Well, I’m still working on decorating the bedroom and it’s still not finished. But I made some progress over the weekend and I’m still very motivated and excited to get started and finish this cut.
My first priority this weekend was to cut out and install all the picture frame moldings, so I started with that. After everything was installed and I started filling the nail holes with wood filler, I had to decide what to do with this large gap at the bottom of this wall. This is not only a vertical gap between the bottom of the baseboard and the floor, but also a gap between the front edge of the baseboard and the start of the flooring. So I knew this would require something much larger than a simple shoe molding or quarter round molding.
I looked at a few options at Home Depot, but it didn’t take long to realize that the best option would be one of my favorite strips from Lowe’s – this PVC shingle strip that comes in 8 foot lengths. During installation I had to split the difference vertically so that there was still a small gap under the cladding. I’m not sure yet if I’ll leave it as is or if I’ll put some caulk underneath so the white meets the floor. But I think it looks a lot better now. And I love the look of this trim and how it adds a little more elegance to the wainscoting.
And since I wanted to put it in the bedroom, I had to put it in the foyer too. I was a little frustrated that I had to go back to an area that I thought was finished and that I had to do more, but I’m so glad I did it. I think the bottom trim adds such a nice finishing touch. This is what this area looked like before trimming.
And here it is with the trim on the floor. I think it rounded it out really well.
Here’s another reminder of what the wall with the bathroom door looked like last week before I installed the picture frame molding and bottom trim…
And here it is with all the panels installed. I’m still working on sanding off all the wood filler on the nail holes and then I just need to caulk and paint.
This wall is still a mess, but at least all the paneling is in place. I decided to wait to prime and paint the areas where I needed to make so many repairs to the wavy wall. I wanted to do it sooner, but I just wanted to put the trim on and not have to wait for the primer and paint to dry. Since I still have so much painting to do, it won’t be a big deal to prime and paint this area when I paint the rest of the trim.
This corner is still a bit messy, but it’s much better than it originally looked. And once the curtains are up, that high corner will be hidden anyway, so I’m not too worried about it.
So I’ve gotten a lot done, but now I’m stuck with the slow part – all the wood filling, sanding and caulking. But at least I see the bright light at the end of the tunnel and still feel very encouraged and motivated.
And I’m very relieved now that I know that this wall will actually look decent in the end. I was very worried that I would never be able to hide this uneven floor, but I don’t think it looks bad at all.
In fact, I think it looks pretty amazing considering what I had to work with (e.g. the uneven room in our entire house).
And also, I finally brought the new mirror to see how it will look in the foyer. I think it will be so pretty! I just need to run the wiring for the wall lights that flank the mirror.
And I also started moving the ceiling box for the new light fixture and then I realized that before installing the new light fixture I need to rotate the vent on the HVAC intake duct so that it opens from the other side. If I leave it as it is, it will open directly into the new light. So that’s another project added to my to-do list. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.
So that’s progress! Having to take the time to purchase the bottom trim and then cut and install it definitely slowed me down, but I’m so glad I did it. I think the new trim adds the perfect finishing touch to the wainscoting. It really improved the overall look of the paneling while also helping to hide some problem areas.
I was pretty confident that everything would work out in the end, but I have to admit that I had some doubts during that “in between” phase when I was working on the paneling. At one point I thought I had made a big mistake with my decision to add wainscoting to these areas, but persistence and creative solutions paid off. Hopefully with these issues resolved I will be able to fully finish these walls in the next few days.
