Looking back: A bright office

It’s time for a trip down memory lane! I mentioned earlier this week that I’ll be sharing some of the rooms in our home over the years over the next few weeks. I LOVE before and after pics and I love looking back at this space because I think it’s one of the biggest transformations I’ve ever completed in this house.

This room was decorated and painted before I ever started blogging, like all the other rooms in our house. I painted it a good eight years ago I think? Let’s just say my style was…different. :) I actually quite liked this room for a long while – I loved how cozy it felt. But the color always bugged me, I just couldn’t get it right.

These are total old school before pics – you can tell by the computer monitor. ;) I took these some time in 2007/08, not sure when. I know it was when my baby was actually a baby. :)

Behold the ORANGE:

I was never going for orange – let’s just clarify that right now. I always wanted it to be a rust color. It was not. :) Back then I was really into the dark wood tones and deep colors, as you can see. As I always say, my style then wouldn't be what I would do now, but I am still proud of what I did. It was “me” at the time – who knows what our house will look like ten years from now?

Did I mention I painted the ceiling the same color as the walls? Yeah. I’ve always been a painted ceiling girl, even when it made the room feel like a cave. A comfy cave at least:

A few years later I repainted the room, this time hitting the mark a little better. It was more of rust color color for sure, but it still would get an orangey tone in some light:

We also used this room as the kiddo’s playroom for years. After about three years of not being able to walk in there most days I moved most of the toys to the loft and reclaimed this spot for me.

So about four years ago I started the process of making over this room in a big way! I started with a new “desk” (actually an old farmhouse table I got from a friend), a new light (there is no overhead light in here) and painting the room:

I also painted over the red ceiling with a pale blue, I was SO glad to see that dark color go!!

Then I got the crown molding up and took on the board and batten walls:

My vision was starting to come together!

I recovered the faux leather parsons chair (I’m sitting on it now and I can’t believe how well it’s held up!) and added a dresser from Craigslist for storage. I covered the upper part of the walls in Goodwill frames spray painted white – they are full of photos and art that are near and dear to me. I love it. :)

This room actually gets a TON of natural light, so my hope was to work with that and make it a bright, pretty space.

This is a corner of the darker version of the office before:

And that area now looks like this:

That DIY memo board that was hanging to the right felt too heavy in the room so I took it down. I think it looks so much better without it!

I didn’t completely remove all of the Bub’s things from this space – the dresser is full of craft supplies and the caddy holds his markers, paint and crayons:

Because of a leak that ruined our old laminate floors, we ended up getting new hardwoods and continued them throughout the main floor, including this room. It made a HUGE difference in here as well.

Here’s a shot of the other corner of the room before (check out that sexy monitor!):

That thing weighted at least 30 pounds, no joke.

Now that side looks like this:

The little table was my sister-in-law’s when she was small and she gave me the OK to update it. My boy doesn’t sit at this nearly as much as he used to though. Sniff. :(

You’ll notice the filing cabinet and printer are gone – the cabinet didn’t hold nearly enough files so I sold it. We now use a cheapy metal one and keep it in the basement. The printer is wireless so it’s in my husband’s basement office since he uses it more often.

Here’s what you saw when you walked in to the room before:

And this is that same corner now (well, a few months ago):

Ignore the Charlie Brown trash can, it’s been toned down quite a bit and looks much prettier now. ;)

I finished this space more than two years ago and I absolutely LOVE working in here. Before I worked from the sofa most nights, now I spend my days in here and it is a complete joy to be in this space. It’s quiet, sun-filled and there are usually a few cats laying on the desk as I work. :)

The only change I’m considering right now is the desk – I’d like to have something a little bit smaller. I do love the large surface space but I don’t need it quite this big. We have a couple options that I’m going to try in here to see how they work! (The cats will not be happy though.)

So there’s one of the spaces in our home that’s changed the most over the past ten years. I can’t believe the difference when I look back! My office is easily one of my favorite rooms in our house – it should be since it took me nearly two years to finish. :)

You can see all of my projects and posts about this space here!

DIY craftsman window trim

WHOOT! I finally tackled a DIY project that I’ve been wanting to do FOREVER. But I was afraid…so afraid. I am excited to share it with you – there are a lot of pics so grab some coffee or a Coke and enjoy. :)

In addition to beefy baseboards and door trim, my dream has always been to add chunky trim around our windows. It just adds SO much character, I just love it. But all these years I haven’t been able to do it because our window sills weren’t wide enough. A long time ago I realized I could add some very skinny trim around the window that would match up with the sill:

This is a before I shot quickly before I started three days ago when it was 80 degrees and gorgeous. Today it’s 32 and snowy. But I digress.

To do the trim I wanted to do I’d have to take the whole sill (or stool, as it’s technically called) off and that intimidated me. But then I saw Cristina’s tutorial last summer and I thought it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. I ended up following her instructions and they worked perfectly!

I actually wanted to do this SO badly at Christmas after we got our tree up. I thought it would look so lovely to have the beefy trim on the windows, but I reeled it in and realized starting this in December was not the best idea. ;)

Fast forward a few months and I finally started! First up, I removed the apron underneath the sill. Fun story – in the CRAZY cold we had this winter the window was iced up and when it melted it went into the wall. That area below the apron was a big bubble of water. Good stuff!:

So first you need to score all the areas (with a razor) that are caulked, otherwise when you pull the trim off it will pull the paint/drywall away:

I freaked for a split second when I pulled it off and thought there was mold:

But it was just overspray from when the room was painted years ago. :) Whew.

Here’s where I forgot to take a pic, but after the apron is gone, you take a crow bar and start pulling up the stool, or the sill. It was actually MUCH easier than I thought it would be. I mean, I’ve stood on these things – I thought they’d be impossible to remove. But they came up pretty fast and easy.

The only issue I had was the ends would start digging into the drywall as I pulled up:

When I worked on one end at a time (instead of trying to pull the whole thing up at once) it helped a bunch. I just focused on one side and got that up and clear of the drywall, then got the whole thing out. I do have to touch up a little drywall there but it’s not bad.

This is the shape of our stool when it was out:

And here’s what it looks like underneath:

I was actually AMAZED that we didn’t have any water issues – our windows get condensation every winter if we don’t adjust our humidifier in the HVAC system just so. And they were covered in ice more than once this past winter. This shows the power of glossy paint and caulk my friends!

After all that I took the skinny trim off the sides of the windows:

I kept that all for future projects. I’ve used it on all of the wainscoting in this room.

Then I started the process of building up the new trim. I shared this image when I did my first craftsman door trim and it is so helpful:

 

I can’t find their size used for the fillet, so I use a trim piece called stop instead. It works great.

Also, our window sills are deeper so I had to use 1 x 8 wood instead of the standard 1 x 5. I followed Cristina’s instructions and used the old sill as my guide for the new one. The only thing you need to keep in mind is your trim that will be on the sides of the windows – mine was 3 1/2 inches and I wanted the stool to stick out a bit from that, so I traced the original onto the new wood, but gave myself four inches:

Here’s how it looks installed so that makes more sense:

I followed my traced lines with a jigsaw to cut it out. Don’t worry if the lines aren’t perfect!:

They will be mostly covered with the new apron and the trim on each side of the window. The parts that aren’t covered are easily fixed with caulk. (My BFF.):

Putting up the trim is my favorite part! Seeing it come together is awesome. You’ll notice in that pic above that I had to pull off some other trim – more on that in a minute.

I took my sander to the edges of the new sill because this pine has really sharp edges. I do this on all of the door trim I’ve installed too:

I just knock it down a little so it’s not so pointy. If you have a router this would be even better. Then I did one coat of primer and two coats semi gloss paint on everything. I may go back over the stool with a high gloss just to make sure it’s waterproof.

So when I was putting the new trim up I realized the wainscoting I installed years ago was going to be in the way – I had to pull off each box on the wall and reinstall it all to make the new trim work. Total pain in the butt.

Some of it you can’t see, but some areas I still need to putty, sand and paint again:

I still need to touch up that area that was a bubble of water too. :)

But that will come later because for now I’m enjoying the new window trim that I love! Whoo hoo!:

I had to pull the chair rail down to do it and I’ve wanted to replace it for a while anyway, so I started installing a new simpler rail:

I only have one wall done so far. I can’t BELIEVE how different the room looks with the beefier trim around the windows.

I took the drapes down before Christmas (you know, thinking I would do this back then), and I don’t know if I can put any back up:

We’ll see. :)

Here’s a closer look at how the new chair rail, reinstalled wainscoting and new window trim works together:

I still need to clean up the walls a bit like I said, and caulk around the trim up higher, but for now I’m calling it good!:

I took one of these images and detailed the wood I used:

That should help if you’d like to try this yourself! Remember the 1x2 and stop up on top and the stool on the bottom will be a bit wider than the other pieces. The ones on top are 1/4 inch longer on both sides and the stool on the bottom is 1/2 longer on both ends.

Here’s a shot of the before again:

And here’s the after:

Now…I just need to find someone to add the trim to the upper windows. Cause this girl is not doing it. :)

Have you beefed up your window trim? Like everything else, it will take me years to get it done throughout the whole house, but this start makes me happy! Big props to Cristina for her awesome post that gave me the courage to tackle this one! And if you have any questions let me know in the comments – I tried to cover everything but I always forget something.

Dark gray accent wall

Hello everybody! It is beautiful outside and I’m SO excited about the project I finished up this weekend! I’ve been planning it for some time now and I finally bit the bullet and got it done over Saturday and Sunday.

This one was all about the long wall behind our bed in the master. It’s looked like this for some time now, about nine months:

I painted it before we got our new bed and I installed the DIY headboard last summer. I was in such a rush to get it done I didn’t even cut in at the ceiling or the baseboards. And it sat.

I was telling a friend the other day that know when I’m not sure about a project when I let it sit for months. I’m talking six months to a year, or even years, like the powder room. If I’m loving the direction it’s going I’m pretty good at making it happen fairly quickly. (Granted, quickly in my time is still pretty slow.)

So I knew within a few months that I wasn’t feeling the light color on that wall, or I would have finished it up. I told you here how I was waffling between a dark or light bedroom – I love both! And I finally figured out how to make both happen. :)

I had been thinking of how to make that wall a little more dramatic and had a plan in mind. Then it was solidified when I saw Sarah’s wall in her office. Her dark wall was so striking, I loved it!

So that’s what I did. I was at the fancy mall a few months ago and the wall behind the cashier at Pottery Barn was a beautiful dark gray – I asked what it was and that’s when I knew Peppercorn was the color I would use:

I got the swatch a couple months ago and checked it in the room – it matched the dark gray in the rug perfectly and the new mirror over the fireplace too. It was meant to be!

I started by painting the wall Saturday – no cutting in needed, my favorite!:

I had this mixed in an eggshell finish – I love a dark color in a matte finish but I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll see every little scuff and want to be able to wipe it easily.

After the wall was painted I moved on to the trim work. I used simple mdf boards from Lowe’s – they come primed white. I got 13 boards so the total cost was around $80. I go back and forth on painting before installation and this time I did:

But I’ve decided I still think it’s easier to just paint it all after the fact. You have to spackle all the holes and gaps and even though I tint it with the paint color, you still have to sand/wipe it down and then do at least one more coat after that:

And eventually I’ll probably caulk this whole wall (I haven’t yet) and I’ll have to paint over that too. So, I think I’ll always be a paint-after-install girl. :)

I did a “frame” around the whole wall – mitering the corners like you see above. Then I did a board and batten look on the rest of the wall:

And I LOVE IT.

Like, stand in the room and stare at it, LOVE. My husband can't stop talking about it too, that’s when I know it’s a home run for us. :)

It is just perfect as an accent in this room. The headboard pops off of it even more than with the lighter color and even the navy blue lamps still look good:

I never ever take pictures at night but I couldn’t resist – it looks so good during the day but I think I love it even more at night:

You can see above that the other three walls are still their original color – that’s the next step. They will be that light gray that was on the bed wall soon – as soon as I get the ladder and extender paint pole out. :) I’m SO excited about how this room is coming together now, I’m thrilled with it.

This is how it looks during the day:

I still have to touch up smudges on the ceiling too, so ignore those. :) I couldn’t decide if I wanted to paint the base the same color as the wall, but I like it as is.

I planned the two segments on the wall so I could clear the headboard. I’m considering adding another line of the boards to make a third (bottom) segment – but I’m not sure. If I do it will mess with the headboard so I think I’m just leaving it:

It truly makes that wall a focal point now, which is what I think the room needed. Love it so much.

This room is really coming together now but there’s still a lot I want to do! The priority is to finally get the rest of those walls done – two coats on each wall which is going to be SUPER FUN. :)

Do you prefer a light or dark bedroom? I think when I’m done this will be a good mix of both. I especially love the board and batten look in this dark color – have you ever done something similar in a dark paint?

We’re off for spring break this week so I’ll be taking a few days to be with my family – I’ll be back Friday with a quick little DIY project for the closet! That’s another space I’m excited about! Have a lovely, warm(?), safe week!

My love, chunky trim

I’m on a mission in our house. A mission to remove all wimpy, skinny trim. I’m talking baseboards and door trim and I haven’t even started with the window trim. We’ve lived hear almost ten years and I’ve barely just begun.

It’s going to be a long, hard fight. So far the wimpy trim is still winning. :)

I’ve completed two rooms – TWO. The mud room and the powder room are done. Small victories. Wait! Three rooms are done, the whole point of this post – the master!

I shared a bit of the new door trim with you a couple weeks ago when I shared the new beefy baseboards I installed over the old ones. But I finally got to finishing it up by filling holes, painting two more coats of white paint and caulking (almost) everything.

Here’s the completed door to our bathroom:

I’ve blogged about this process before but I thought I’d share a little more detail this time. The doors are all trimmed out in pine wood and I use five pieces to make up the final look.

The two sides are regular 1x4’s, which aren’t 1x4 at all but whatever. One of life’s mysteries. The top is the three more trim pieces. Here’s a side view of the three pieces that make this one up:

There’s a 1x2 on top, then another 1x4 and a small trim piece called “stop” on the bottom. The stop part is what I’ve changed up since the first time I did this. In our powder room I used lattice wood and it felt too thin for me.

You can see here that the stop has a curved edge:

In this room I actually used taller wood for the header – in the pic above it's a 1x4 but because our room is large and the ceiling is high, I went with a 1x6:

LOVE it.

I avoided doing this for years because I thought it would be so complicated. It’s not at all. I assemble the header on the floor (with a nail gun) and then put it up after the two side trim pieces are installed:

SO dreamy.

Here’s a look at the double doors:

Ignore the sides of the trim – I decided not to caulk until I paint the rest of the room.

I like that the “stop” trim has a little bit of a curve to one side – I think it gives it a little more of a custom look:

This one isn’t as easy to appreciate though, since the doors are usually open: 

But the chunky header looks pretty darn good.

Just imagine how great they’ll look with sexy black doors – my other mission. :)

Obviously this is a splurge – it’s not a necessity but I love the look and I think it makes our home feel more “classic” and less “2004 build.” I’ve been doing this slowly over years now and I won’t do every doorway – I doubt I’ll touch the basement for instance. But overall it’s changing the feel of our home and I love it!

Have you tried a similar look in your home? Do you love the classic white craftsman trim as much as I do? It’s not nearly as hard as I thought it would be!