Jan 18, 2012

{DIY Door Casings}…the easy way.

We finally finished our door casings!

IMG_2868-1

And although it was a pretty easy project, it did seem to take us a long time.  We just couldn’t seem to find a stretch of time to finish.  We’ve been done with this project for a couple of months, but picture taking has been on the back burner. 

Overall, I think they look great.  And I am surprised at how they lift the overall look of our ceilings, which I think help make our rooms look taller and larger.  We succeeded in finding a way to remove/demolish very little of our house.  We removed absolutely zero dry wall, and very little of our baseboards, to get a great look!

We have rather large entries, which include one to our front room (a den or small living room) and two to our dining room.  Here is the way they looked before we added the casings…

Door Casings

Pretty blah.

And here is how they look now…

IMG_2874

IMG_2869

Here is what you will need for each casing:
Dremel Multi-Max
Nail gun (I wouldn’t do this without it!)
Miter saw
Screw driver
Utility Knife
1x4 (x 4 for both sides of the casings, measured from the floor to the top height)
1x6 (x2 for both sides of the top of the casings, measured for the width of the casing)
1x6 (for the base shoe of the casing)
lattice…and a whole bunch of it!

Stage 1: Taking Away Woodwork (Side note: This step made us a little lot nervous.)

We used a Dremel Multi-Max and measured the exact width of the vertical board and marked our baseboard.  Then using the Dremel, we cut it straight and removed the piece of baseboard.  This method allowed us NOT to remove the entire baseboard.

IMG_1807

Stage 2: Adding The Woodwork

This was really fun because our vision was coming to life!  Through trial and error, we found that nailing the top (horizontal piece of the wood) first, and then adding the vertical pieces was best.

IMG_1840

And here is what it looked like with just the vertical pieces nailed and in place. (Oh, and by the way, we had to take off the switch plates.)

IMG_1829

We had to add a base shoe to each side because you could see where the floor was cut, and didn’t really meet up with the wall.  (See above picture)

For the shoe, or the base of the casings, we used a 1x6 and essentially just wrapped the base of the opening…

IMG_18421

IMG_2891

Notice in some of the pictures above, how the wood meets the dry wall?  Obviously, we didn’t like it.  And we had to cover it up…somehow! So, we added lattice to frame it all out and to hide those seams. We primed the lattice before nailing it up to the wall. 

The pictures below show the casings without the cove molding under the 1x2. 

IMG_2223

IMG_2222

Small Change Alert!

We added a thin piece of lattice to the bottom of the horizontal piece of 1x6.  It framed the whole look out nicely, and just adding a detail we felt we were missing.

IMG_2888-1

Caulk, spackle, tape and paint with the same paint that matches your trim.  We caulked the where any piece of wood meets the wall or any other piece of wood. (Our trim happens to be Extra White by Sherwin Williams in semi-gloss.)

IMG_2228

Look at that handsome painter…  He’s a good one, I tell ya.

And here are some more “after” pictures.  We are so happy with them! 

IMG_2866

IMG_2878

IMG_2874

We have two smaller entries that lead into our kitchen and our “morning room.”  Our morning room is a window filled room that we have converted to a play room for “The Kid.”  I love that it is off the kitchen, so we are always together.  I have big plans for these casings! 

79 comments:

  1. Um, all I can say is WOW! What a difference! It looks so refined and rich. Gorgeous work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I Love this! What a great tutorial! It looks easy, but makes such an impact! I am absolutely in love with the shoe! This is perfect. Our trimmer just finished at our new house...I like it, but thought it left something to be desired! Yours looks so rich!
    Our trim and paint before the shoe kicks were added around the house: http://cerniks.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/kitchen-back-splash/

    This is definitely getting saved!

    ReplyDelete
  3. that makes such a huge difference! holy cow i love it! i seriously love your work and love your blog!

    follow mine, if you wish of course...

    http://allieandhusband.blogspot.com

    allie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks you all! We have really liked them!

    ReplyDelete
  5. awesome! please tell me the paint color you have in this room..so calming!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The paint in these rooms is Nomadic Desert by Sherwin Willians. We plan on painting in the future, but will keep our entry, kitchen and family room this color.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I realize that you probably get tired of answering paint color questions, but is it really Nomadic Desert that is in all three rooms in the very last picture? (Where you can see three separate rooms- table/dining area, entryway, and sitting room?)


      It looks like three (or four) separate colors, and if so, what are the other colors?! If it really is just Nomadic Desert, it amazes me how much light can change things!

      Delete
    2. Nevermind, after a bit more searching on your website:

      - Entry: Nomadic Desert (SW)
      - Sitting/Den: Revere Pewter (Ben Moore)
      - Dining: ?? It looks like there are two colors- one accent wall and another color. Could you help with these?!

      Delete
  7. Wow what an improvement! It looks fantastic! Thanks for the tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The casings make a HUGE difference. They look fantastic. My entry is exactly like yours, except I just have doors into the rooms off the entry hallway instead of the rooms being open. I'm really liking the openness you have. Thinking...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Simply Fabulous! I have a super handy husband too and we are in the process of installing trim in our little Wisconsin cabin (fishing shack) that we have been remodeling. I was trying to describe the trim I wanted when I came across your blog. Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial. LOVE your blog by the way and the mudroom unit is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This looks great. You've given me some great ideas for my home!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very pretty! The addition of the lattice is a great touch.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've been putting casings on all of our entryways as well ... it really helps to finish off a room right?!
    Looks great, way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Excellent tutorial on a job very well done.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is exactly the tutorial I needed... as we look to sell our house, it's these "custom" looking touches that make such an impact. We wanted to do this for ourselves, but now at least the future owners will have beautiful entryways! THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you! And welcome! I hope you enjoy my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What an amazing transformation.I am going to try this in our home.Eventually after I finish some other projects.But this is going on my to do list.

    ReplyDelete
  17. We have an old house and it has gorgeous trim throughout most of the downstairs, but in our living room the previous owners took down the original door casings (!!!) and replaced them with thin off-the-shelf hardware store crap. (Did I just say crap?) No idea why anyone would want to do this. We've been thinking of ways to replace it with something that looks like the trim in the rest of the house, so I was really glad to see this post! Thanks for sharing--it makes such a difference; your "after" shots looks so polished and fancy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Terrific job. I'm saving this post in my favorites to try to get up the courage to do this to our frameless doors and windows. Thanks for the great tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Fabulous job, it really dresses up your house. Way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  20. LOVE this!! We have 2 wide entries at the front of our house and this would be perfect! Pinning it right now! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. But what if the door only has "two sides" meaning the third side immediately hits the adjacent wall. This is kind of the norm in small homes. I love crown moldings and they really lift the ceiling and I would love to add casting to my 2/3 doors but don't know how to go about it without it looking awkward. Any suggestion is appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you ever get an answer to this or find a picture? I have the same thing going on in my house and cant even figure out how to google for it.

      Delete
    2. I don't think it would be considered a casing, but rather just moulding on the wall. I have the same thing in my house, and have opted not to do anything, as I don't think it would look right.

      Delete
  22. So beautiful!!! I love it! I hope to do this in our entryway at some point!

    ReplyDelete
  23. That looks excellent! This will be done in our home shortly thanks to this quick tutorial. Many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a great job you both did. It really makes a difference. They look really substantial and blend right in, plus having the double effect of them both together is really nice. I have the same type of bare openings in my minimal builder-grade home. I'll have to put this on the list! However... all our window casings are also bare, so I'm worried it would look weird. Hmm.

    ReplyDelete
  25. They look amazing!! What a great project with a huge impact!

    ReplyDelete
  26. wow! this is amazing! Thanks SO much for this great walk-through! I have a quick question.... do you have any pointers, tips, tricks, etc. for nailing the 1x2 piece to the wall (the very top piece)? It looks tricky since it's on its side and I'm just wondering if you have any suggestions. Thanks again for the great tour!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The 1 x 2 that is on the top is nailed at an angle into the 1 x 6 that makes up the horizontal trim piece. Make sure that you use at least 1 1/2" brads with it. We have had no problems with it. Good luck!

      Delete
  27. Wow, what a difference some wood, paint, and a little sweat equity makes! Thanks for the how-to -- saves the rest of us a lot of time. I'm pinning this puppy and following your lovely blog now.

    http://SuzanneJackson.WillowHouse.com
    http://willowhousewelcome.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  28. hopped on over from centsational girl - this project came out great - already sent my fiance a link to motivate him to do something similar in our house!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow, this looks amazing! We need to beef up our trim so I'm glad I found your tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  30. This is a very inspiring tutorial. I was tackling board and batten around my front door this week, but was troubled with how simple the current front door molding is. I think I will remove it also and replace it like this. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  31. This is really awesome. I've wanted to do the same to our archways. Do you know if this would be possible with arches? Any helpful advice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arches are hard to trim. My husband is a trim carpenter and had to have a c and c machine cut out the pieces to do our archways. It might be something to ask the professionals about.

      Delete
  32. We just finished doing this between our kitchen and mud room. We have wanted to make a bigger opening and as soon as I saw this, I knew it was the answer, great tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow. What a difference! I swear you must have just added thousands of dollars of value to your home (not that I have any expertise to back that guestimate up, but it sure looks so much better). I have an old house that was built in 1928, and it has really beautiful mill work, but seeing the before and after here makes me realize why I love all that trim so much. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Beautiful, beautiful detail. I especially love the cove and cap at the top of your header. Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  35. used this on my pantry though, came out great. thanks for the idea!

    http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/401302_10100405579647118_18705918_47807853_1060872060_n.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  36. Great project! Shared on FB with my clients. Thanks for the thorough photography!

    ReplyDelete
  37. I absolutely love this tutorial! I have a question about the lattice trim...how far from the edge is it inset? It doesn't look like it's flush with the vertical 1x4s, and I love the way it looks all framed in.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thanks so much! We've added heavy crown throughout our entire home. The 3 doorways the builder left unframed have bothered me the entire 6 years we've been in this house! We are currently in the process of doing this! I cannot thank you enough for the WONDERFUl tutorial!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  39. way to rock the home renovation, sister...Saw this on pinterest..all I can say is WOW!

    nice job to you and your hubby..
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  40. This looks amazing! What a great idea! What color did you use for your walls?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Simply Beautiful. I will pass this on to my wife and begin preparations to do this at our house too!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this, so glad I found it on Pinterest. I recently added wainscoting with new wide square baseboards in my dining room and had to tear out the regular baseboards that wrapped around the doorway from kitchen to dining room. I wasn't sure how to transition between regular baseboards and new square baseboards. Now I know the answer! :) Will be using your tutorial for sure!

    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  43. We have similar doorways and are interested in framing them out. The only difference is that the corners of ours are a bit curved rather than squared. Do you think this would present a problem? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Beautiful! Can you tell me what color you painted your walls? They are lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  45. lOVED this so much that I showed it to my husband and he is now in the process of fixing our door casings! Fabulous and thanks so much for the step by step instructions.

    ReplyDelete
  46. What do you use to fill your nail holes, caulk? Window glaze? drywall spackel? Wax stick? It all looks so seemless, and I have a really hard time filling my nail holes so they are completely invisible.

    ReplyDelete
  47. What a worthwhile home improvement! It really gives your home an upscaled, finished look as well as adding a lot of value ( in my opinion!) to your home! Good work and tutorial!
    Vickie

    ReplyDelete
  48. Hi Erin. I'm so thankful for seeing this post. I live out near The Dalles, OR. I have an old farmhouse that we purchased in 2007. We love the house and would love to stay here forever, but my mom is getting to the age she needs help so we are moving over near her. The house is not finished in renovation and badly needs trim around almost all the doorways before we can even begin to list it for sale. Our budget is so tight I had feared we would never get it to the point of completion. But this tutorial may help us tremendously. Thank you so very very much for sharing this with others like me.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Very beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Wow! What a beautiful difference it makes! I recently got some wooden doors with stained glass levelland tx and I want to do some sort of framing around them like this. Wish me luck! Great blog.

    ReplyDelete
  51. thank you for detailed step by step pic's and explanations. i wish other users could be as detailed. i've been looking for a couple weeks on just teh right framing, and this is it. i think the handsome painter is great too, lol :)

    ReplyDelete
  52. What a difference they made, it looks beautiful! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Awesome! Just wondering why you chose to use MDF rather than wood on your 1x4 and 1x6s? Corners tend to get banged up a lot and MDF is not as durable as real wood. Was it a decision based on price?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Wow, that is SO impressive! I love it.

    Tina Matteson
    singin(at)compuserve(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  55. This is awesome, I've been looking to do the same thing. I will follow this tutorial for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Good job, may I make one point, the base of the column, you should've returned the base of the column back to the wall. Instead of having it look so flat on the back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. We are going to re-work the bottoms of these.

      Delete
  57. Just recently, because of Pinterest (the Evil Empire of Photos), I've been sucked into Blogland. I am thrilled to find your very understandable tutorial on moldings! I am rebuilding by myself from a fire and haven't a speck of molding or trim in my entire house. Other than that, which I've purchased from reuse centers that's lying on the floor in the MBR. Anyway, I wanted to say thank you because you didn't fluff this up with too much eye-knocking detail. Just the HOW! I'm subscribing to keep an eye on you. :) Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Quick question - how did you deal with the light switch on the wall? I see in the picture that it is still close but with a cover. Did you just find a slim wall switch cover or did you move the board placement?

    ReplyDelete
  59. Hi, thanks for the thorough tutorial, it looks really great. I too am curious about how you worked around the light switch. In the opening I have, we have light switches that will be in the way on both sides. Any thoughts? And thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Justin cut them. He used his saw and cut them. Not ideal, but solved the problem.

      Delete
  60. Hi, this is a great tutorial but I actually have a completely unrelated question...I love your floors and I was wondering if you happen to know what type of wood/finish they are.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  61. beautiful home and a great job!!!

    ReplyDelete
  62. This is definitely on my to-do list! You did a great job and that small change makes a huge difference!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Thanks for the project so inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Wow what an improvement! It looks fantastic! Thanks for the tutorial.
    Painters

    ReplyDelete
  65. I LOVE THIS! My house looks so similar and that would look amazing! I just have 1 question- where do you find lattice? I went to lowes and they have redwood lattice but it is rough cut! Definitely not going to work! HELP!!!! Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  66. Thank-you for posting this and for making it so easy to print the instructions. This is a beautiful addition to your home and I'm looking forward to adding it to mine. Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  67. About how much did this project cost?

    ReplyDelete
  68. I have a doorway that looks nearly identical to yours - I've been wanting to dress it up for years, but did not know how. You step-by-step instructions were amazing and easy to follow. Made a few changes - one wall was too close to some cabinets for vertical moulding, so we build a false wall on one side narrowing our doorway from 36" to 34" (this would work if trying to avoid close wall recepticals to). We added 1/4" thick veneer over the face of our false wall and the two existing sheet rocked faces, proving a nice uniform finish. We use picture frame moulding on the top in lieu of the 1x2 with moulding. If I had to do it again, a would glue the moulding on the top board before nailing it up. Overall, my door looks remarkably like yours. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment.