance making 5 Halloween costumes, hanging curtains, & painting & staining furniture...

Be sure to visit Calling It Home to see all the other One Room Challenge makeovers!

DIY Pull-Down Wall Desk

Seven months ago, I decided it was time to re-decorate my eleven-year-old son's room & immediately sold his metal desk with hopes of replacing it with an X base desk.  Once we installed his full-sized bed, it became obvious I needed to come up with a different solution.  I decided to put my own spin on the Ana White Flip Down Art Desk.

 

We made ours 30" wide by 18" tall and opted for a magnetic board instead of a chalkboard on the front. We found the sheet metal for about $10 at Lowe's (it was in with the H-vac/conduit stuff).

I would have rather stained all the wood, but we were using leftovers & only had painted trim, so I covered it in black paint. (To be completely honest, I'm not really loving the look...)

We divided the inside in half & added a chain across the left side to hold some of Zeke's notebooks & magazines. On the right side, we added a shelf about 10 inches high to hold smaller items & the bottom shelf holds pencils, chalk, & crayons. I decided to paint the desktop in chalkboard paint for any notes Zeke may need to make.

 

We used two different types of hinges to keep the desktop at a sturdy 90 degree angle.  This was definitely the biggest struggle in the building process, which may have been user error!

  

 The roller catch we used keeps the desktop closed securely when not in use.  (You can see the strike on the desktop in the picture above & the catch is on the underside of the top part of the wall piece.) 

We secured the desk to the wall by using small L-brackets in each corner, making sure to get some of them into the studs.




Since we weren't able to give Zeke the X-based desk, we gave him an X-based stool instead.
















We used these instructions for building the stool, but changed the size of ours to 19" wide by 12 3/4" deep by 19 1/2" tall (including cushion). We decided to put the wood on all four sides under the cushion, unlike the tutorial which only has it on the sides.  I stained the wood in Minwax Early American & cut two pieces of an old foam mattress topper to cushion the stool, along with some leftover fabric from Zeke's pillows.
 

 

After seven months, I am glad to finally have all of Zeke's stuff off the floor & back in his desk! Although I don't really love the aesthetics of this desk, I really do like it's function & space saving design.  Surprisingly, it holds more than my daughter's one-drawer parsons desk.

Tips to Speed Up the Painting Process

This past weekend I painted Zeke’s room.  Since the after pictures aren’t anything amazing, I thought I would share a few tips I use to speed up the painting process, since I am anything but patient!



Please use these tips with caution & remember that I am not a professional painter (in fact, I’m quite a lazy painter, hence this post!).

If you don’t already own a ladder, consider purchasing one with a molded paint can hanger.  I hang my paint can on the ladder & don’t bother removing it as I pull the ladder around the room.  I’m sure this saves a few minutes of time from having to climb down the ladder, grab the paint can, set it down, move the ladder to the next spot, grab the paint can again, etc.  Ours also has a handy spot to place your paintbrush too.  I couldn't find our exact model, but here is the link to the one in the picture.



I would recommend buying a smaller paint can with a handle if you choose the above method.  That way, you can pour a small amount of paint in the can, making it easier to cut-in & move the ladder around without spilling a freshly opened can of paint! 



Another great tool to speed up the cutting-in process is an angled, short handled paint brush.  Using one of these brushes makes cutting in so much easier & precise & saves time, since I no longer have to prep everything with painters tape.



The final tip I have is to use an extension pole for your paint roller.  We are able to unscrew the handle from our push broom & use it as an extension for our paint roller.  It again, saves me time from having to drag the ladder around the room to paint the top half of the room.  Instead, I can paint the whole wall using the long pole.



I was able to paint my son’s room in just a few hours using these tools & techniques.  I hope you will find them helpful too & as always, if you have additional tips, I would love to hear them!



Above is a quick peek into my son’s brighter bedroom.  We removed the chair rail, trimmed out the window, & painted it Toasted Almond by Olympic Paints.  I hope to be able to reveal more of the room next week!

DIY Mirrored Console Cabinet

As promised, today I am posting the details of how we built the mirrored cabinet in our family room.



Supplies

• 4’x8’x3/4” sanded birch plywood
• 1”x2”x8’ pine (4)
• 1-1/8” x 10’ lattice strip (3)
• 60”x25-1/2” thin piece of plywood (for the back)
• 2 1/2” wood screws
• 1-5/8”x7 trim screws
• 4 knobs
• 8 hinges
• 4 double magnetic latches
• 6 Ikea Besta square white legs
• mirrored glass (wait to purchase this)
• primer
• white paint (we used a semi-gloss finish)
• caulk
• liquid nails
• mirror clips

To begin, we had Home Depot cut the plywood into two 60”x16” pieces (top & bottom) & three 25-1/2”x16” pieces (sides & middle).  Then, we attached the bottom piece to one side with three 2-1/2” screws.  Be sure to drill pilot holes first to prevent the wood from splitting. 



Repeat these steps for the other side.



Next, add the top piece to the sides the same way.



Use a tape measurer to mark the middle of your rectangle.  Insert the middle piece at your marks & attach it, again with three screws going in the top & bottom.  (Please ignore the trash spilling out of the recycling bin in the photo below & all the papers on the floor the girls were coloring!)



At this point, we added the legs & Mark began working on the doors while I sanded, primed, & painted the base piece.  (I used an orbital sander to sand down the raw/cut edges of the wood before priming & painting them.  After doing so, I thought it looked fine, but you may want to add veneer or trim to the raw edges.)  To create the doors, we cut the 1”x2” pine boards into eight 11-1/4” pieces (tops & bottoms of the doors).  Then we cut eight more pieces into 25-3/8” length which would be the sides of the doors. 



My husband used his router to create an area for the mirror to set.  If you don’t have a router, I’m sure you could omit this step & just attach the mirror using clips.  Then, we attached the side pieces to the tops & bottoms using 1-5/8”x7 trim screws with a kreg jig to create the doors.

Next we attached the hinges to the doors.  In order for inset doors to function properly, a notch needs to be made the size of the hinge plate where it rests on the side of the door.  This allows for ample clearance on the hinge side of the door, while minimizing the gap between the door & the side of the cabinet.

At this point, I recommend attaching the doors to the cabinets just to make sure they do not need to be trimmed down or need any other adjustments.  (It would really stink to find out the doors were too big after the mirrors were cut & installed.)



Once we knew our doors would fit properly, we headed to Lowes & got mirrored glass cut to fit our openings.  I recommend measuring all the doors to make sure your glass fits properly.  (FYI:  Lowes will cut your glass for you.  Home Depot will not.)  We also primed & painted the doors before installing the glass.

Once we had our glass, we removed the doors & used some clips to attach it to the wood.  You could attach your mirrors with these fasteners if you did not route the edges of the doors.  We ended up using these clips & some mirror tape, which was kind of janky, but we couldn't find any clips that would work for us.  Be careful not to over-tighten the screw or the mirror could crack.



We just put one on each side of the doors.



This is what the doors looked like once the glass was installed.



After a quick clean of the glass, Mark used an angle finder to determine the angle of the corners & cut the first diagonal piece of lattice strip (which we pre-painted). 

Most miter saws cannot cut such a sharp angle.  There are a couple of ways you can cut these angles.  Number one:  Using the angle finder, trace the line that you need to cut & cut it either using a band saw, jig saw, circular saw, etc.  Just cut it across the line.  Number two:  Some miter saws have a 90 degree fence that can fit into the miter saw.  Using the fence, subtract the angle from 90 degrees to determine what setting your miter saw should be at.

We then attached it using a thin strip of liquid nails.



Again, Mark used his angle finder to determine the angle of the bottom corner & the angle at which it met the middle of the other piece of lattice.  He then cut the lattice & repeated the same steps to get the top half to complete the X.  Once those pieces were cut, we attached them with liquid nails.





You will want to caulk any gaps in the trim.

Once the glue was dry, we re-attached the doors & installed the knobs.  Then we added double magnetic latches.  These act as a stop so the doors don’t push through the cabinet.  The magnets on ours were a little strong, so I put some tape over them to lessen their strength (I feared the kids would pull them so hard they might break the glass…).



Finally, we attached the thin piece of plywood to the back using some nails.



I am still so happy with how this turned out! 



Click here to see the full tour of the family room.



Linking to the Pretty Preppy Party at Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss

Family Room Challenge: Tweaking the Entertainment Center

It’s time for another One Room Challenge update on the progress in our family room.  This past week, we spent our time re-working the entertainment center we had originally built five years ago from some Craigslist bookshelves & a sink vanity.  There was nothing wrong with the unit per say, but I had grown tired of it’s look & wanted something that wasn’t as big & bulky.  The TV cabinet was at least two feet deep & the top was probably 7 feet tall, so it took up a lot of visual space in the room.  Now that we have two full-sized sofas & a large coffee table in the room, I was ready to downsize these pieces.

First, let’s take a look at what we were starting with:



After seeing this design board come to life, I really liked the modern look of the dark TV cabinets with brass ring hardware in the middle of the doors.  Since we are making over this room on a pretty tight budget, we decided not to spend money on the Ikea Besta cabinets, but instead tweak our current cabinet to have a similar look.  Here’s what we did:



1. After removing all the doors & drawers, my husband first removed the top pieces & moldings.

2. Next, Mark took off the taller side pieces we had added to the cabinet.

4. (Oops!  I put these in the wrong order!)  The third step was to decrease the depth of the cabinet.  My husband marked a straight edge on the remaining top & side pieces about 17” from the front.  Then, he used his circular saw to cut off the excess on the sides & top.

3. Finally, we cut the front & sides right below the drawers, to lower the height of the TV. 



I guess at some point we also removed all the base molding.  Once the piece was the correct proportions, we began building it back.  First, we re-attached the top, added the thin back piece, cut new pieces of finished plywood to add to the sides, & re-attached the baseboard trim along the three bottom sides.

Then, I painted the whole piece in a satin black & added these 3-inch ring pulls to the doors.

Here it is today: 



You can still see where I filled the holes from the old hardware, so I need to work on those a little more. 



Also, please ignore the kitchen set.  It is only there temporarily!

The next step was to make doors for the bookcases (in the picture at the top of this post).  This is the room our kids play in primarily, so I wanted a concealed space to store books, games, & toys.  My husband started out by cutting some 1x3 pine boards to size & then routed one side on each board.  He used the kreg jig to attach each of the four 1x2s together.





Originally I wanted these doors to be mirrored, but I realized they would either constantly look dirty or I would always be cleaning them, so I opted for the cheaper, kid friendlier option, sanded plywood.  Mark inserted it in the frame & added a few staples to hold it in.



I knew the doors would need a little pizazz, so I searched the internet for an easy design, & sketched up a few choices for Mark to look at.  He liked none of them.  (I wasn’t crazy about any of them either…)  I mentioned that I liked the design on the glass doors on our secretary…



and he thought that was do-able.  A few hours later, he had the design sketched on the doors & was cutting the pieces.  He just used some lock-tight to glue them on & finished his work off caulking the whole thing.

When all that was done, I painted the bookcases & doors.  Once dry, Mark used some concealed hinges to mount the doors.



I spray painted these Ikea handles gold & installed them on the doors.



Here is the whole setup now…



Sorry for all the glares on the TV.



One more look back…





Along the way, I had a few doubts…Did the door design look too gothic?  Would one big door on the bookcases look too big?  Would the contrast between the black TV console & white bookcases be too much?  In the end, I really like the way they turned out!  Looking at the above picture, you would never know those were the same pieces as the “before” picture!  The icing on the cake is all the extra storage we have!  After filling up the bookcases with books, toys, & the puzzles & games (that were previously stored in the kitchen) we still have two shelves of unused space!



There are only two weeks left before this One Room Challenge is finished.  Here’s what I have left to do:

• Paint walls & trim
• Add window trim
• Hang curtain panels
• Make & hang roman blinds on side windows
• Build coffee table
• Address toy cubbies
• Refinish side table
• Hang art
• Build console table
• Tweak TV unit
• Add doors to bookcases
• Add pillows, lamps, rug, & accessories

This week I’m hoping to make the pillows & faux roman shades.  Maybe I can sweet talk my husband into starting on the console table too!

In case you missed out on anything, check out my previous progress:

Week One- Before & A Plan
Week Two- DIY Coffee Table
Week Three- More Progress

You can find many more room makeovers in progress on Linda’s link up party here.

I'm also linking to the Best of the Nest party.