A DIY memo board

Well hello there!! I am just overwhelmed at your response to my last post. You made me feel SO much better! :) I was so happy to read your comments and to hear many of you are making time to take care of YOU! It made my week! (Really.)

Because of I’ve been organizing like mad, and throwing in a few more work outs in here and there lately – my DIY/crafty/decorating time has been suffering. :) I rectified that today with a project I’ve been meaning to do forEVER.

I needed a new memo board for the light and bright office redo I’ve been working on. I made this one years ago:

It’s looking a little sad now. :) To make it, I just covered a piece of insulation foam with fabric. I wrapped the ribbon around it and hung it -- done!

I wanted something huge and it worked perfect! (See that squishy face in the picture on top? That’s my Bub’s birth announcements. Still LOVE.)

Well, about a year ago (yes, a YEAR) I found this huge frame for $10 at Goodwill:

I think it was even half off – it’s been so long I can’t remember! I knew it would work perfect for a new memo board. (I was planning ahead.)

I liked how chunky the frame was, but it wasn’t in the best shape:

It also had a band of linen-type fabric that I actually quite liked.

I had a plan in mind for this baby and I absolutely luuuurve how it turned out! Not just love – LURVE.

First step was to prime the heck out of the sucker. I laid it down on my “spray painting” sheet on the garage floor and did a couple quick coats.

I need to mention that it was NINE degrees outside when I did this. It was unreal, it was so cold.

I am nothing if not dedicated! :)

Once I got feeling back in my hands, I brought it inside to dry. (Spray paint takes forever to dry in extreme temps.)

After that it was ready for paint. Because I wanted to use only what I had, I painted it the blue ceiling paint I used in the office. While it was drying, I moved onto the “memo” part:

This stuff is that thick foam insulation you can get at the hardware store. I love it! I got a few sheets to cover our crawl space openings into the basement years ago. It works GREAT – keeps the cold and the spiders out! Eww!

Anyhoo, I wanted to reuse the foamy stuff for this memo board as well. I measured the size I needed, then used my Dremel to cut it out:

Awe-some!! (Said in a sing song voice.)

I wrapped it with my fabric, securing it to the back with hot glue:

I nail gunned it to the back of the frame and it worked like a charm!

For now it's hanging right behind the desk:

I think it will stay on that wall, but not sure where exactly. :) My plan for the board and batten includes a small ledge, so after that’s done I’ll have to play around with the memo board.

Of course I used the stripe fabric, which is a pain in the booty to get just right:

It has to be perfectly straight or it will drive. you. MAD. Or maybe it just drives me mad. :)

When I primed the frame, I sprayed right over the linen fabric (one word: L.A.Z.Y.) and the primer didn’t even cover it. So weird – it looks just like it did before!:

I just left the little gold strip inside the frame primed. Again…laaaaazy.

I got the fabric pretty straight:

Enough that it doesn’t give my hives to look at it. :) It’ll be covered with notes anyway. That’s what I keep telling myself.

Did you notice my little addition to the DIY drum shade fixture?:

A picture in a magazine inspired it – I saw a beautiful drum shade trimmed out with beautiful, large glass beads. It was GORG. I searched ev.er.y.where. online and couldn’t find anything that looked like it – and then one day I checked out Hobby Lobby and found this.

It is just a precious little beaded trim – I adore it:

Is it possible to be in love with cute beaded trim? Is it normal to be in love with cute beaded trim? I don’t care – I am. :)

I am loving how the room is coming along! The time has come though – I need to buck up buttercup and just get that board and batten DONE.

I still can’t believe the transformation so far. The office before:

And after:

WHOO! Love it! And my office will be extra insulated now. ;)

**I still don’t know what I’m doing with that chair – the cover I had was the wrong blue, (total clash with the memo board) so I took it off for now. I think I have something in mind. (Do you hear my mind crankin’?)

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!!

Before and After Party: Installing crown!

Hey all! It’s a new year, and that means some fun new projects up in here. In between the decluttering (I’m attacking the excess Christmas decor) I finished up a project I’ve wanted to do for YEARS.

I told you way back when in this post that I didn’t know how to cope or cut crown molding – so I’ve always used the corner pieces like these when installing crown:

And I really love them – they add a little extra architectural interest. And they fit right into the corners and make the installation of crown SO much easier. You just cut straight cuts and butt the crown up against it.

The only issue is the cost – they aren’t cheap. Easy, yes – cheap, no.  (Um, this post is taking a very wrong turn.)

Anyway, I’ve been determined for years to figure out how to cut crown so I wouldn’t need the corner pieces.

When I mentioned this on Twitter and Facebook (because I was so excited!), I said I had figured out how to cope crown, which is the wrong terminology. Coping is actually a process of cutting out the shape of the molding so it fits snug into the other piece:

I did not do this. :) That’s still way over my head. But I did figure out how to cut the crown on my miter saw, which has eluded me for years! Yessss.

It was SO stinking easy. Seriously, I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out. There are a few tricks to doing it right that I figured out along the way.

First of all, I used my compound miter saw. You do NOT have to have one – a miter box (like I used for years for my molding projects) will do just fine. It will just take more strength and endurance. :)

Because crown is installed at an angle, it changes things a bit. First of all, you need to place the crown at an angle on the saw when cutting it.

Here’s some pictures to help explain – for an inside cut, you to make sure the front is facing into the saw. This molding set up for a cut that will be on an inside left corner:

The front is facing into the saw, top on top, bottom on bottom.

Here’s what it will look like on the saw:

For a standard (inside) corner, you’ll want it set to a 45 degree angle:

You do the same thing for the right side of the molding:

You’ll notice the left of the molding on the saw is really the right side, and vice versa (because the back is facing you).

That’s it. Seriously, I waited how many years to figure this out? Here’s how your molding will look for an inside corner:

Notice you can see the edges of the wood? You want to see that, so when they go together up in the corner, they’ll meet up like this:

That’s the only tricky part, getting that angle right as you’re working around the room. You do want the back of the molding to be the longer edge, not the front:

Does that make sense? That part is huge! For an inside corner, it just won’t meet up the other way.

Installation is EASY – you’ll just need someone to help you hold up the pieces as you nail them in (thanks Dad!!).

I used our nail gun and nails that were just over an inch long:

I put nails in the bottom of the molding every 18 inches or so, and you’ll want to get them into a few studs along the way. I don’t worry about that too much – crown isn’t too heavy (typically), so as long as  you get nails in a few studs you’ll be good. I also put some through the top (into the ceiling) as well, just to secure it a bit more.

Something to think about as you have the molding on the saw is to watch how it rests. If you have it at this angle for one cut:

Make sure it’s not lower like this:

Or this:

For the other cuts. It will change how the molding meets in the corners.

If you do it (fairly) right, you’ll end up with this:

Don’t worry about it being perfect!! More on that in a bit!

One thing that’s held me back from figuring this out in the office was the weird angles at the doorway:

But we quickly figured out it was the exact same cuts, just at a 22.5 degree angle:

So, overall, this was WAY easier than I thought it would be. But, as always, I ran into issues I figure you all will too. So I want to mention them. So you don’t hate on me when you try it. :)

I’ve mentioned before that when you pick out molding, you’ll want to make sure it lays flat against the floor. Any pieces that are slightly bent or wackadoodle will give you issues when you install them.

I knew one of mine was slightly off and used it anyway, and wish I wouldn’t have. Because it was bowing, it looked like this when I got it up:

See the eleventy billion holes? Yeah. That’s me trying to get it to go flush against the wall. It wasn’t. :) There was no stud at the point where there was an issue, the nails just weren’t grabbing anything. So I was left with a spot that didn’t match up perfectly.

I could have just taken it all down, cut a new piece and reinstalled everything. But I don’t roll like that. I hide, hide, HIDE all the imperfections I can. :)

Also, if you don’t have a piece long enough for a whole wall, you’ll need to meet up two – which is why I cut the crown at an angle above. Supposedly an angled cut hides more than a straight one – that’s what I’ve heard anyway. I’ve done it both ways, and over time, both need to be touched up as things settle.

So basically, do what you want. :)

That brings me to my next point – caulk is your BFF. Don’t fret if it looks like patoot after you install everything. Caulk and putty cover a multitude of sins. Here’s that same spot with caulk covering the nail holes and the crack:

When I paint, it will cover it up even more. Most people will never notice it. MOST. :)

You can see how the bowed piece didn’t meet up with the wall perfectly on the bottom:

Can you see the gap? I’ll caulk it so you won’t even notice it. Or maybe I won’t. :) It doesn’t bother me too much, but that’s me.

Finally, I was thisclose to done with the room, when I finished up the last corner – and the two corners didn’t match up. You need to make sure the angles of the crown (how it fits on the wall) are exactly the same as you go around. Does that make sense? If you are slightly off in the way you hold it up and install it, it won’t match up perfectly at the corners, no matter how well you miter those corners.

Again…CAULK IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. Serious. Remember, crown is up high. Way above your head. People can’t see the itty bitty imperfections. Only YOU do. Trust me. :)

So, for now, it’s done. My plan was to install a skinny trim an inch or two down from the crown, then paint it all out white (this gives the illusion of chunkier molding), but I’m going to wait to see how it looks with all of the board and batten before I do that.

By the way, doing that would hide even more imperfections. :)

Here’s the end result!:

   

OH my, what a difference!! Isn’t that crazy?

Goodness, I LOVE MOLDING!! :)

So here’s my before and after for the month – the office before crown:

And after!

(Don’t worry – the cord will be hidden by the beautiful drapery fabric.)

I hope my pictures and instructions help and don’t make you more confused! Keep in mind, I only had to do inside corners. I haven’t had to attempt the outside versions yet. :)

And YES, you can do this with an $8 miter box and a hand saw, and YES, you can install crown with regular nails and a hammer. (I’ve done both in our dining room.)

It will just take you a bit longer to get to the finished product. :)

I can’t wait to see your before and afters for the new year! Remember, be sure to link up to your post, not your blog! And you’re welcome to add this purdy little button to your post:

Thank so much! Link it up Squeezays!!

The top ten of ‘10

Well, the end is near. The end of the year that is. :)

I had a great time recapping my top ten posts last year, and this year my friend Rhoda is having a whole linky party dedicated to the biggest and best projects of 2010.

So, without further adieu, here’s my top ten of this year, based on your comments! FUN!

First up was the start of our master bedroom redo. It was all about the bedding and I splurged big time on it. Cause we really like to sleep. Like, a lot.

The previous $25 Ebay bedding:

Was replaced with new duds from Pottery Barn and Target:

We did like the old set just fine – it just didn’t fit the bed. Huh. To say we love the change is a HUGE understatement. We quite literally melt into bed every night.

There’s been quite a few more changes to the room since that post, like new lighting, drapes and accessories. You can see all of that here.

And if you want to see how I used to make our bed, click here. (It still makes me giggle to read that. And want to cry just a little bit.)

Next up was our mini family room redo:

A new HomeGoods rug made ALL the difference in the world in there! LURVE.

Next up, a project that was FREE and made such a huge difference in our dining room. I showed you how I removed this hutch:

And found the beautiful buffet underneath:

I framed out the mirror myself, and because everything else was so cheap, I splurged on those GORG lamps. (From HomeGoods. Shock.)

You and I both loved my incredible Craigslist find in the family room – it completely updated a wall from this:

To this:

My new-to-me Drexel dresser was only $100, and it is one of my very favorite pieces in our house now. And it holds a bunch of toys. All the more reason to love it. :)

I finished a long, long, LONG process of taking our builder-grade kitchen island:

To a beadboard-wrapped, cabinet-painted, Ikea butcher-blocked one:

You can see the details of the transformation here, and the updates I’ve made to our kitchen this year here.

Speaking of the kitchen, you all loved when I took our basic, white pantry door and replaced it with a glass-paneled beauty:

The (awful) night shot above shows it with the contact paper installed for privacy, and the light inside (which we wired up and I’ll show you soon!)

We have an unfinished basement that we treat as if it’s finished. We USE it. A lot. I showed you how my craft “room” looked before:

And then with some organization, fabric, and more lighting:

LOVE it! :) You can see more here.

The next one really isn’t a particular project, but it resonated with many of you (and me!). It was a post about STUFF:

My father-in-law’s passing (and the week’s after) changed me. I’ve learned a lot about the STUFF and my emotional responses to it since then, and I’ll tell you more about that soon too.

The final two projects of the year were the ones you loved the most! First, the transformation of the Bub’s nursery to a big boy (airplane) room:

 

It is so clean and classic and crisp – I fall in love with it again every day. You can see the process to redo that room here.

And finally, my biggest DIY project to date, that was also my cheapest. :) I love when that happens!! I took our stairs from this before:

To this, with just about $30:

Well, the stairs were $30 – the molding on the wall was a bit more later, but the whole project was still under $60. It helped that I had the paint, stain, and beautiful curved treads under that carpet. ;)

BUT…all the hard work kind of evened out the money saved. :) It took some major sweat and TIME.

I’d do it all over again though – it’s still my very favorite project I’ve tackled in our home. SO WORTH IT. You can see the whole slew of posts about the stairs here.

Well, there. you. go. The top ten projects here at TDC, determined by your comments. It’s been a GREAT year! Did you have a favorite? What did you tackle that made the biggest impact in your home/life?

Check out Rhoda’s party for inspiration for NEXT year! :) If I don’t talk to you before then, have a very, very happy, fun and SAFE New Year!!

 

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