Final Window Trim Roundup

Believe it or not, it has taken me close to a month to complete my window trim from start to finish. No, it shouldn’t have taken that long. But sometimes I enjoy sitting on my couch and watching my TV shows more than caulking, puttying, and painting window trim. (Also hard to believe, right?!)

But I’m done and feeling very victorious!

My last post about this trim was pertaining to cutting and installing the bed molding that went on top.

Since then, I’ve applied putty to all of the nail holes and applied caulk to all of the new cracks I created by nailing wood to the wall.

If you’ve ever used caulk before, you know it makes a world of difference in the finished product. And this trim is no exception. You’ll want to apply it where every piece of wood meets the drywall and meets another piece of wood. The hardest place to do this was at the top where the bed molding meets the wall. It’s easy enough to squirt the caulk along the curves, but smoothing it out is a more difficult story.

Patience is key when it comes to any caulking task, I suppose.

Other places to apply caulk include between the bed molding and 1×6 header,

at the 1/8 inch reveal between the drywall return and new 1×4,

and along every edge of the new stool and apron.

Clearly I’m more of slap it on and clean it up later type of caulker. Geesh, that’s a lot of caulk!

Once the excess caulk had been wiped away and it dried overnight, I used my palm sander with 120-grit sandpaper to rough-up the drywall returns surrounding the windows. That includes the 2 sides and the drywall at the top. Since drywall is finished to be smooth, this helps it mimic the look of wood (which is the same reason for the 1/8 inch reveal during the installation of the 1x4s).

After wiping the dust and removing the bracket that hold the blinds,

I was able to apply the first and second coats of paint (Benjamin Moore Simply White color-matched in Behr). I really appreciated my forethought in pre-priming everything at this point. One less coat of tilting my head sideways to carefully cut in along the walls.

The brackets were reinstalled in the same place after the paint had dried and the blinds were hung with care so as not to scuff the fresh paint.

Oh yea. I almost forgot to mention that while I was trimming out the windows, I also replicated the same header over the front door. It previously had just a 1×4 that I removed for the cause of matching trim.

This can be filed under “Improvements No One But You Would Notice” category. That is until I proudly point it out to any visitors. 🙂 But it’s still worth it since no one enjoys my home as much as I do! (Well maybe my husband, too.)

I’ve rearranged my blue chairs since I thought up my living room to-do list.

But the arrangement is still a work in progress since the tree/plant is just kind of there.

And now it’s even more obvious that since I moved the mirrored dresser with the lamp on it, it’s really time to improve the wall hangings between the two windows. (The picture canvas isn’t even centered. Oh the shame!) All in time, I guess!

Anyone have any recommendations on a table to go between the 2 chairs? Or does the tall lamp fill in the space, OK? Any advice on rearranging or decorating this side of the room is welcome!

Thanks for Checking In ~ Chelsea