After I showed you the new board and batten treatment we hung on the walls of our playroom last month, a few of you said you wanted to try it yourself. I thought it would be helpful for you to see the rooms and DIY tutorials that inspired us when we were planning ours.

#1: Donna of Funky Junk Interiors added board and batten to the focal wall of her bedroom, which adds texture and interest.

#2: Kimba’s board and batten tutorial at A Soft Place to Land shows how to angle the boards at the bottom so you don’t have to remove the baseboard.

#3: The Nester installed it in her home office a little over halfway up the wall. With the paint color above it, her version looks really cozy and warm.

#4: The tutorial at It’s the Little Things That Make a House a Home was a big help to us when we were trying to figure it out ourselves.

#5: If that’s not enough to get you started, you can see the before and after photos of our playroom project and read all the details about how we did it here.

P.S. Tune in to the Nate Berkus Show today if you have a chance. A producer asked to use some of my photos for it. Not sure if they’ll even give me credit, but I’m eager to see how they use them! I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

This is how my kids’ playroom looked when we moved in. Very “builder white” and boring. We finally got around to decorating the playroom this summer, and I thought you might like to see how it turned out.

First of all, we knew we wanted some kind of wood trim on the walls, but it had to be more casual and playful than the crown molding we hung in the rest of the house. We decided to try board and batten to give it more of a “vacation cottage” look.

We started by taping off the walls where we thought we wanted it to go. We had to play around with it for awhile to get it exactly the way we wanted. We spaced them out 14″ apart so that we could get a paint roller between each board.

I knew I wanted to use an apple-green color above the woodwork, so I narrowed it down to ones I liked and let my daughter Lily choose her favorite. We painted the wall below the horizontal tape line a glossy white and Valspar’s “Limeade” above.

We paid Lowe’s a little extra to cut the MDF boards into strips for us, which saved a lot of work and mess on our end. (They only charged 25 cents per cut, which was a lot cheaper than renting or buying a table saw!) It was still time consuming to give each one a coat of primer and white paint. They had to be painted again after we hung them. It was a multiple-weekend process, but not too difficult.

We used 3/4″ thick boards for the horizontal strips and 1/2″ for the verticals. The horizontal pieces were 4″ wide and the verticals were 2″. In other words, the top boards are thicker and wider.  (It only cost about $90 for all the MDF we used, including the cutting charge.)

We left an open spot (no boards) in the center of focal wall because I wanted to decorate it without trying to work around the boards:

After we got all the wood hung and painted, it was time to start decorating. We’re reusing most of the same furniture that was in there before–at least for now–but bought some new shelves for hidden storage, and a new green dresser. Here’s how it looks now:

We wanted some fun new light fixtures–it’s a playroom, after all!–but I didn’t have much in the budget for them. I found these Fillsta pendants at IKEA for $29. Can’t beat that!

I hung four colorful foam bulletin boards I found at Target years ago and had some family photos enlarged to pin to them. (That’s the wall where we left the space in the wood trim.)

Ignore those empty picture frames in the photo above. I was trying to figure out how they’d look on top of the shelves. I have since switched them out with some of my old Nancy Drew mysteries:

I loved Nancy Drew when I was a girl. Maybe because so many of her mysteries involved houses (The Bungalow Mystery, the Moss-Covered Mansion, Shadow Ranch, Red Gate Farm, Lilac Inn–what great titles for a budding young house-lover!):

I should add that this room doubles as a guest room, so I had to keep that in mind when we were decorating it, too. The sofa opens up, but our guests are frequently young nieces and nephews who would prefer to sleep on air mattresses on the floor.

There’s a beat-up old sofa under that white denim slipcover. It seemed easier to cover it than to get it back downstairs and out the front door!

The little green dresser came from Home Goods for $99. It’s great for storing coloring books, paint brushes, notebooks, etc. The lamps are all from Target:

We found this kitchen table on clearance for next-to-nothing and thought it would be perfect as an “arts and crafts table” for the kids. They’ve spent hours sitting here over the years. I don’t know what we’d do without it:

We installed pleated pull-down accordion shades on the window so they mostly disappear when they’re pushed up during the day (no cords). I didn’t want anything to block the view of the woods behind our house. I had found some curtains I loved for the room, but after Dave trimmed out the window, I thought it looked so good that I didn’t want to hide it.

I gave the kids boxes to keep their craft supplies organized on the table and Lily labeled them:

I also hung a big bulletin board on the wall where they can display their artwork:

Most of the houses in our neighborhood have two-story family rooms. We asked the builder to create a playroom above our family room instead. A soaring family room would have looked much more dramatic and impressive, but I’m a practical person at heart who hates wasted space. (You can read my thoughts on two-story family rooms and see the results of the poll I took about them here.)

To sum up, the playroom went from this:

To this:

We still have a few more things to do in here. I’d love to get hardwood flooring (we’ve been slowly replacing the carpet throughout the house). We need a new TV and console–this one is so old and quirky that it occasionally turns on and off by itself. But I’m happy with the changes we made for now. Not bad for a low-budget makeover.

What do you think? Do you like the board and batten look? Working on any makeovers of your own?

Love Before & Afters? Click Here to See More!

I get a lot of requests for posts about woodwork and crown molding, so I asked Tim “The Remodeling Guy” to weigh in on the topic.

I have an abnormal fascination with woodwork. I’m a hard core believer. Are you? If so, you’ll love this post. If not, I’m going to try and convert you! Julia has graciously loaned me her platform today and when she suggested that you might like to read about trim work, I was thrilled.

I love trim for two big reasons:

1. It’s wood. That means I can work with it. I can shape it, mold it and otherwise cajole it into the position where it will be the most effective.
2. It makes a huge impact! Just a small amount of strategically placed trim can make a difference much greater than you might imagine. I love that!

Using wood trim, you can take any room of any shape, size, or style and improve upon it in as little as a few hours. And you don’t have to be an experienced pro to do it! You just have to be willing to learn!

Where to Start

If you’re on a mission to upgrade your trim, you might be wondering where to start. Which ones to do first? Of course the answer is unique to your home because each house/room is different. But I can tell you the order I would go in:

1. Door Casing

A nicely trimmed door or opening looks fantastic. Upgrading the door trim is one of the simplest improvements you can make, yet it rewards you immensely and for years to come.

2. Baseboard

I might have mentioned this first, but in order to have flexibility in Baseboard design, you have to have your door casing done right! It’s important to always have door trim that’s deep enough to allow your baseboard to run into the side of it cleanly without sticking out. (sometimes they use “plinth blocks” for this purpose)

A nice baseboard anchors a room in a way that nothing else can. Personally, I prefer them tall and thick. I want room on top for a nice base cap and room at the bottom for a great shoe molding. I love a three-piece or more built-up base trim.

3. Window Casing

I’d do window casing next. Installing wood trim around windows makes more difference in many houses than any other trim job because it’s something that many builders leave out of the package! It’s easy to do and can make a room!

4. Crown Molding

Finally, I would do the crown molding. I’ve seen people procrastinate on this for years because it just seems so hard to do. I say do it! If you just totally don’t want to fight with the angles on large crown, use a flat board with a small cove molding at the top or some similar combination. The smaller the piece of trim you’re trying to cut, the easier it is to get than angle to line up.

I’d encourage you to try the big stuff though. The angle cuts aren’t that hard and installation isn’t impossible if you’re patient. And there is always the option of hiring a professional. I’ve had trim crews who could run the crown in a house, a whole four bedroom house (every room) in a day with three men working. Sometimes it’s easier just to hire someone!

Pick a Spot and Start

No matter which type of trim you start with, I encourage you to give it a try. The change you’ll see in your home is worth every bit of effort and expense. (IMHO!)

Of course, your list of options is much longer than four items! There are choices about materials, profiles, fasteners, and finishes. There are hundreds of other types and uses for trim and they all make a difference! I hope you go for it!

—————–

Thanks Julia for giving me the opportunity to guest post here at Hooked On Houses! I love your blog and I’m honored to be here! ~ Tim

For more information on this topic, check out the very helpful series about trim on Tim’s popular blog Remodeling Guy.

Welcome to Hooked on Fridays, a blog party I host at the end of each week to celebrate the things that make us happy. This week I’m hooked on house projects that we can do ourselves and save some money in the process–so I’m joining Remodeling Guy’s Spring Round-Up party.

We all have projects that nag at us. Take my two-story foyer–please! (Ba-dum-bum.) You’ve heard me rant about two-story rooms and how they’re really not my thing. Our neighborhood is filled with them–almost impossible to buy a house around here without soaring ceilings. We put a playroom upstairs where our two-story family room would’ve been, but we’ve still got a two-story foyer to deal with.

Before:

I wish we had enlarged the kids’ rooms and added a bath between them, but this is what I got instead: some blank space with a window and a bright brass light fixture. I’d been wanting to do something about it for years and finally got around to it.

During:

First, we rented some scaffolding and painted the foyer Eddie Bauer “Pecan” to match the rooms around it. I liked this soft green, but it made the house feel dark all the time.  I was also feeling “boxed in” with that color, since you could see it from every room of the house. Painting it was a pain, but the scaffolding made it a lot easier (we used ladders last time).

My handy husband Dave then risked life and limb to hang crown molding and trim around the window (to see other crown molding projects he’s done around our house, click here).

Notice we took down the ugly brass light fixture. I wanted to buy a new one soooo badly. But we’re trying to save our pennies like everyone else right now. So instead of getting my dream chandelier, I painted the old one instead. Now, for about $6 bucks’ worth of spray paint, it looks (almost) new. Best of all, it finally matches the bronze fixtures in the rest of the house.

After:

It’s still not my favorite spot in the house, but at least it’s an improvement! Be sure to visit Remodeling Guy to see the projects everyone else is showing us today (or enter one of yours–there will be prizes!).

Now it’s your turn to tell us what you’re hooked on. If you have something to share with us on your blog, then add your link below. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address.
2. You can put what you’re hooked on in parentheses after your blog name. You’ll probably get more visitors that way! Ex: Hookedonhouses (Not So Big Houses)
3. Link back to the party from your post so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is talking about today!
4. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what a blog party is all about!
5. Double-check to make sure your link works and goes to the right page so it doesn’t get deleted! If you come back and see your link is gone, re-read these rules and try again.

Hooked on Fridays Participants

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Today Kari & Kijsa are hosting a “Mantel Party,” where everyone takes a photo of theirs and posts it on their blog. I know you’ve seen photos of my mantel before, but it sounded like too much fun not to play along.

Here’s a photo from right after we moved into our house. My daughter Lily was only a toddler then. (Excuse me while I take a moment to ponder where the last 4 years went…)

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that “home” is a work in progress. It’s not something you can create overnight and be done with it. Mine is always changing and evolving. I actually keep photo albums for each of the houses I’ve lived in with pictures of our rooms as they have “grown” with us. It’s never just a simple “before” and “after.” It’s more like “before” and “after-after-after”! So I thought I’d show you a few of the photos I’ve taken of my mantel in the four years we’ve lived here.

The family room was pretty blah and lifeless (except for that sweet girl who was playing in there!), so the first thing we did was paint the walls in a darker shade of beige called “Pecan.” Here’s how it looked with the new paint color (and a new fireplace screen that I found for practically nothing at TJ Maxx!):

It was an improvement–but still just didn’t have enough oomph.

So I asked Handy Dave if he could add some crown molding to the room, trim out those small square windows, and maybe add an overmantel? He had never done anything like that before, but he’s always up for a challenge. So, after Googling “overmantels” to find out what they were, and then buying lots of new tools, he set to work. (You can catch a glimpse of my handy hubby in the mirror as he took the picture.)

Here is the first version he came up with, but it just wasn’t…quite…right (I set a few things up there just to get an idea for how it would look):

We figured out that using the same crown at the top of the overmantel that we had used around the room wasn’t dramatic enough. So we went back to Lowe’s and bought a heftier piece of crown to center over the top.

I also didn’t like how the white background looked, so I asked him to repaint it the same Pecan color as the rest of the room. This was the result:

As I’ve mentioned before, I like to keep things in my family room and kitchen neutral and change the colors on a whim. Here’s what the mantel looked like last Fall:

And here’s what it looked like at Christmas:

This summer, it’s lighter and more neutral, but I’m planning to add turquoise to it soon. I’ll be sure to post a photo of it when I mix it up again.

Lily and I say thanks for stopping by! Now hop on over to Kari & Kijsa’s place to see who else is sharing their mantel with the blogosphere today. You’re sure to get lots of fresh ideas for decorating yours!

If You Want to Take a Peek Around:

• Before & After: My Writing Room Makeover
• Lily’s Little Bathroom Makeover
• My Real (Messy) Life: A Tour of Our House on an Ordinary Day

Remember that bedroom room I showed you with the layers upon layers of crown molding in it? I asked the question, “Is there such a thing as too much crown molding?” And boy, did you guys have a lot of opinions on the subject!

Well, Hooked on Houses reader Susie, who has a fun blog called Hillcrest Acres, wrote and asked if I’d post photos of the rest of the house. I thought if she was interested, maybe the rest of you would be, too, so here they are.

This is a newly constructed home in New Hope, Pennsylvania, selling for $3.25 million. It has 5 bedrooms, and 5.5 baths.

I have to say I find the name a little pretentious, especially considering it’s in Pennsylvania, not France. But whatever. The house is fun to look at, and that’s the important thing. Let the gawking begin!

According to the MLS description:

Once upon a time, houses were solidly built with natural materials designed to last a lifetime and beyond. Maison de Village, a new French-inspired estate home in Solebury Township, will be such a residence. Built of castle-cut stone and old-world limestone plaster, this 6,500-square-foot estate home will be privately situated on 4.7 acres.

Solid alder wood double-arched front doors, three Rumford fireplaces, white oak flooring throughout, custom kitchen cabinetry by a renowned Bucks County cabinetmaker, a slate roof with copper trim and masterfully built stone and brick chimney stacks are just a few of the best-quality finishes that will be used in this home. Built and Designed by D’Alessio Construction, one of Bucks County’s premier builders.

Side door (below):

This has to be one of the biggest kitchen islands I’ve ever seen.

Here’s the master bedroom that I showed you before in the “Too Much Crown Molding?” post. Now you know why it looks so clean and uncluttered–it’s a new house that’s been staged! (Click here to read what everyone had to say about it.)

If You’re Hooked on House Tours:

• Yellow Victorian in Columbia Tusculum
• 1908 Mitchell Mansion on Rose Hill
• Normandy Manor: The Levine House
• Tudor Revival-Style Home of the “Cantaloupe King”
  
• The Belvedere: Luxury Apartment Building from 1925
  
• The Telford Mansion
• The Spite House
• Cobble Court
• Stokesay Court
• Coco Chanel’s Parisian Apartment
• 1908 Gaslight Mansion
• Mark Twain’s Mansion
• Frank Lloyd Wright’s William P. Boswell House
• Sears Honor-Bilt Home: The Lynnhaven Model
• Pheasant-Hill Farm

]]> http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/05/29/maison-de-village-the-house-of-crown-molding/feed/ 27 http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/05/20/too-much-crown-molding/ http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/05/20/too-much-crown-molding/#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 13:18:23 +0000 hookedonhouses http://hookedonhouses.wordpress.com/?p=1917

You guys know how much I love crown molding. But as I was perusing the MLS listings today, I found this master bedroom that had so many layers of it that I had to stop and ponder: is there such a thing as too much?

I don’t know. I was staring at this picture and pondering it, but I’m still not sure. Doesn’t it look a bit heavy, like it could all come crashing down on you as you lay in bed one night? Or am I crazy, because the more crown, the better, no matter what?

Let me know what you think!

UPDATE: To see photos of the rest of the house, click here.

Yesterday we talked about the difference a framed mirror can make in a bathroom. Today I’m going to show you the difference it made in one of ours.

This is what my 5-year old daughter Lily’s bathroom looked like when we moved into our house in 2003 (in the days before we had a digital camera, as you can tell by the grainy picture shown above).

Among the things I hated: the cheapo plate-glass mirror that ran not only behind the sink, but on across the wall above the toilet, as well. No idea what the builder was thinking with that one. To add insult to injury, they had those round “Hollywood” light bulbs in a brass vanity fixture centered over the long mirror.

Everything was white and bo-ring. It looked out of date even though the house was brand new.

Ta-da! What do you think? It’s a much happier little room now, that’s for sure.

One of the first things we did was get that mirror out of there. That was possibly the hardest part of the makeover. My husband was determined to reuse it in the bathroom we’re going to add in the basement, so we carefully carried the mirror all the way down the two flights of stairs, cursing and sweating the whole way. But when we got to the basement, we were so relieved to have reached our destination that we let it go too quickly. One corner hit the the concrete floor so hard that the whole thing shattered.

So, back up the stairs it went, out to the trash, and we braced ourselves for the inevitable 7 years of bad luck to come.

The story has a happy ending, though. At least the ugly mirror was gone. Look at how much better the bathroom looks with the new one! I think it was worth all the trouble in the end.

The new light fixture made a big difference, too. No more Hollywood lightbulbs!

We painted the walls a color called Craftsman White, which looks remarkably yellow despite its name (you may recall my story of painting the foyer Craftsman White and being horrified to discover it was a pale yellow–this is what we did with that can of paint instead).

I bought this cute little storage unit at Home Goods and hung it on the wall for washcloths and handtowels.

In the “garden” section of Michael’s I found these cute and colorful outdoor candle holders (there are votives inside each one), as well as the flower hook that I hung next to the sink for handtowels. They were super cheap, less than $5 each, and my daughter loves them.

There’s a really bright and mod-looking rug on the floor that I forgot to take a picture of. You’ll have to use your imagination, I’m afraid. It has pink, orange, and green polkadots on a yellow background.

And finally, one of my favorite changes to the room was the addition of the crown molding that Handy Dave installed (you can see it in the first “after” photo). Crown molding always makes a big difference in a room. I’m addicted to it.

(Handy Dave is currently hanging crown in our dining room as we do a total remodel on it. We got the new hardwood flooring installed today. Pics of that makeover to come as soon as we’re done!)

This bathroom is right next door to Lily’s bedroom, which is yellow and pink, so we had to make them kind of go together. (I’ll show you her sweet little room sometime if you’re interested.)

So what do you think? Do you like it? I hope this gives you some ideas for your own bathroom projects. It doesn’t take much money to make a big improvement in a small space!

If You’re Hooked on Crown Molding:

• Photo Gallery of Rooms with Crown Molding
• How to Hang Crown Molding

If You’re Hooked on Before & Afters:

• Bathroom Mirror Makeovers
• My Favorite Before & Afters of 2008

If those pictures in my last post inspired you to install crown molding and trim in your own home, then my husband Dave (who has done his share of it) offers some advice.

As I’ve mentioned before, we built our home four years ago and were faced with a series of bare white rooms. No crown molding, no trim around the windows. So Dave read up on how to install them, bought the equipment, and set to work (you can see some of the results in earlier posts on the topic; see links below).

Because we’ve had so much interest in the topic of crown molding from people visiting this site, I asked Dave to share his advice for anyone who wants to attempt it themselves. He insists that it isn’t as difficult as you think!

Take it away, Dave:

Paint your crown molding instead of staining it. It’s easier to cover up your mistakes. Caulk can cover up a multitude of sins. There is little room for error when working with natural wood.

A power compound miter saw and an air compressor and nailer are indispensable.

Here are the steps that worked for me:

1. paint walls (no need to paint all the way to the ceiling)
2. paint ceiling (no need to paint all the way to the walls)
3. measure room
4. purchase supplies
5. paint molding (2 coats typically)
6. cut
7. hang
8. repeat steps 6 and 7 all around the room
9. fill nail holes
10. tape walls and ceiling along the crown molding
11. caulk gaps and between molding and ceiling and molding and walls
12. touch up paint on molding
13. remove tape
14. touch up paint on ceiling and walls if needed

When cutting the crown, I tried several times cutting inside corners and outside corners with one-foot long pieces until I got it right. Once I did I kept the small one-foot long pieces as reference. I followed the old adage, “measure twice, cut once.” I’d measure twice, but also refer to my samples to make sure I was going to cut the pieces the right way.

If it’s your first time, don’t expect to cut everything perfectly. I didn’t and had to go back to Lowe’s to purchase more molding to finish the job.

Working with eight-foot pieces is easier, but of course requires more joints, which means more chance for error and not the seamless look.

I started cutting by holding the molding on the bottom and against the back fence of the saw (in position). I then found this site (www.installcrown.com) that described how to set your compound miter saw that will allow you to set the saw angles to cut “on the flat.” This was helpful to me.

~

• This Old House: How to Hang Crown Molding
• Ask the Builder: Cutting Crown Molding Without Losing Your Mind
• Watch a Video about Installing Crown Molding
• Before & After: Crown Molding Magic (fireplace mantel makeover)
• Before & After: My Writing Room Makeover (new hardwood floors and crown molding)
• Decorating Inspiration: Photo Gallery of Rooms with Crown Molding

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Here’s a newly built home that uses woodwork to really give the room character and interest. Note the trim around the windows, the trim detail on the pillar, and the beautifully designed overmantel:

Look at the detail on these stairs and around the window, which is truly impressive (notice the trim on the walls as well):

This fireplace column and mantel made my jaw drop:

I like how they added trim that goes up from either side of the door in this room for interesting effect with the wainscot:

I would never have thought to paint the trim and crown molding black like this, but it’s kind of an interesting effect if this works with your style (this is in a finished lower-level, which might be the best place to try something this bold):

UPDATE: I’ve noticed that a lot of people end up on this post because they’re searching for “crown molding painted black.” Apparently there aren’t many examples out there for them to see, so I’m adding another. I think it works great in this bathroom (from BH&G):

In this grand dining room, molding is everywhere you look. I imagine Marie Antoinette would’ve felt right at home here:

• How to Hang Crown Molding
• Before & After: Crown Molding Magic (Fireplace Mantel Makeover)
• Before & After: My Writing Room Makeover with Crown Molding
• See What NOT to do with your woodwork