Table of Contents

• Demolition
• Ceiling and Floor Work
• Painting
• Installing Carpeting, Doors, and Trim
• Adding DIY Artistic Touches
• DIY Shelf
• Cool New Additions to the Space

Basement Demolition

First, I am tackling demolition. The ceiling tiles were easy to pull down because they were just stapled to furring strips across the ceiling joists. I am wearing a respirator because there was a LOT of nastiness on top of these. I was extremely put off by the surprises I found above my ceiling tiles. The first was a cardboard box I found tucked above the wall’s top plate. Inside the box was a bunch of receivers and security equipment. I am pretty sure this is just junk, but you never know what it might have been used for. Why would someone hide them in the ceiling? I always try to repurpose or sell materials, but unfortunately, the ceiling tiles had to be thrown away. Luckily, I was able to sell the oak trim from the baseboards, door casing, and the ceiling edge cove moulding.

Ceiling and Floor Work

Next, I am taking down all of the furring strips to expose the joists. I have an idea for the ceiling that I think is going to look very industrial and cool. I want to leave the joists exposed to give the room more space. Open ceilings will result in some heat loss to the upstairs, more noise transfer, and maybe other things. This means that if I decide this exposed joists isn’t working out, I can always reinstall the furring strips and put up a ceiling again. At this point, someone had successfully shown up from my Facebook marketplace ad to take away the laminate flooring. They uninstalled it, and I did not have to lift a finger!

Unfortunately, that was not the case for the carpeted stairs. This carpet was installed with tack strips, a no-no for stair treads, so kids walking up and down in bare feet would sometimes get pricked! I am happy to say goodbye to this in favor of something that is higher quality and gets installed correctly.

Painting for my Basement Makeover

Now it is time to start prepping for paint. I spent a lot of time filling blemishes in the drywall, sanding them smooth, and wiping everything down. Everything is getting vacuumed from the concrete floor to the ceiling joists. The ceiling was definitely dirty, so after vacuuming, I wiped the rough-sawn lumber with a rag. These all have to be clean, so my paint job is successful!

The paint I am using is a color I mixed up from leftovers. I have so many paints in storage that I will not need for touch-ups, but there isn’t enough for a new project. So, by combining all of them, I can save them from the landfill and give them a new purpose.

You can combine paints of different sheens (most of mine are satin, some are flat), but you cannot combine different types, like oil with urethane alkyd. All of the paints I am mixing are latex-based. I am straining the paint through a tea towel, but I should have purchased an actual strainer for this because they are so cheap. This process removes chunks of latex, specks of rust from the old cans, and ensures my paint mixture will go through a sprayer. I added a gallon of new black paint to this mixture to give me enough of the color.

In total, I used 3.5 gallons of paint in my basement project because I am color-drenching. The dark color covered my ceiling joists, but it is also going on EVERY wall. The color-drenching trend has intimidated me for most spaces I design, but in this basement, I think it will be perfect.

Carpet, Door, and Trim Installation

Now that the painting is done, it is time for our new carpet to be installed. I am going with a super thick underlayment and 60 oz carpet for a luxurious and soft feel underfoot. It seems like the carpet raised the temperature in this basement by five degrees. I did have this carpet installed by a crew from Lowe’s and was SO impressed with their process!

Next, I am installing new doors for the space to lead to my cellar and utility room. Unfortunately, I ordered the wrong door. The handle is supposed to swing out towards the right, so the light switch makes sense. Because there is no space for the door to swing into the cellar, I have to flip the door and make it work. Updating doors and trim work really makes the whole space feel new, but this is the tedious part of the remodel. I opted for a minimalist trim painted white to match the rest of my house. I am installing the baseboards level and finding the studs so I know where to nail it.

DIY Ventilation Covers and Wall Art

There are a few spots in the basement that we need for piping ventilation to prevent freezing. I had the idea to cut an old wooden closet door with the louvered slats and add a piece of wood to the end to make it look like a vent. Then, I just painted these DIY vent covers to match the rest of the room so they blend in. As you can imagine, I have a lot of wood scraps in my garage workshop, and I have been wanting ot do a project with them to use them up. I started cutting them into squares to create wall art for this basement project.

How I Made my Wall Art

I set up a stop block on my miter saw to make repeated cuts of exactly the same measurement. When a scrap was too small to safely hold, I used a push stick so I did not get hurt. I used up all of my wood scraps and only had to cut into one sizable piece of plywood to get enough squares for my design. Each of these squares has a different thickness.

• 2x4s: 1 1/2 inches thick, 1 inch thick
• 1x4s: 3/4 inch thick
• Plywood: 1/2 inch thick
• Thinner plywood: 3/8 inch thick

This gives me 5 different levels where I could place my wood squares next to each other in random order to create visual interest. I am using glue to attach the wood squares to a thin piece of sheathing plywood. I did not clamp or nail; I just pushed them into the glue and let it cure overnight. When the glue is dry, I am staining my wood scrap masterpiece with a dark walnut stain that I think will bring some warm tones to my basement design. Then, when that was all dry, I attached a heavy-duty wire across the back and hung it from a wall stud. I chose a particularly ugly spot where the drywall seam was visible in an effort to hide it. This piece weighs about 30 lbs and is 2.5 feet wide by 4 feet long.

DIY Shelf for Behind the Sofa

Another DIY project I did to make my basement more functional is building a skinny shelf that goes behind the sofa. I purchased an 8ft long 1×8 board, primed it, and painted it black. I did the same thing with a shorter piece of 1×8 to cover the open side. Since this will all be hidden behind the sofa, it does not matter that I installed brackets that I do not like. My laser level kept everything lined up just right. Then, I am attaching the two boards together with pocket holes drilled on the backside of the shorter board and securing my shelf onto the brackets. I am making a custom cutout to fit my power strip! Now I have accessible electricity on the top of my skinny shelf! This will power my project, which sits up in the window well, in addition to my new speaker system.

New Additions to the Basement

This new basement has some super cool new additions. Of course, it got a new projector and sound system for movie nights, but some other special things also got added. One of the biggest hits for my kids is the foosball table! My 9-year-old Theo had one request for this space: LED lights, so of course, those are also a new feature. These can change colors and are music-activated to flash to the beat during dance parties. My personal favorite new addition is the modular couch. It is so comfortable and perfect for everything I need it for!

This project has been a long time coming, but I think it was so worth the wait!

The post Basement Makeover appeared first on .

Table of Contents

• Starting the Demo
• Kitchen Design
• Plaster Wall Removal
• Building Ceiling Joists

Starting the Demo

This whole remodel that I did not plan for started when I got a new refrigerator. My new fridge is taller than the opening in my current kitchen, so I need to move a shelf up to make it fit. After making my new refrigerator fit, I am removing the barndoor and its sliding hardware. This inspired me to continue removing everything I did not like in my kitchen. I started with the bulkhead above the cabinets, then I removed the knotty pine ceiling, and next I am taking down the wall paneling. At this point, I am thinking I am going to redo all of the services. I am so happy that I found people who wanted to repurpose the knotty pine and wall paneling. Under my wall paneling, I found MORE old wall paneling and removed that too. I am getting down to the plaster walls. Above the stove, I am also removing the bulkhead! In addition, I need to remove the furring strips so that the ceiling can be plastered!

Plaster Wall Removal

I am taking down plaster and lath on one of the walls in my kitchen. To begin this part of the demolition, I am putting up plastic sheeting. This is going to create a kind of room to ensure that the plaster dust does not get all over the rest of my kitchen. The plaster here is VERY loose and cracking. I am using a prybar to remove it, and it is easily falling away from the wall. This created so much debris, but it only took 30 minutes to do. I am so happy to have all of this removed; it is going to look so good when it is drywalled.

Building Ceiling Joists

Now that the demo is, for the most part, done, I am going to start building in ceiling joists. This is so that the drywall can happen next. I need 2×4 supports every 24 inches to hang my drywall. I am also cutting some of the ceiling joists! This is to make room for my accent ceiling design that is going to go above my island. Where I am cutting, I am adding 2x4s to the ends of the joists.

Kitchen Design

I want walls that are drywall so they are repairable, unlike the panels we had before, made of MDF. Another thing I want is a featured ceiling, it is going to be a tray design with angled edges! To be honest, my new design is going to look similar to what I have now. I still love the black cabinets, but it really bothers me that they do not match. My plan for this kitchen is to make a lot of upgrades. Matching cabinets, new ceilings, and nicer walls! My overall goal is to make this kitchen look modern and well-designed rather than pieced together over the years.

The post Kitchen Demolition and Design appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Prepping to Create the DIY Concrete Backsplash
• Mixing the Concrete for the New Backsplash
• Trowelling on the First Layer of Concrete
• Adding the Second Layer of Concrete
• Sanding and Sealing the DIY Concrete Backsplash
• Adding the Finishing Touches

Prepping to Create the DIY Concrete Backsplash

I am doing a concrete-look backsplash that flows right onto the counter. I am going to color this to be a soft beige. To start this part of the project, I am taping off my cabinets so I do not ruin their brand new paint job. To prep the sheetrock backsplash to accept the microtech concrete topping, I am putting on a waterproofing membrane. This is going to help with adhesion and prevent the concrete layer from cracking over time. I did two coats of this stuff, I rolled it on with a thick roller.

We are now placing the last slab of concrete countertop into the corner to create the L-shaped countertop. This was not place this with the others because I needed an electrician to come in and wire for my stove. I was unsure how to stabilize the seam where the counter meets the drywall so it would not crack. I decided to run a bead of caulk there in hopes that this would do the trick.

Mixing the Concrete for the New Backsplash

Now that everything is prepped and in place, I am mixing up the micro tech concrete topping. This is mostly water, but I am adding specialty concrete powder to it. This process comes in two different parts for the two different layers that will be applied. The first layer of this is generally darker, I also am coloring mine with sun buff colorant. With the first layer, you are going to want to be very thorough. If you do not mix it enough the colorant can leave streaks.

Trowelling on the First Layer of Concrete

This micro tech topping gets trowelled onto the surfaces. I realized this product is going to dry FAST on the countertops because it absorbs into the concrete. On my backsplash, I knew the product would not soak in as fast as it would on the countertops. Doing the backsplash first is wise because, on a vertical surface, you will drip little bits of the topping and I do not want to mess up the work I will do on the countertop with drips. I enjoyed the process of trowelling this on because it feels artistic.

On the concrete countertops, the product was drying very quickly. This is because the counters are not sealed with anything, so the concrete is just sucking up the micro tech topping. It sticks beautifully!

Adding the Second Layer of Concrete

I let the first layer of concrete dry completely before coming back to add the second layer. The first layer looks very even! I am going across the first layer with a drywall knife to scrape any high points on the concrete. The second layer of concrete mixes up almost exactly the same way as the first, the only difference is that I tend to mix this one slightly thinner. I am spritzing the first layer with water before applying the second layer. This is done so the product does not absorb too quickly and gets chunky and hard to move. The second layer is lighter in color, this is perfect because as you add the product you can see the darker color peak through. This gives the backsplash beautiful movement and a multi-dimensional look!

Sanding and Sealing the DIY Concrete Backsplash

Once the second layer of micro tech topping is dry, I am going in with my random orbital sander. At this point, I liked how it looked, but I was a little sad because there was less color variation than I was hoping for. It looks a little bit flat and dull. Thankfully this is going to change when I seal it. The first step in sealing is making sure your surfaces are extremely clean. I vacuumed all the concrete and used a sticky tack cloth to wipe everything up.

DIYconcrete.com’s countertop sealer is a food-safe polyurethane. This comes in two different parts, A and B. To mix this up you measure three parts of A and two parts of B and mix that with your paddle drill until it is catalyzed. In addition, this product has an induction time where it just needs to sit. Once its rest time is up, the poly sealant gets diluted with seven parts of water for the first coat. We want the first coat to get soaked up by the concrete. Once the product is not soaked up we can dilute it to one part sealant, two parts water. Before applying the diluted sealant, you must spritz down the concrete again. I am sealing the vertical backsplash first. The sealant is being rolled onto the backsplash, but for the counter, I am flooding it. I did three coats of this sealant!

Adding the Finishing Touches

24 hours after I added my final coat of sealant, I could not wait to install my sink and faucet to see it with the new backsplash and countertops. I love the way this turned out! It is the perfect amount of texture and movement. The poly pulled out some of the darker colors and gave it such a beautiful look!

If you love the way this backsplash turned out and you want to see how I created the rest of this kitchen, click here!

The post DIY Concrete Backsplash appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Prep Work
• Pouring Concrete into Molds
• Releasing the Counters from their Molds
• What is Next??

Preparing to Create the DIY Concrete Countertops and Backsplash

I decided I want to cast the countertops from concrete! To begin I am clearing my living room space to use it as an area where we can put down melamine sheets and rails and cast the counters. For this project I am getting a little bit of help from diyconcrete.com. They sent out two of their experts to help me measure the exact dimensions of the counters I want to create. We are also going to be putting down foam rails and modifying the melamine sheet so that the concrete can get poured and solidified into this mold. My countertops will be an inch and a half thing as dictated by the height of the foam rails. I am casting these concrete counters as a stable substrate for me to put another concrete coating over them.

Once our foam molds are created, we are making sure that everything is wiped clean and vacuumed out. This is important to ensure nothing will interfere with the concrete pour. The concrete we are using is a very special formula. It is fortified with three different types of polymers that make it super strong. You can flip them over onto your counter in just 24 hours and they are fully cured in just 7 days!

Pouring the Concrete into the Molds

Once the concrete is mixed to the consistency of pancake batter it is time to pour! You want to pour your first layer into your mold and push it up onto the sides of the rails. You do this to prevent any color variation because you will need more than one bucket to fill these molds. Once enough concrete is poured to reach the top of the rails, pat it down into place. The concrete I am using settles beautifully with just a light pat. We created three pieces for my kitchen. The long piece has the cutout for my sink, and two short pieces, one for a single cabinet and the other for the second part of the L-shaped counter.

Releasing the Counters from their Molds

The evening after I poured the concrete it is time to release the counters from their molds and flip them over on to the cabinets. I called in my family to help with this part of the project! First, I have to remove all of the screws that are holding the molds together. Then, I began to take off the foam rails. Because we did not use the tape on the foam rails like you normally would, it made it so the concrete was a little bit difficult to get free from the molds. We tried prying it off with a crowbar, but it just kept breaking into little pieces. It took quite a bit of time for me to get the rails off. It would have been much quicker if I was going for a smooth finish and had used tape.

Once the countertops were finally out of there molds we are able to flip them. Even though the areas around the sink space are very thin, they did not break. We were careful to flip the counter up on its end and carry it like that. This caused there to be way less pressure on the thin pieces. In order to get the short piece of the L-counter to butt up nice and flush next to the long piece of the counter I had to cut through the drywall a bit. This is so there will be a little pocket to slide the DIY concrete countertop into. This gave me wiggle room so we could adjust the piece of counter into place and get the two seams to come up tight. The other short piece of counter is going right on top of the singleton cabinet.

To Be Continued…

If you were just doing concrete countertops, this is the point where you would let your counters cure completely and seal them…but I am not doing that! If you want to read about how I finished this project and went above and beyond, check back for the blog post on DIY Concrete Backsplash!

The post DIY Concrete Countertops appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Cutting the Wood for the DIY Kitchen Cabinet Build
• Drilling Pocket Holes and Sanding the Plywood
• Cutting Wood for Face Frames
• Assembling the Cabinet Boxes
• Assembling the Face Frames
• Putting all the Pieces Together

Cutting the Wood for the DIY Kitchen Cabinet Build

It is a lot of work to build cabinets from scratch. This DIY kitchen cabinet build mostly uses a Craig jig and pocket holes. I only have a small table saw, so I am setting up a straight edge with a four-foot level to rip cross-cuts on my pieces of plywood. For cross-cuts on plywood I use painter’s tape because it is very easy to get tear out and painter’s tape laid out on your line helps to prevent that. I use my table saw as often as possible. It has an 80 tooth blade on it and it cuts the plywood very cleanly.

Drilling Pocket Holes and Sanding the Plywood

My craig jig is not sold anymore, but there are so many options for drilling pocket holes. Click here if you want to purchase one that I think is good! I am drilling so many pocket holes into these pieces to assemble my cabinet boxes. The purpose of this is so they can go together with strong joints, but my hardware is still going to be hidden. For this project, I am building six cabinet boxes!

Once all of my pocket holes are drilled, it is time to sand all of the pieces. I am using 120 grit sandpaper on my random orbital sander. This took a LONG time. I am sealing up the porous plywood on the cabinet boxes that will have shelving. To do this, I am applying water-based polyurethane. In between the three coats that I am applying, I am sanding with a high grit sandpaper then wiping off the dust and adding another coat of poly. This is going to give me a super smooth and wipable surface for the inside of my cabinets.

Cutting Wood for Face Frames

While the polyurethane is curing I am assembling face frames. On cabinets, you generally want to have face frames so you have more options for your doors. If you do not use a face frame, you have to do a full overlay. In my cabinet box design, face frames are also going to help keep the boxes nice and square. The material I am using for my face frames is a 1×4 piece of red oak that I ripped down to 1 3/4 inches wide. The rails on my face frame will also get pocket screws, this is going to make them go together so easily. I am also sanding each of these boards. I did a calculation and I spent about 12 hours sanding during this DIY cabinet build.

Assembling the Cabinet Boxes

The first boxes I am assembling are the ones with shelving that will be on the back of my island. This is similar to wall upper cabinets. I am using clamps to hold my pieces of plywood tightly together at exactly a 90-degree angle; this helps to keep my box square as I screw everything together through my pocket holes. The screwed-together joint is strongest when your screws are angled towards the meat of the plywood rather than towards the edge. The two shelves inside the cabinet box are also being attached with pocket holes. They are underneath, so they will not be visible. I am leveling the shelves after getting one screw into place, then I am tilting it down and securing it with the rest of the screws.

The next boxes I am assembling are the ones that will have drawers in them.The assembly for these is a little bit different than the ones with shelves. To save money, I am using stretchers rather than whole sheets of plywood. I do not need walls on these except for the two sides where the drawer slides are. I pre-assembled two scrap pieces of plywood at a 90-degree angle, this is getting screwed into the back of my cabinet. The other three corners of this box are getting stretchers that are scrap pieces of plywood. These will either be hidden by the face frame or in the back of the cabinet. This is the easiest way to put together a cabinet box that will be filled with drawers.

Assembling the Face Frames

In order to make sure that my face frames are a perfect rectangle I am using a square and clamps. I am coating my screws in wax because I heard a tip that it makes them go into hardwood better! Once my face frame is in the correct position I am putting the screws in, I put the whole face frame together with no cracking. I did not predrill the receiving wood. I just drilled slowly and carefully with my impact driver.

The vertical pieces of a face frame are called styles and the horizontal pieces are called rails. All of my pocket holes are drilled into the rails. This just simplifies things. The face frame for the box with drawers has multiple rails. Before installing my face frames onto my cabinets I am sanding all the way up to 180 grit. I also decided to pre-stain these so I do not get sloppy stain all over my boxes.

Putting All of the Pieces Together

I am applying glue to the edges of all of the plywood where the face frames are going. Next, I brush the glue across the entire edge and let it dry. I do this so the next layer can do its job properly. Once the first layer of glue is dry I am going in with another layer of glue where the face frame is going to go.

Then, I place my face frame and clamp it down. I am using 36-inch bar clamps for this. Your glue should squeeze out, you can wipe that off after assembly. It is important to glue your face frames as well as screw them in tight because face frames take the load of your doors and your hinge is reliant on the face frame. For the areas I did not pre-drill holes to pull the face frame tight, I just clamped it tight until the glue set up.

I love the way this DIY kitchen cabinet build turned out! These cabinets have added so much storage to my kitchen and helped make my vision for a new kitchen island come true.

The post DIY Kitchen Cabinet Build appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Cutting the Wood
• Assembling the Frame
• Building Drawers
• Trying New Things
• Edge Finishing on the Drawer Boxes
• Painting and Priming
• Finishing Up!

Cutting the Wood for the Custom Storage Solution

My house is a story and a half, so there are slanted ceilings to work around, because of this I had to learn how to build a custom storage solution! These drawers would work anywhere you have a slanted ceiling! I am cutting 3/4 inch plywood to the shape of my ceiling slant for the body of the shelves. I am using a cut optimizer to plan the rest of my cuts. Click here to go to the website I am using!

To create the drawers that will pull out, I am cutting up two sheets of 1/2-inch plywood. I prefer to assemble drawers with a groove in the plywood for the base to create a drawer box that is super strong. The other pieces of plywood that I cut were for the bottom and backside of my frame, these got pocket holes drilled so I could attach the frame box together.

Assembling the Frame for the Custom Storage Solution

To hold my large plywood pieces tight together, I am using corner clamps. When the clamps were in place at the top, I screwed the bottom together using Kreg screws. Once the bottom piece of wood is screwed into place, I flip the drawers to screw on the back piece. I do not need a full top piece, but I do need to box in half of it. I am creating a shelf on the top part of these drawers. Fully assembled, my frame is 40 inches deep, 24 inches wide and 51 inches tall.

Building the Drawers to go in my Custom Storage Solution

Next, I am going to build drawers that go all the way up the frame. This is going to give me the storage space I am looking for! Because these drawers are 37 inches deep, each one will have a divider to add more functionality. If you want an in-depth tutorial on how I am building these drawers, click here! When building the drawers, using spacers makes everything easier! I build the box as I go, measuring the distance between the drawer box sides when they are screwed to the slider hardware. I do this before cutting the remaining pieces for my drawer box. Doing it this way means that I am not trying to manage a big bulky box when installing the slides. This is especially handy for building these very deep and large drawers. Most importantly, it ensures that my slide hardware is always perfectly placed.

Trying New Things!

Originally, when I began building this, I planned to do full overlay drawer fronts and skip the face frame. However, I have never tried inset drawers. I thought this would be the perfect project to practice them! So, I decided to build a skinny face frame. This is preventing me from having to move all the drawers that I had just finished further back. When gluing the frame, I spread on a layer of glue, then let it dry enough to get tacky, then spread a second layer to have good adhesion. I am doing this because when you are gluing the edge of plywood the glue gets absorbed quickly. Gluing twice ensures that you have enough product. I am shooting brad nails into the face frame to hold it tight while the glue dries.

Edge Finishing on the Drawer Boxes

For the edges of plywood in my drawer boxes, I did not want to use edgebanding. I thought it would be a pain on such a skinny piece of 1/2-inch plywood. I devised a plan to water down wood filler and spread it across the top edge. This hides the plywood layers! When the filler is dry, I am sanding it all smooth with sandpaper. Where I am using edgebanding is on the 3/4 inch plywood drawer fronts. This is a tedious process that I do not enjoy, but I do like the way it looks.

Painting and Primer

Now that my entire custom storage solution is put together, it is time to prime. Once the prime is dry, I am going in with spray paint. You might be surprised I am going in with spraypaint rather than rolling on paint, here’s why; the shinier the sheen, the harder it is to get an even finish. So, for gloss, spraying is best! I also like spray paint for its durability.

Finishing the Custom Storage Solution

Once the paint is dried, I am ready to install the drawer fronts to the custom storage solution build! I was nervous to do inset drawers because I have heard that they are tricky. I kind of eyeballed the spacing with about an eigth of an inch gap around the whole drawer front. Then, I am using my cabinet hardware jig to mount the pulls. The pull I am using is 5 inches and is in the color champagne bronze.

I love the way this custom storage solution turned out! It is so perfect for my daughter Lily’s new room!

If you love this custom storage solution and want to see another storage space that I have built, click here!

The post Custom Storage Solution Build appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Cutting and Prepping the Wood
• Wall Prep Work
• DIY Wood Accent Wall Installation
• Final Touches

Preparing the Wood for the DIY Wood Accent Wall

I started with three sheets of 1/8-inch thick plywood. I ripped these down to be six inches wide on my table saw. If you do not have a table saw, this would be just as easy to do on a piece of foam on the ground with a circular saw and a guide. Once all of the planks have been cut down, my daughter and I are whitewashing them all. This whole wall is her design idea, I love that she is showing interest in DIY and the creation of her new room! I am wiping off all of the excess paint with a cloth while we whitewash. After we are done whitewashing, I am sealing the planks. This is easiest to do before installation. I am putting one layer of water-based polyurethane.

Once the polyurethane is dry, I sand all of the plank and its edges to make it nice and smooth. Once completely smooth, I go over it with a second coat of polyurethane. This gives each plank a satin sheen and a very durable finish. When the finishing was done, I laid them all in the sunshine to dry!

Getting the Wall Ready For Installation

In the room we are renovating, there was already a wall treatment of Wayne Scotting. The walls are plaster and lath. I had no clue that when we removed the existing wall treatment, there would be a terrible surprise. Behind the treatment, the wall was covered in black stuff. What this is remains a mystery. I tested it for mold and asbestos and both tests came back negative. Because I do not know what this is, I feel the most comfortable removing it.

To do this, I am starting by taping off the HVAC so particles do not get into my central system. Then, I am spraying the parts I am removing with water. I am wearing PPE while doing this just to be safe. Once the wall is damp enough, I started to remove the plaster bit by bit. This is SO tedious. It took me several hours to remove the part that needed removal, but it was for the best and gave me peace of mind.

Installation of the DIY Wood Accent Wall

I am starting the installation of this DIY accent wall with my laser level! I am starting by having it throw a vertical line on the wall so I can install my stretchers. These are vertical pieces of wood that I am adding to the wall where I want my wood plank seams to land. My seams are going to be symmetrical, but I cannot nail them into the wall in its current condition. Because I am lifting all of the planks away from the wall, I am also adding wood blocking. This is where I want to hang the headboard in the future.

Now, it is time to install the planks! At first I thought that I could install the planks right up against the ceiling, but my laser level told me that the ceiling is not level! It is off by an entire inch. I ended up having to bring my horizontal laser level down, measuring from it, and start the planks a little bit lower. Then, I cut the ceiling plank at an angle to fit where the ceiling is not level. Because these planks are hollow behind them, they needed more support than I anticipated. Because of this, as I was installing them they were bowing, and I had to add another piece of stretcher through the center. To install these planks I am starting by using a construction adhesive on my stretcher. Then, I installed the wood plank I cut to 24 inches first by shooting brad nails into the stretchers. Then I do the same on the longer plank to finish the row!

Adding the Final Touches

To get around obstacles on my wall, like outlets and vents, I am using my oscillating multitool. First, I am marking where the obstacles are. Then, I go in VERY carefully with my oscillating multitool because my material is so thin. Once everything was cut out, I installed the planks as normal. I am putting baseboards here, but only where the bed frame is not going to be pushed up against the DIY wood accent wall. On the edges where the wood planks meet the other two walls, I was able to run a bead of clear paintable caulk. When it cured, I ran a tape line, painted, and removed the tape immediately for a very crisp edge.

I love the way this DIY wood accent wall turned out! The variation of color on the planks adds so much warmth and visual interest to the room. My daughter loves it so much which is the most important! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

The post DIY Wood Accent Wall appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Preparations
• Day 1: Demo Day
• Day 2: Wall Treatment
• Day 3: Caulking
• Day 4: Painting
• Day 5: Final Touch-ups
• The Final Results!

Preparing for the DIY Nursery Makeover Project

Dan and Chelsea live 80 miles away from us, so I spent 5 hours packing my car with tools and everything I needed to stay with them and complete the work. I’m trying to transform this whole space in only one week, so I did some of the building beforehand.

I start by assembling 1x2s that I cut and primed into a think display shelf for one of the walls. I plan to put picture books on this so that you can see the front covers. To build the back of this display, I am gluing and nailing on 1/2″ plywood. In addition, I am projecting the baby’s name on a piece of 1/2-inch plywood to trace for a name cut-out. I was the only person who knew the baby’s name before she was born, and it was so that I could make this! This part of the project took me 4 hours. I had to carefully cut the thin, loopy text out with my jigsaw and a scrolling blade. I know I could have bought a name cut-out online, but it is impossible to order one as large as I wanted. It also means more that I made it myself! When the cutting was done, I sanded each letter and spray-painted the name.

Day 1: Demolition of the Room

Once I completed all of the prep work at my house, it was down to Dan and Chelsea’s house. The first thing I am doing is demolition. I ran into a problem almost immediately, the person who installed the chair rail had used construction adhesive. This means that removing the trim work ripped the wall’s paper, and I am going to have lots of annoying drywall repairs to complete. I recommend never using glue; nails are enough! I am also scraping the popcorn ceiling texture off, so I am removing the light fixture and covering the carpet with plastic. Scraping a textured ceiling is quite easy and very satisfying. This one has never been painted, so it scraped off without any issues.

After cleaning up the mess from scraping the ceiling, I have to wipe down the ceiling and walls because there is so much dust. Once they are clean, I will roll primer on the exposed raw drywall on the ceiling. If I did not prime the wall, the primer would not adhere and I might have issues. While I am waiting for my primer to dry, I am applying the first coat of all-purpose joint compound to the damaged part of my drywall. To finish off day one, I am rolling a coat of white paint on the ceiling and upper third of the wall and applying a second coat of joint compound.

Day 2: Board and Batten Wall Treatment

I am starting day two with sanding the joint compound; it dried overnight. Once it is sanded, I am priming over it to prevent flashing. My big project for day three is the board and batten wall treatment. Chelsea and I had looked at lots of Pinterest inspiration when planning this design together, and she loved the modern style of board and batten. I am doing a faux treatment where the battens are just nailed on the wall, no boards required. A lot of the inspirational photos we looked at have this wall treatment as one wall behind the crib, but I am going big and doing the WHOLE ROOM! If you want a more in-depth tutorial on how I did this wall treatment, there is a blog post here! Installing this wall treatment took most of day two, but it was so worth it. The last thing I am doing for day two is smearing wood filled in my face seams so it will dry overnight.

Day 3: Caulking

I am sanding the wood filler and beginning to caulk on day three. My goal for day three was to get paint on the wall treatment, but that did not happen. Caulking took SO long! Three hours and two and a half tubes of caulk later, I finished caulking. I was not happy about this. I ran out of caulk and had to go to Home Depot to get more; this set me back for day three. The only other thing I got done was installing the new light fixture. I love this woven fixture; it casts a beautiful shadow on the ceiling!

Day 4: Painting

I spent all of day four painting. The color that I am putting on the wall is very calming and is called Pigeon Gray by Dunn-Edwards. I love that it is neutral enough to transition with this room into whatever it might become. It does not scream nursery.

Day 5: Insalls and Final Touch-Ups

Day five was all about adding the final details to the room! I patched some imperfections that showed through the first coat of paint. Then, I am sanding, priming, and painting over the patches. I am adding cute peg hooks to the top rail of the board and the batten design. Then, I am rolling a coat of fresh white paint on the entry door, window trim, and closet doors. I am also swapping out the closet door knobs for cuter ones. My go-to curtain rod is also being hung up; I am hanging heavy blackout curtains on this. They are a pretty sage color. Dan helped me tape fairy lights to the name cut-out so it would be backlit. I am adding a couple of little blocks of wood that are the same thickness as the battens to support the name hovering off the wall. To attach the name, I am using short brad nails. Now that all the final details are added, it is time to surprise Chelsea!

Final Result of the DIY Nursery Makeover Project

Creating this room was truly a labor of love. I love using my growing skillset to show appreciation and support for the ones in my life that mean the most. Chelsea is so glad to have this calming, comfortable, and curated space to bring her first baby home to. Every inch of this room was touched, from the ceiling to the floor. I am so pleased with how everything turned out! I hope you loved this DIY nursery makeover project and that it inspired you to give your home improvement talents to those you love.

The post Nursery Makeover appeared first on .

Table of Contents

• Prepping the Wood
• Adding Framing to the Cabinet
• Drywalling
• Building the Inside of the Cabinet
• Adding a Shelf
• Priming and Painting
• Building a Cabinet Door
• Sanding and Staining
• Assembling the Face Frame
• Installing the Face Frame
• Finishing Up!

Preparing the Wood to Build a Bathroom Cabinet

This project is not going to cost me all that much money because I am using a lot of leftover materials. I am going to drill some kreg jig holes into the framing. These are the center supports for the entire cabinet. Then, I am going to connect them all together, forcing them against my cement driveway so that everything lines up. The middle support piece is exactly 4-feet up the wall, I did typical measurements for framing. As I was framing this up I kept checking my square to make sure everything lined up nicely.

I am going to be framing up a wall on one side to determine the depth and width of this cabinet. It will look like it is meant to be in the corner of the bathroom, not added later. It is going to be about 22 inches deep and 21 inches wide. Because of this, I am adding a second stud because studs are supposed to run every 16 inches to support the drywall.

Adding the Framing to the Bathroom Cabinet

Bringing the framing of the cabinet into the bathroom was not easy. Learning how to build a bathroo cabinet has been harder than anticipated! It is a small space, so it was a little difficult. The frame was a tight fit, so I hammered it into place. I am screwing the framing for the wall I am adding to the existing wall framing. For the floor, I am also screwing it in.

Drywalling the Bathroom Cabinet

Once the framing is in, I am replacing the drywall. I am using a combination of drywall that I took down and leftover scraps from other drywall projects I have done. I had just enough to get both the new wall and the little sidewall next to the doorway covered. Next, I have to tape and mud the drywall. This is my least favorite part, every time I do drywall I swear I am going to hire it out but then end up doing it myself!

Building the Inside of the Cabinet

For the inside of the closet, I am using plywood instead of drywall. The plywood was such a tight fit when I tried to put one full sheet in, I realize I have to cut it into two smaller pieces. I cut the two pieces of wood where the shelf will be to cover the seam. Once it is cut properly, I am screwing the plywood into place. For the side walls of the closet, I sliced down 1/2-inch thick plywood. I am nailing these into place. I only screwed the back plywood in so there would be added support for the shelf.

Building and Installing the Shelf

Once the inside of the closet is complete, I am going to drill pocket holes into the piece of plywood that will be my shelf. This piece of plywood is 3/4-inch thick and sanded on both sides. I am pre-drilling a couple of holes into the plywood. These will go into the back of the closet, a couple into the sides, and a few in the front that will go into the face frame. I knocked the piece of plywood into place inside the closet and got it as level as I could. This shelf is not covered with an edge band because it will be covered with the face frame. I cut a smaller second shelf to go above the first shelf. The edge is covered with an edge band because the face frame will not cover it.

Priming and Painting

Once my shelves were in place it was time to prime and paint. I am using a 4-inch mini foam roller to prime the inside of the cabinet. I did not use a paintbrush in the seams because I was not doing a super precise job of priming. When the primer is fully dry I am going in with 220-grit sandpaper wrapped around a little 2×4 block. I did this to sand everything smooth before going in with my paint. Then, I wiped any sawdust or residue off with a damp rag.

Before I can paint I need to fix the gaps in the ceiling. I cut little strips of pine and primed them, then used a heavy-duty adhesive to adhere them to the ceiling. Once those were in place and the adhesive was dry I could go in with caulk. When the caulk dries it will finally be time for paint.

Time to paint! I started by using a polyester bristle brush in all of the seams first to prevent drips. Then, I am going in with a big roller and rolling paint all over the inside of the cabinet. I chose to use the same color inside the cabinet that I used on the walls of the bathroom.

Building the Exterior Door for the Cabinet

I am using 3/4-inch. plywood for the doors as well, I am ripping it on my table saw so the edges are a 30-degree bevel. It was my assumption that this detail would make them look prettier. I am going to rip the other side in the other direction to get a bevel on every side.

To create the face frame of the closet I am using select pine. I ripped some of them thinner, the side that is covering the framed wall is kept at 3 1/2 inches wide whereas the other ones are 2 1/4 inches wide. I drilled a bunch of pocket holes, used my clamps to hold everything in place, then added screws to hold the frame together. Because the door is made of plywood, the beveled edge looks kind of ugly. I am using Pure Edge edge banding to cover it. This irons on very quickly and looks much better.

Sanding and Staining

Once the glue from the edge banding is dry, it is time to sand. This sanding took hours! I sanded the face frame, the doors, and every edge. I am sanding the edges so that they would be a little bit softer to the touch. Once everything is sanded I am wiping it off with a cloth and putting polyurethane on it. This is being applied with a fine polyester bristle brush. I love the color that came out with just one coat of polyurethane on the face frame, but when I put it on the doors it did not look as good. I am mixing up a custom wash for the doors and painting it on. It looks so much better.

Assembling the Face of the Bathroom Cabinet

To assemble this cabinet I am beginning on the horizontal space of my floor. This is going to make it so much easier to get things lined up and pre-drilled. I am lining up where I want my hinges to be and set the doors on top of them. Once everything is in place, I use a pencil to mark where I need to pre-drill. The hinges I am using match the ones that are on the vanity in the bathroom. I am adding a little piece of wood behind every hinge to make it conducive to the space.

Installing the Face Frame

The first thing I am doing is clamping the frame into place. Once it is clamped into place I am screwing directly into the wall stud. Then, I am adding in more screws where I pre-drilled. For the edge of the cabinet, I am taking 1-1/2 inch by 1-1/2 inch wooden outside corner trim piece and nailing that into place. This ended up being perfectly flush with the wall and it looked so good! In order to fill all of my holes I am using drywall joint compound and wood filler. To the face frame off I am sanding, adding another layer of polyurethane, and caulking.

Hanging the Doors

Once I have installed the hardware on the door it is time to hang them on the face frame. To hang the doors I am lining them up with the face frame and putting tiny little screws through the hinges. I pre-drilled holes into the face frame so I would know exactly where to put the hinges. To add more storage space I am hanging a hook on the inside of this cabinet!

I love how this closet turned out! It has added so much storage and versatility to this small bathroom!

The post How to Build a Bathroom Cabinet appeared first on .

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. For full disclosures and practices, please visit my policy page.

Table of Contents

• Prep Work
• Cutting Lumber
• Assembling the Beams
• Distressing the Beams
• Staining
• Prepping to Hang the Beams
• Hanging the Beams and Finished Beams

Ceiling and Room Prep Work

This ceiling is heavily textured, so the first thing I will do is spray down and scrape this texture. If you want a full tutorial on scraping textured ceilings you can read the blog post! A large part of the preparation for this room transformation is taping the windows and doors to protect them from any debris or paint. Before you scrape any texture off of your ceiling, make sure to test for asbestos. Once my ceiling was scraped it was time to paint. I decided to paint the walls first, then the ceiling afterward. Spraying the ceiling with paint made me nervous, but I did it and it worked so well!

Cutting Lumber to Make the Faux Wood Beams

Now it is time to make the faux wood beams! These beams are going to be massive because the ceiling is so big. I am using a feather board for the first time on this project. I am using this because I am going to attempt a very long bevel cut. The table saw setup is very important for this cut. The long piece of wood needs to be flat on the table saw. To do this I clamp lumber against the rip fence as well as the feather board. I have my table saw set to a little more than 45 degrees, about 46 degrees. This angle gives me some wiggle room in creating the beveled joint. My setup is definitely not professional, I am just working with what I have! I created so much sawdust while doing this cutting!

Once my lumber has been cut the long way, it is time to lay it out and cut the angled ends. Because I am creating beams across a vault, both the top and the bottom need to have angled cuts. I determined that some areas on my walls needed 17-degree angle cuts and some needed 18 degrees. This cutting was very complex! When I had all 5 beams cut, 15 separate pieces of lumber, I was so relieved! I also put a stop block on my miter saw and cut a bunch of 1x4s to the exact distance between the hollow beams.

Assembling the Faux Wood Beams

Now that all my lumber is cut, it is time to assemble the beams! I am going to assemble these by laying the beveled side down and running packaging tape along both of the seams. The packaging tape is going to help hold it together as I try to flip the three pieces of lumber over. When the beams are flipped I apply wood glue to the beveled edges and stick them together. In the places where the wood is bowing, or not perfectly straight, I am shooting brad nails in to hold it tight. The next day, when the glue was dry, I am removing all of the packaging tape that I applied when flipping the lumber over. The joint is so strong, the wood glue is so strong.

Distressing the Wood Beams

Now that my beams look perfect, I am going to put them through the ringer! I want them to look like old-world beams like they have been weathered through time. I am going to start the distressing process by using a planar, this hand planar is going to randomly take thickness off in different areas on every side of these beams. Once I am done using that, I am going in with my jigsaw. I am using the jigsaw to rough up all of the edges. I used a few more distressing techniques to rough up this wood including; a wire brush drill bit and whipping them with chains.

Staining

Once the distressing is done, I am going in with 80-grit sandpaper on my random orbital sander to sand all of my beams. This is to get rid of the slivers I made while distressing and also to prepare the lumber for staining. The stain that I mixed up is custom, I mixed chestnut and American walnut. I did this in an attempt to match the existing trim in the living room. It was so fun to put stain on these beams because all of the distressing details came to life.

Preparing to Hanging the Faux Wood Beams

To hang these faux wood beams I first need to plan out where they will go using my laser level. The laser-level casts perpendicular and parallel lines across the ceiling. I measured out exactly how my 5 beams would be evenly spaced and marked that on the wall, and then I cast my laser level to make a perfectly straight line across the entire ceiling. This allows me to use Sharpie on the ceiling and mark where I should put my supports. I am not running a full board of supports for this beam, I am just putting the small supports exactly where I need to screw the boards in. I am using my magnetic stud finder on the wall side of my laser level to see if there is a ceiling joist.

If there is a ceiling joist where I want my beam I will be screwing wood to wood and it will be very strong. If the beam does not align with a ceiling joist I will install with toggle bolts. The supports are the spacers cut to the width of the inside of the hollow wood beams. The top and bottom of each beam will get the same supports. I want the beam to be attached to both the wall and the ceiling, it needs a lot of connection points. It is so important that these beams do not sag or fall.

Hanging the Faux wood Beams

To hang these beams I am getting help. My neighbor and husband are holding the beams in place and I am coming through and screwing them into place. I pre-drilled holes into the beam so I knew exactly where to put the screws. Some of the spots needed some coaxing to get flush with the ceiling. These beams are very secure to the ceiling. I am in awe of how good these beams turned out! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

I am in awe of how good these beams turned out! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!

The post How to Make Faux Wood Beams appeared first on .