Fence Picket Frame.... (updated)...

We had wind storm, oh I'd say.... A couple years ago.... It was one of those things... Our house was torn up, Drew was working until 10 o'clock every night and I'm completely useless around the house.... So.... It laid on the ground.... Forever. Just taunting us with more work. Well the fence is still broken but we did get around to using the broken portion! Hooray!

I unscrewed the pickets from the braces... And drew ripped them down to 3" wide on his table saw.

Then with his Milwaukee Cho Saw that he loves more than me.... Not more than Polly... Than me... Just kitten... He mitered them on a 45 degree angle. The poster I wanted framed was 20"x27.5". Drew will mitre one end then measure the bottom, or the short end of the mitre 20".... Etc...etc... Around the frame...

Our wood glue of choice is Titebond wood glue... We use it on all of our wood projects.

Put a bead of glue on the mitre then smooth it with your finger.

Place the two miters together and shoot them together with your nail gun... This is what I didn't know... It's not the nails that hold together its the glue. You just put the nails in to hold it together until the glue dries.

And again... And again....

Drew put two 2" nails in each corner on each side. We did have some nails blow out the back.... Easily remedied by clipping with pliers.

I'm not sure besides the brand what guns Drew used. I do know he switched them two or three time...

Then we did an outer trim piece.

Mitering an end first.... Measuring the inside, then marking your measurement and mitering again... Drew doesn't use the metal edge of the tape measure to get his measurements because the metal lip has give... So he starts his measurement on the 1" mark and then adds an inch... It's what they call in the biz.... Burning an inch...

Then set your inside mitre on the corner and nail it on... Again glueing the miters together.

Next we picked up a 20"x30" piece of Optix plexiglass from Home Depot... Drew zipped it through the table saw.... Who knew? I had no idea you could cut plexiglass with a table saw... I imagined scoring, and breaking like a piece of glass... Which always ends up using a couple extra pieces of glass because the first few always crack...

Nope... 5 second zip on the table! Done!

Thumb lined up with blade.... Check!

And my Santa poster is ready to be hung! Ah I LOVE IT! We also made one more frame but I will show that later when my pics come in the mail!

 And here she is! With a post here...

Too Fabulous Not to Share...

Some of my favorite things:

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How how I love Liz Lemmon from 30 Rock...

So many!

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I want to make these ASAP!

A picture of Polly for your viewing pleasure!

And now for links from my brother:

I would have FAH-REAKED out..... Freaked out!

And this amazing street art... Blew my mind...

Happy Weekend!

 

How to Install, Prep and Paint Paneled Trim...

The shelves before.... I hated them.... That may have been the reason we started this whole crazy business of remodeling. They were made out of particle board.... Basically sheets of glued up sawdust.... The problem with particle board is it has no fiber to keep it ridged. So after a short amount of time it sags.

I'm sad that my before pictures are so super tiny... So I came up with a curved wall with square paneling. The curve was to add square footage to the room without creating more harsh edges. We took apart the bed Drew made, that Polly destroyed by chewing on the edges... Damn dog...

Not the best pic... Judge me...

I walked through part of the trim work a while ago...

Just some pictures to refresh the process...

After framing, Sheetrock and square trim.

We took quarter round trim... We cut it all to size and soaked it in the tub. This was to help the quarter round curve... In the edges with the most curve we had to use exterior plastic quarter round trim... Drew installed all the horizontal pieces of 1/4 round first. Then measured the vertical to the edge and coped the vertical pieces around the horizontal.

Then came my contribution... Prep work!

To prep trim to paint this is the order we follow...

1. We use Crawford's putty and take a ball of it and press it with your thumb into the nail hole. With a thin putty knife slice in between the putty and the wood with your thumb still in the putty.

2. Caulk all the lines and edges.

3. Sand

4. Prime everything

5. Spackling, Drew's spackle of choice is 3M Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty that you can get at Home Depot. With a putty knife fill in all the dips and cracks.

5. Sand

6. Paint... The bondo glazing is redd, but it does not have to be primed because it takes paint at the same consistency as the primed surfaces will. Always always always two coats of paint...

Same steps for crown moulding. For this room we wanted to give the illusion of height so we created a stepped crown moulding. We did 2 3/4" strips of MDF ripped down to size. Then installed the standard crown under that. Then used the painting steps above. You can see below... It's a major statement piece...

Painting... We did high gloss on the trim and flat on the walls... We got two recessed can lights from ikea... The come in a pack of 3 for $19.99. Steal! I can't find them on their site.... Hmm?

And then we got carpet.... And I wept....

 

Done!

Now we need to paint the top and get a pretty register... And that is trim!

...continue on this little journey>>>>

 

Trim....

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I recently started a new Pinterest board just for trim and other details in rooms. I could study trim all day. It has been one of my favorite things to design in my house... I thought I would share a few of my favorites. I love the mantle and legs above, it has a simple elegance to it. The symmetrical inset panels and the simple concrete face. It has a nice juxtaposition to it.

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The pencil mould in this room is something we will do in our next house. I like how this paneling has the added chair rail that the pencil mould dies into. I also love the wall sconces mounted into the trim.

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This window seat is perfect. Tucked into book cases with raised panel trim.

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Love the wainscot on the stairs. I really like how the panels run vertical and angled with the stairs and the huge baseboard is to die for! The stained handrail and balusters really compliment each other.

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This square pencil mould isn't very common. I think they paired it well with a rounded chair rail. And that gray is fabulous!

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Love love love this room! The paneled drops, square that meets circle to accent the chandelier topped with a metal and window vaulted ceiling! Beautiful!

 

Chalkboard DIY

Since everybody has a chalkboard... I needed a chalkboard... And yes if everyone was jumping off a bridge I would too.... Do anything in high school to make friends.... That's what I live by... Just kidding stole that from Drew's cousin... N.E.Way....

I was inspired by Dana Tanamachi... Have you seen her chalk art? Blew my mind....

Check it out (via)....

 

 

So I took an old window that Drew got from this house... We want to deconstruct houses and reuse as much as possible instead of just demo and fill landfills. I taped the frame and edges...

Sanded the glass with 120 grit sandpaper... I was worried about creating divets in the glass that would show through the paint... I should not have been worried... Then I sprayed Rust-oleums Painters touch primer. It can bond to plastic, metal etc. it's awesome.

I only used about half a can...

And did two coats... Always better to do more light coats as opposed to less heavy coats...

Then I used Rustoleum's chalkboard spray... I used the spray because it was cheap and less clean up.

 

I think I did 3 coats of chalkboard paint...

I brought it in to dry faster, it was a cold day...

When the paint was dry (admittedly I should have waited longer... What's new?) but I took the flat end of a piece of chalk and seasoned the board... This helps prevent previous drawing lines from showing through. If you don't season it you will always see the first thing you wrote.

Then I wiped it off with a wet rag..

And got to work.... I saw a tip online about sharpening the chalk to help with line thickness when writing and drawing.

Brilliant!

Then I played around with a quote I found online that I love!

I moved on quickly to a holiday themed board... I'm a chalkboard addict!

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This might be my board next week! Love it!

 

...continue on this little journey>>>>

 

Thanksgiving...

We had a great Thanksgiving.... A lot to be thankful for... We are thinking of using this picture for our Holiday cards!  It took a couple takes to get the cat to look at the camera.... I gave up on Drew...  Some things just can't be taught....