Our guest room has kind of become the catch all room. Please tell me I am not the only room with a place in my house like that! After my nephew (who lived with us for 3 months) moved back home I had a hard time entering the room because I missed him so much. Fast forward a year, and with the exceptions of Grandma coming for visits, I really haven’t ventured in there much except to toss a piece of furniture I was no longer using. But the time has come for a fresh start on the room again. What better way to chance the look of a room than with come molding and paint?
Supplies:
Chop saw or miter box and saw
Pre-primed 4†(actually measures 3 1/2â€) MDF
Tape Measure
Air Nail Gun with Compressor
Caulk (I used Alex Plus)
Wood Filler
3M Sanding Sponge
Jigsaw
Level
Vacuum
This is the first wall you see as you walk into the room. I am loving the character all the molding added to the room. It is a huge welcome to the guests staying in the room. I also am a big fan of the contrast of the gray paint against the cream molding. I used Stonewall Jackson by Dutch Boy. It is a perfect gray with not a hint of blue in it. It is just a really beautiful color and looks wonderful in all lighting.
The wall of molding cost me right at about $115 for the preprimed 4†MDF ($6.32 for an 8’ board) for the 15’ x 8’ room. But since it is an investment in the room I didn’t think that was too bad. Plus you could do it even cheaper if you used regular pine wood. However, for me, when I am taking that much time to hang it all, fill the holes, caulk and paint it the pre-primed MDF is the way to go.
I am also the type of person that if I do a project like this I don’t skimp or cut corners (ok well I did have to cut the corner…but that is a whole other issue ;). Therefore, I removed the old baseboard on the wall of molding and replaced it with the matching MDF. I know some people keep their old baseboards and butt the molding up to it but it would bug me to know that there was that gap there. So it was a bit tricky. I ended up having to use my jigsaw and cut a slight curve in the MDF to fit it to the adjacent wall’s baseboards.
1. My first step was framing out the wall and cutting the curve I just mentioned. So then there was molding at the top, bottom and both sides of the wall. Then I measured and hung all the vertical boards. It is very important to measure each board. Sometimes your wall is not perfectly square. It is easier to cut it 1/8†less or more than to have to recut or caulk the heck out of it. Measure twice, cut once!
2. Then I hung all of the horizontal boards. Make sure you use a level for each one before you nail it in. I also literally measured each space and marked where it needed to be nailed in. Believe it or not it seemed like every single one of them was off by 1/16†of an inch of so. So again I say…measure!
3. Now steps one and two are the fun part. Now for the not-so-fun part. Filling all the nail holes and caulking, caulking and more caulking. This isn’t very fun and very time consuming (took me 2.5 hours) but the most vital step of the process. You want to make sure everything looks seamless once painted.
I filled the nail holes first and then sanded them all done. Then I vacuumed and washed all the dust away before I caulked it. When doing this project it is really important to keep a tidy workspace or you will have dust embedded into your finished product.
Tip: The way I caulk is to make sure you cut the tip at an angle. Squeeze out the caulk onto the crack and then dip your finger into water and smooth it out. It gives it a nice appearance.
4. I used Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape with Film to tape off the wall, ceiling and carpet. This stuff is pricey but awesome. Then I used my paint sprayer and sprayed the wall with some custom tinted paint to match the rest of the molding in my house.
The only part I am unsure about is how I ended the molding at the window. Being that it is so close to corner I felt this was my only option. However, I am wondering if I should have just put molding around it. Hmmm…not sure about that one.
If you aren’t afraid of power tools this isn’t a difficult project. I did it by myself with the exception of the measuring part because my arms were not wide enough. It took me about 8 hours start to finish.
Stay tuned tomorrow as I reveal a little more of the room and give one of my readers a $100 Wal-Mart gift card.
Oh my gosh!!! I absolutely LOVE this wall!! What a beautiful job you’ve done! KUDOS to you and your amazing skills!!!
Dang girl, this looks AWESOME!
Love it! It turned out great! Fab job!!!!!
Once you hang some sort of window treatment you will never notice the molding around the window – looks just fine the way it is!
I LOVE this! It looks awesome. Makes me want to do my dining room.
I think the window looks fine.
Wow ! What a great look. And good for you for taking on such a big project:)
~Debra xxx
Capers of the vintage vixens
Let me start by saying I love it. I do have one question though- is the vertical and horizontal MDF the same stuff? The horizontal strips seem to sit back farther against the wall so there so that the vertical strips appear to be deeper. Does that make sense? Why is this so?
This is fabulous! Nice work! I have a 25′ wall this would be awesome on.
I love how it turned out. I can’t believe it only took you 8 hours, seems like it should have taken so much longer! Beautiful and your future guests are lucky!
It’s gorgeous!!!!
This wall is beautiful! I love the contrast of the cream and the grey. It is really stunning. I love, love, LOVE the molding. You did a beautiful job!! This is a project I could tackle and am dying to try! I can’t wait to see the rest of the room.
Oh I love it! You did an excellent job. I did the same square pattern on my staircase wall.
Wow this is incredible, looks so rich and only 8 hours that is pretty impressive.
It must be the shadow in the picture because yes the entire wall is 4″ MDF
Thanks JJ!
I love your paneled wall! Great impact in the room.
It looks amazing! I wish I had a place to do this in my house.
Whoa!! Soooo awesome!! Looks so good.
Thanks Marie for taking time to comment. I am so proud of it and I already had two sets of guests in town to enjoy it.
I LOVE this.. I think we’re going to do this on the back wall in our master. I have a question for you though.. I want our other 3 walls a light aqua & I was going to do the back wall a grey color (similar to the color on your other walls. Would the grey look right on the molded wall, or should I just stick with all white? Just wondering! Again, I love it.. you did great!
I love it!! I’ve been wanting to do the same with my daughters room. Where did you get the mdf?
Hi Jennie, I got it at Lowes. Best of luck with your daughter’s room!
How far apart did you install the vertical strips? It’s beautiful!
I think it looks beautiful. I think the area around the window is as it should be. Great job!!