I’ve been working on finishing up the trim in the studio, but I’ve been met with some challenges and one of the most absurd roadblocks I’ve ever experienced in all of my years of DIYing and remodeling. I mean, this is seriously one of the dumbest problems I’ve ever encountered. 😀
On a positive note, I’m very glad that I finally got this area to the left of the paint swatch cabinet trimmed out.
That area was a challenge. I had to move the cabinet out so that I had room to work back there, and that cabinets is huge and heavy. And then, I had to determine how much of each piece of trim had to be installed so that the baseboards would dead end into the side of the cabinet. And once I got that tiny bit of baseboard installed, I then had to move the huge, heavy cabinet back into place, making sure it was snug up against the baseboard with no gaps between the ends of the trim pieces and the cabinet. I thought I was never going to get the cabinet in place, but with sheer determination, patience, and a rubber mallet that helped me move the cabinet that last 1/4-inch, I finally got it where it needed to be.
I still have to do all of the caulking and painting, but I think I can get that part done with the cabinet in place.
With that done, I thought that I had finished the hardest part of the trim, but I was wrong. Next, I moved to trimming out the doorway that leads to the sitting room/breakfast room area. But when I went to install the half jamb on the studio side of the pocket door, I couldn’t get the door to move over in the slot enough for the 1″ x 2″ jamb piece to attach where it needed to go.
After getting a flashlight and trying to find the problem, I finally realized that there were two things pushing the door over to the side. First, there was a random piece of wood in there. You can see how the door is being pushed over to the studio side of the pocket.
But also, there’s an entire roll of painter’s tape inside the pocket pushing on this side of the door!!! An entire roll of painters tape!
Y’all! How in the heck did that happen?! How and why is there an entire roll of painters tape inside the wall? And it’s on the breakfast room side of the door, so it’s pushing the door over in the slot and affecting the opening and closing of the door.
I spent about an hour trying everything I could think of to get that roll of painters tape out of there, but I had no success. I mean, I tried hot glue on the end of a paint stir stick, quick dry epoxy on the end of paint stir stick. But just as I’d start pulling the roll of painters tape, the adhesive would release and the tape would roll back.
The only thing I can think of is that I’ll have to cut a hole in the drywall on the breakfast room side, remove the painters tape (along with that random piece of wood), and then patch up the drywall.
This is truly one of the most absurd and baffling things I’ve ever had to deal with in my years of DIYing and remodeling. I mean…WHY? HOW? I have no explanation. 😀
But I did manage to move the roll of tape just enough so that I could proceed with installing the trim. I got the door trimmed out, including that half jamb piece, and then I got the baseboards installed on the long wall.
And speaking of baseboards, I don’t know if I’ve ever shared with y’all my favorite baseboard combo, so here it is. First, I install 1″ x 4″ lumber as the main baseboard piece.
For this wall, I had to cut around the cabinets to make it fit. And then I accidentally chipped the paint on the cabinet when trying to get the baseboard into place, so that will need a touch up.
And then, along the floor, I add quarter round trim. Where the quarter round meets the door casing, I cut the end of the quarter round at a 22.5-degree angle. You can also use a shoe molding here, but I tend to prefer the thicker look of quarter round.
This will forever be my favorite baseboard combo. I love that it’s a simple, clean look, but it also has some weight to the look. I don’t like tiny, thin, insignificant baseboards. I like them to have some weight to them, without being too fancy.
And then once they’re caulked and painted, I think they look fantastic.
Also, I always paint my quarter round to match the baseboards. I know it’s traditional to match the quarter round to the floor if you have hardwood flooring. I personally don’t ever do that. I don’t like the way it looks at all because it makes the baseboards look short and stubby. I like a tall, substantial baseboard, so painting the quarter round to match the baseboards, rather than staining them to match hardwood flooring, is my preference to beef up the look of the baseboards.
While some flooring installers will tell you there’s absolutely a right and wrong way to do it, and the quarter round always needs to match the hardwood flooring, I’ll argue that it’s just a matter of personal preference, and you can do whatever the heck you want to do in your own home. 😀 And I’ll always paint my quarter round to match the baseboards (or cabinets in those instances where quarter round is used around toekicks and around the bottom of cabinets).
Anyway, I haven’t always used this style of baseboards, and in fact, most of the rest of the house has different baseboards. When I started remodeling this house, I chose a much fancier style. Some day, I’d love to go back and replace those fancier baseboards with this simple style.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
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