Getting Caulky

I was a little cocky going into the weekend thinking we'd wrap-up our DIY Door Casing Project we've been working on, boy was I wrong! But that's how most DIY Projects go, now that we have a little one again & a tween working on a big school project. The good news is, all the framing of our doorways is complete! The last time you saw our doorway casings, we framed our doorways with thick molding (almost 4 inches thick) and added a simple header using a 1x1 and a 2x1. You can read more about our inspiration for the DIY Casing Project here. Here's how it looked the last time you saw our door ways.

And the bottom of our baseboards looked 5ike this (not cute) 

Since then, we added a top trim piece to our doorways using two 1x1s and 2x1 in the middle section. I love how simple the doorway headers now look, to me they really fit the style of our California Rancher. 

Then we trimmed out the bottom of the doorway piece with the 4x1 piece, with mitered corner cuts. To hide the inside seam of the doorways, we used pieces of lattice. Again we mitered each corner cut. Oh, when I say 'we' I mean Hasani! I marked all the cuts using a 45 degree angle and he made all the cuts. 

Can I just say how much I'm also in LOVE with the bottom of our doorways! They look so polished and nice next to our existing baseboards! I like I said I'm in love! 

After the doorways were finished being framed out, it was time for my to get caulky. I had a ton of wood to caulk, a ton! For all the seams, I used caulk to fill in the nail holes and knots in the wood I used wood filler. Our doorway casing project has started a snowball effect around our house. As I've already mentioned, I plan on repainting the our baseboard trim (too bad I didn't get to it over the weekend) So with that said, after seeing how amazing our doorways were looking we decided it was finally time to replace our old dated small front door trim. We like our existing doorway trim that surrounds our garage door, so we bought the same trim. 

While Hasani was removing the old front door trim, he discovered a key hidden in the wall. Crazy huh? 

Next Hasani trimmed our existing baseboards to fit our new wider width door trim. Then I measured the miter corners and Hasani did the mitered cuts. Before Hasani nailed the new doorway trim in, I cleaned up all the drywall with a broom. It felt so good, it get to clean behind the old door trim, lol.  If you've ever removed an old piece of trim, you know exactly what I'm talking about, lol. Yup, I just added another project to my re-painting trim project and I'll be touching up paint on our front door surrounds. 


Here's how the door looks right now, pre-caulk and glossy white paint. 

Another snowball affect: we're finally getting around to added a new floor transition piece between the living room and dining room doorway. We bought an unfinished oak transition, I stained the piece Early American with left over stain from refinishing our hardwood floors last year and then applied a clean coat of polythene (also a left over from our hardwood floors) The new transition piece will help add a cohesive look between our original hardwood floors and our faux-wood floors, we installed two years ago replacing our ugly cracked tile. I'm really happy about this 'snowball affect,' because floor transitions are a good thing.

Next we need to sand, prime and then finally paint our new doorway casings and install our new doorway transition piece. Even though there's still a lot to do, I'm super excited about how doorways look! Oh, how I can't wait to see our DIY Door Casing completed and our baseboards glossy white again. I hope by Monday night, after the baby and tween head to bed, I'll be sanding and then priming our doorway casings and new front door trim. 


What do you think of our DIY Door Casing Project so far? Are you in love with the bottom of our doorway baseboards like I am? What do you think our our doorway headers, perfect addition to our little rancher? 


Any snowball effect projects happen in your casa lately? Have you found anything odd when your removed baseboards in the past like we have? 

Adding Casing to Our Doorways

For a while I've wanted to add some molding to our two doorways in , one leads to our kitchen and the other to our hallway. I didn't think adding molding would make a huge improvement in our home, until I saw a great How To on the blog A Charming Nest. They transformed plain doorways into a lovely architectural feature, that added so much character to their home. After seeing their pretty transformation, I knew for sure we had to upgrade the look of our two doorways. I really like the pretty details of A Charming Nest's casing trim and I like the ones I found on Tar Paper Crane. 


Pretty!! Love all the details :)

{ via A Charming Nest }

{ via Tar Paper Crane }

After showing Hasani what I wanted to do, we went shopping at Lowes. We stopped into Lowes and decided to go buy wood for our door casings instead of buying MDF. We decided on wood because, all the of our baseboards are wood and wanted to keep the same look thought out our home to keep everything consistent. We went though all the wood at Lowes, and bought the straightest and smooth wood we could find. 


6: 4x8 (each one 1 inch thick) 
4: 2x8 (each one 1 inch thick) 
4: 1x8 (each one 1 inch thick)
6: Lattice pieces 


We took all of our pictures down near the walls we would be added trim to. Next Hasani has sections of the bottom baseboards on both sides of the the doorway. Then we measured marked each board and made the cuts. So far both the front and back wood trim and header is on the doorways. We love the look of the doorway casing trim in the 1st picture above, however we have to keep ours looking more simpler since we have a 1950's California Rancher. You know so it doesn't look overdone. Here's how's ours currently looks, still much much more work to be done. 

Oh, I'm already in love how with how the doorways look! Even there were only halfway done. The thick almost 4 inches wide (to me) wood trim really makes our average sized doorway appear larger and the ceilings look taller. I like when little updates make huge improvements.  

After going back and forth over leaving the top of the header plain or adding a little molding detail, we've decided to a little trim to give it a more finished look. We still have a lot left to do, I'd say were about 50% done. 

We still need to: add miter corners on the inside if the doorways for a nice finished look. Add latices (thin strips of wood) on the inside of the doorways to hide seams where the wood meets the inside frame of the doorway. Fill all imperfections for wood filler, lots of wood filler! Sand, Prime then paint all the trim glossy white! We also plan to change out our front door trim, with trim that matches are garage door trim, since both over those doors are can be seen from the same room, we want to keep things consistent. 


I plan on paint lots and lots of trim over the next few days. I'm going to repaint all the trim in our hallways and touch up trim paint in our living room. I think I mentioned before that, some of our white trim got stained while Hasani and my Dad where finishing our Hardwood Floors last year. I was way too pregnant huge and tried to attempt re-painting the trim. My Dad did some touch ups for me in the Nursery (thanks Dad) Anyways I've been putting off re-painting the trim for far too long. We should be done in a few days, and I'll have more before, during and after pictures to share!


What do you think of our new door way look so far? Have you ever added casing to your doorways? Any project, like trim paining you've been putting off like me?

Sons Tween Room: Refinished Desk, Before & After

Do you remember the desk beat up desk I found for my sons bedroom redo a couple of weeks ago, the one I paid a mere $15 bucks for? Well after a lot of hard work and maybe a little whining from me his desk is all finally completed. When I first started planning his bedroom makeover I thought a painted desk would look cute (but that was when I bought desk # 1) after buying his wood grain drum shade light fixture, I really wanted to stain his desk a deep walnut like our dining room table. However the top his is desk is laminate, so I went in another direction and was inspired by Young House Love's  dresser to refinish Tabari's desk into a mix of modern and vintage. I have to say it was a lot of work, but so worth it. Before I show you the after, I have to remind you of the before, in all its glory (note the sarcasm) 

This desk was a hot mess: missing hardware and lots and lots of writing on the top of the desk and a funky box on the bottom of the desk. Even though it was a hot mess, I loved the vintage lines of the desk which gave it more charm. The desk was also a solid piece of furniture, all wood (except the very top) and super heavy.

After we refinished our dining room table, I received a lot of emails about the steps refinishing and sanding etc. Since I slacked and didn't do a how to post then, I created one for the desk.

How to Refinish a Desk

Like any painting project or staining project, clean the wood with a soapy water and a clean rag, and let dry. 

Sanding 

I sanded the entire desk with out Black and Decker Mouse power sander, I used 60 grit sandpaper. I made sure to sand in the direction of the wood grain, when you sand in the direction of the wood grain you get a nice smooth finish. I used a combination of the power sander and hand sander. Next I sanded the entire desk and drawers with a 220 fine grit sanding block, which leaves a nice smooth finish. 

Staining

I love the staining part of  this project the best, this is when you see all your handwork payoff. We used Minwax Wood Finish Dark Walnut 2716, fortunately we had left over stain from our dining room table project. I applied the stain with a brush going the same direction of the stain. I took my time applying the stain to the desk and made sure I made to drips on the desk finish. The directions recommended waiting waiting 5-15 minutes before wiping away excess stain. However I let the stain sit on the desk for 25 minutes so stain would really soak in. Then I wiped away the excess stain using lint free cloth, again wiping in the same direction as the wood grain. 

I wanted the desk to be a nice rich dark oak, so I applied another coat of stain following the same directions as the first coat. After wiping down the second coat with a clean lint free rag, the desk was a nice rich dark walnut color I was looking for, so I only did two coats of stain. 

Clear Coat 

I let the desk dry 24 hrs and before starting the clear coat application. For the clear coat I sued Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane Semi Gloss. Before applying the cleat coat gently stir the the polyurethane - do not shake. Wipe away all dust and then very lightly sand the desk in the direction of the wood grain using a 220 grit sanding block. Then apply a very THIN coat of polyurethane, I applied it using a sponge brush. The dry time on the label says 6-7 hours and then you can apply another coat, I didn't want the desk too glossy so I only applied one coat. I let the clear coat dry for 8 + hours and then again very light sanded the desk with a 220 grit sanding block. This stuff is smelly just like the stain, so I left the desk outside for 48hrs before bringing the  desk inside my sons room. 

Hardware

Finding hardware that fit the original wholes in the desk was a challenge!  Most standard new pulls have whole spacing thats 3 inches apart, his desk and whole spacing that was 2.5 inches apart. I thought about drilling new wholes and filling the excitsing whole with wood filler like I did with my dresser (here) but I was afraid it might not stain properly. I used cup pulls for the dresser, which kept the vibe of the vintage desk. 

For the top of Tabari's laminate desk I read YHL's instructions on using an oil based primer verses a water based primer (here) After I sanded the top of the desk, I primed the top of the dresser with 2 coats of Zisser Oil Base Primer using a sponge brush. I used two coats of primer because I wanted to make sure the writing has completely covered. I waited 30 minutes between coats of primer. Next I used a sponge roller and applied 2 coats of Valspar Gloss White Paint. Then waited and additional 24 hours to apply one thin coat of Clear Water Base Poly.

Here's Tabari's refinished desk in his bedroom. I love the contrast of the dark walnut stain and the glossy white desktop. I'm really glad the desk turned out nice! 

For some reason it was really hardware me to take a good front picture of his desk (note to self, read the camera manual!) His desk is 99% done, I still have to cut a board to fix the gap in the desk, were a pull out board once was. 

I like how the modern West Elm chair looks with his traditional desk.

Tabari's loves his new desk and thinks it looks cool. What do you think of his desk? Am I on the right track in creating a tween space that is a combination of modern and traditional?

ps: Here's a recap of completed projects & ideas for our sons tween room: Painted Room (here) Used Tools as Decor (here) Room Lighting (here) Found a Desk (here) Desk Chair (here) DIY Floating Shelves (here)

Do the Dim Thang

Now that our chandelier is hung all it needed was to add a dimmer to our switch. Dimmer are the perfect way to upgrade the lighting in your house. I like that dimmers allow you to set the mood of your any room in your house.

" Why are dimmers important throughout the house? A few reasons, one is great lighting is really important throughout your whole house. There are times you want to use your living room for an evening event where you wanted to be soft, and inviting, and sexy, and you wanted to have a mood, you wanted to have an atmosphere. .

But, there are times where you are in those spaces where you want to bring the light level up, because you are reading, you are entertaining in a different way. So dimmers are really important. Lighting is a very important element to a space. Even distribution of lighting is very important " - Thom Filicia

Our Chandelier pre dimmer cast a bright but soft glow that lit up our entire bedroom. Which is great but there's something cool about being able to dim a light { and choose your mood }.

Light pre-dimmer - trust me our whole bedroom was bright!

Since we only have one light in the room to control, we used a one way dimmer switch { make sure you buy the right dimmer switch for your room}.  We picked one up at Lowes for mere          seven bucks. Lowes had a huge selection of dimmers to choose from, each with different ways on turning on the light { some come with remotes! }

Before installing a new light fixture or a switch, make sure you turn off the power to that room via your circuit breaker. Next read the instructions.

First Mr. CLH removed the switch plate cover and looked at our really old wires ( over 50 years old) everything seemed to be OK. Next he removed the old switch from the box.

There will be three wires to install: one black, one white, and a separate ground wire. Identify the three different colored wires and attach the dimmer with the match wires { connect black wire with black } .  Carefully twist the ends of the wires together and then secure them together with a wire nut until it is tight and won't turn anymore.


Next: Carefully push the wires back into the electrical box. Then screw the dimmer switch to the electrical box and replace the cover plate { we were able to sue our old cover plate with the style dimmer we bought }

Lastly turn the power back on to your room and begin playing with the dimmer. My son loved playing with our new switch and requested a dimmer switch for his room. Which is a wonderful idea to have in kids! They would be great for bedtime reading, sleepovers and kids how need a extra few minutes in the morning to wake up. I have to admit, my son and I took turns playing with the dimmer!

Our chandelier dimmed

The chandelier super dimmed in the early morning, love the almost pinkish glow the light gives off.

Design Tip: If you unable to add dimmer to your home, think about using three way bulbs on lamps to control the light distribution in your home. You can also add dimmers to most lamps!

Over time we'll be update most of the lights in our house with dimmer switches. Do you have dimmers in your home? Or are you planning on adding them to your house soon?

Taming the Vines

Late last summer we planted a vine in our flowerbed walkway. I envisioned the vine growing and blooming throughout the spring and summer months and staying green all your long. When we planted the vine, we used a simple iron trellis I bought years ago at a home improvement store. I thought it would take years for our vine to actually grow to climb the side of our house, since we only spent a spent six bucks on it at Lowes.

Here's a picture of our vine in September

Here's on vine in April of 2010, I'm amazed by how much our vine has grown. It's gotten so big its take over the metal trellis and is hanging like a weeping willow. I knew we had to stage vine intervention, and re-trellis our vine.

We went to Home Depot and looked at the trellises. We decided our using a simple wood trellis with wide openings to allow our vine to grow faster. Before we could install our new trellis, we had the tough job of unwinding the vines on the existing trellis. As you could imagine it took quite a bit of time.

Instead of attaching the trellis directly to our house we used brackets to hold the trellis in place. The trellis sits three inches off our house. This allows the vine to grow and breath and keep excess moisture away for our siding. The trellis brackets reminded me of curtain rod brackets.

We used four brackets to attached to our siding. Our new trellis is over eight feet tall.

I attached the vine to the new trellis using the highly scientific approach, twisty ties { aka: bread ties }. They worked perfectly, I was able to reattach the vine and the new trellis provided the support it needed.

Already our vine looks so much more healthier and has plenty of room to grow. I'm looking forward to the vine climbing its new home. The vine already has tons of flowers in bloom. I love that it stays green all year long and doesn't get 'woody' like some vines are known to do.

I have no green thumb, but here's how I've been taking care of my vine. In the fall months I water the vine every couple of days and use Miracle Grow once a week (this worked like a charm for our hanging pots) In the winter, I don't water it at all unless is a sunny day and warm outside. During the spring/summer months I tend water my vine every day. It gets really hot where we live in Northern California. It can easily reach over 100 degrees in July/August. Yikes, I know its hot here.

Do you have any tips keeping vines growing and healthy? Any plans to plant one this spring or summer?