The "theme" for our boy's (he is nameless for now because it will be a surprise!) room is nautical. I don't want to get to carried away with hokey decorations but I like the style of nautical design. When I think of an east coast home and the interior design I think or detail and moulding. One thing we have wanted to experiment with for awhile is moulding. We have installed crown moulding once in our previous home and thought it would be a nice touch for our baby room AND I have always loved wainscoting or chair/picture rail. We knew we wanted a deep blue for the color (vibrant colors are best for a baby's room because it's stimulating vs light pastel colors that tend to all look the same) but didn't want the room to be weighed down so we decided on a higher rail like a picture rail with some trim accent to make it look like wainscoting.
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| Crown Moulding |
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| Floor Baseboards |
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| Window End Cap Moulding |
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| Trim (Faux Wainscoting) |
Now that we know what we want we have to measure and design it. Sounds easy? Well... not quite. We wanted to make it somewhat easy to cut and install but that meant working around outlets, window, doors, and fitting them evenly on the walls (none that run into the corners of the walls). It was quite a task to figure out all the sizing and to be honest they aren't all the exact same and not spaced exact either. We cheated. :) BUT it worked! With the exception of the window we were able to avoid any additional cuts. It was worth it! We cut all the pieces at once because then we knew they all had the same angles (45 degree angles on the trim pieces to make the boxes but it's hard for it to actually be exact so cutting at the same time is best).
We are using all of pieces throughout the room in non-traditional ways. Sometimes it's good to be creative with the moulding and how you can layer it... which is what we planned to do! We used baseboards (upside down) to further accentuate the crown moulding. In order to ensure the pieces were all the same distance from the ceiling we used a 1" x 1" and then nailed it with a nail gun (and a compressor... finally a good use for all the tools my husband buys :)) to the studs.
Then we used the same baseboards (upside down again) to make a bigger/fuller picture rail. Upside down baseboard, trim, then the end cap to give it a finished look AND a smooth edge.
Next came the painting... unfortunately for my husband it was better for me to leave that to him since I was 6 months pregnant but he did a great job. For the ceiling we used the new ceiling paint that goes on pink and dries white so you know what areas you have painted. :) It was fun and handy! It dried pretty fast so you can barely see it but I had to share anyway.
Before we painted we caulked all the nail holes and all joints so that it looks smooth and continuous when it's painted. The crown moulding, picture rail, and faux wainscoting were all painted white to match the doors and window trim. We painted two coats to make sure it was completely covered.
Then came the vibrant, deep blue to bring in some of the nautical feel. Again, two coats for full coverage.
Turned out great, right?! I know I love it and it's so rewarding when you complete a project like this.
All in all this production was about 12 hours (2 hours to plan - better to have it right, 1 hour to cut the moulding, 3 hours to nail the trim, 6 hours to paint - ceiling, trim, and blue.. two coats each). The total cost breakdown was: (keep in mind this is for a 12' x 13.5' room"
- $68 paint - white, blue, and ceiling
- $8 caulk - white, indoor
- $48 baseboards
- $50 crown moulding
- $80 trim moulding
- $80 end cap moulding (we had this from a previous project but that's about how much it costs)
Total: $334
This is probably a bit excessive for a baby's room but we're excited and we wanted to try it in a room that wasn't necessarily open to everyone :) But I think it was a success so maybe a variation of it in another production for our family room?! We'll see!
Hope you enjoyed this post as much as we have enjoyed the results of the work! :)
-> Kassy <-
