DIY Tutorials - 4/12 - The Idea Room

how to take your baseboards from small to tall

I recently shared with you our newly updated Laundry room. And I am loving it. Still a few things to get finished in there like a window treatment and some fun basket labels and such. One of the updates we made was to make our existing baseboards taller. Today I am going to share with you how to make baseboards that are short taller with an easy trick.

The baseboards in our laundry room were in fairly good shape still…considering…and we didn’t want to take the time to pull them out and add new ones with all the other projects we had on our to do list! So we just updated them by adding a small thin piece of decorative molding to the top.

This update is a really easy and inexpensive way to get the nicer look of the taller baseboards that don’t come in the standard house. We simply took a piece of wood that measured 1 inch and used that as our spacer to get the molding to the height we wanted.

We measured and cut each piece of molding to the proper length with 45 degree angles at the corners. Then attached them to the wall with a nail gun in several spots. We do not like to use Liquid Nails at our house as we never know when we I are/am going to get a bee in my bonnet to change something around. Nail holes are much easier to repair than a wall full of Liquid Nail glue!

When the molding is attached, you will then need to go and fill the cracks and crevices with white painters caulk. So easy, but a really important step to the overall finished look of your baseboards.

When it has properly dried you can paint your baseboards. We painted ours with two coats to give it a super nice finish! Just tape the wall and the floor with some Frog Tape or Blue Painter’s Tape to give you a nice crisp edge.

And ta-da! An easy, (almost instant) DIY improvement. I just love the look of the taller baseboards. It really does make a big difference in the overall look of the room.

*Update—I have had several of you email me and ask me what our paint colors are in this room.

The wall color is Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore.

I do not have the paint name for our trim as we have been painting our trim this color for 8 years. But I do have the paint code which is below. We use a high gloss finish on our trim as well.

What do you think? Do you have any rooms you would like to give your baseboards a height lift?

May 3, 2012 · Filed under: DIY Tutorials, Home Remodeling, Laundry Room Tagged with DIY home remodel tutorials, easy baseboard update, how to do baseboards. update older homes, how to make baseboard, removing baseboards, update baseboards, updating baseboards

Laundry room Update & Lowes giveaway

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This Giveaway is now CLOSED!

Hey guys! I am so happy to be able to share with you today an update on our Laundry Room. This room has been a work in progress for WAY too long. I shared with you in January mid way through our progress and asked for your advice. Thanks for everyone who shared. I did read each and everyone and even got a couple of emails with some great advice that actually helped push me in the right direction…so thank you. I have the best readers!

We built the washer and dryer platform in January early this year.

We started the actual remodeling process on this room way back before Thanksgiving when we painted our lockers white. I was really worried about painting ALL the cabinets white in this room, so I was struggling with trying to decide where to go next but knew that I was not happy with the final overall look of the room.

Then, we got crazy busy with the remodel of our kitchen and getting our wood flooring installed during December, January and February. So this room just sat in limbo…waiting patiently (ha!) for its turn.

Well, I got the perfect burst of energy to finally get this room ship shape during April after Snap of course! As you know, I am one of Lowe’s Creative Bloggers and our challenge for this month was to give a room a new facelift. Just the motivation I needed to finally tackle this room once and for all.

And I am really happy with the final outcome. There are still a few things to get just right…like the items on the shelves and the right window treatment…but overall I am loving it. I am so glad we were brave enough to paint the cabinets all white. The room is so bright and fresh now!

Here is what we did for the update:

Added Crown Moldings and painted
Updated Baseboards and made them taller…tutorial post coming soon
Painted Black Cabinets White
Added new cabinet hardware
Made some shelf with corner brackets and wood…tutorial post coming soon
Framed in new window with molding
New light fixtures
New door knobs on closet doors

Laundry Room Before

Laundry Room Mid Remodel

Here are some other earlier updates we have made to this room if you are interested in checking them out as well.

Build a Closet/Locker Shelf
Cat door underneath the sink cabinet (hidden cat food and litter box…GENIUS!)
Kids Organization Bulletin Board (old version) & (newly updated version)
Laundry Organization Shelves
Build a washer and dryer platform

One lucky Idea Room Reader is going to win a $100 Gift Card to Lowe’s as part of Lowe’s Makeover Challenge.

To enter: Simply leave me a comment on this post and if you have a room you would like to make over, I would love to know which room and why.

That’s it! One comment per person please.

*Giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and over only and closes Friday, May 4 at noon MST. Winner will be chosen at random and has 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen!

Be sure to head on over for your FREE Subscription to Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine:

**I was given a gift card by Lowe’s to create my Lowe’s Makeover Challenge this month. However all opinions and statements are my own.

April 29, 2012 · Filed under: DIY Tutorials, Giveaways, Home Decor, Home Remodeling, Organization Tips, Sponsors Tagged with Home Tour--Laundry Room, Laundry room decor, Laundry room ideas, Laundry Room update

Flower pot bird house

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This month as part of the Lowe’s Creative Challenge of which I am a team member of, we were challenged to make a DIY Bird Retreat. I personally did not want a “normal” birdhouse and needed something a bit more practical and realistic for my own personal preferences. So I decide to make a Flower Planter Bird House…sort of a two in one combo.

I had a few different designs floating around in my head and headed to Lowe’s to see just what I could actually turn into a reality. I knew I wanted a WHITE planter but was looking for just the right style.

I picked up this almond colored flower plantar, some plastic moldings, potting soil, white silicon, bird seed and some flowers.

We used some scrap wood from previous projects at home to build the square base which became our birdhouse. Then we added some moldings at the top and bottom to give it a little bit of a customized look. We drilled a hole for the birds and added a little tray to hold some bird seed for our feathered friends to enjoy.

We painted the birdhouse box with some exterior paint and spray painted the plantar box white to match. I am really pleased with how it turned out and love having a nice pop of color out on the back porch. I think I may make a matching set so that they can be on either side of the stairs that you can see to the left of the photo.

Be sure to stop back by if you would like to see how we made this. I will be sharing the full tutorial later.

Thanks to Lowe’s for helping us get motivated to get this project done! You can find Lowe’s Creative Ideas on FB for more great ideas. They also have a Lowe’s Creative Ideas blog…and you might recognize one or more faces there now… Smile