Finish Carpentry changes the look for less!

I have expressed in past posts about my entry way (entry way 1 and entry way 2), that I wanted to add more character to my home. Finish carpentry is a GREAT way to change the look of a space in your home for much less than you may believe.

The entry way started out VERY boring, and I have wanted to add some moulding ever since we moved in. (Scroll down to find before pictures). So, over the past couple of weeks, the Hubby has been an excellent finish carpenter. He has successfully added character and changed the look of the entry way for the better!

For those of you who may not know what finish carpentry is, don’t worry, you are not alone. In fact, my very own carpenter (my hubby) gave me a lesson. Basically, finish carpentry involves any moulding in your home, and this type of carpentry usually helps to create a “finished” look. For example, your baseboards in your home are part of finish carpentry and your door jams are also part of this category.

So, to spruce up your home, and for it to take on a more “custom” looking design, finish carpentry is a wonderful way to do this.

Here are a few great examples of finish carpentry that served as inspiration for me.

The great thing about moulding is that IT DOES NOT COST A LOT! Music to my ears. To put up the chair rail around my entry way (A chair rail is the piece of moulding that goes along the top of the white area in the pictures below) cost us less than $15.00.

With the use of a miter saw and a finish nailer, my hubby installed the chair rail across the top, and the other decorative mouldings underneath. Here he is hard at work in the picture below.

 The look of my entry way is completely new, updated, and the character is exactly what I needed for the space.

We found the smaller decorative moulding at Lowe’s. In order to install the moulding boxes along the bottom of the space, it cost right around $36.00.

I think it changes the entire look of the house, and to my surprise, my hubby has decided to continue the moulding so that it does not end in the entry way! I was psyched! Stay tuned for more pictures of the moulding project soon.

I know some of you may wonder if I needed to prime the wall before painting it white, and the answer is yes. We used a KILZ roll on primer to prime the wall first.

For those of you who may have missed the before pictures of my entry way, here is a reminder:

Hiring a finish carpenter to come and install something like this can be expensive, but installing moulding yourself, is very thrifty. The great thing is that it is not hard to do, all you need is a little patience, a miter saw, and a finish nailer.

The entry way is coming a long. I’m starting to feel some weight coming off my shoulders as we get closer to its completion. Do you feel that way? Are you anxious for your “work in progress” spaces to be complete? I definitely get that way.

On the to do list for my entry way:
Change the color of the door (I strongly dislike it right now).
Add some accessories
Customize the ceiling

Published on October 19, 2010

30 thoughts on “Finish Carpentry changes the look for less!”

  1. I'm sending my husband the link to this post!! I've been talking about doing this exact same thing in our front room for a couple of months and he keeps telling me that it's just going to take too much money to create this look. Thanks so much for posting this – hopefully it will help my case in talking my husband into letting me put molding in our house!!

  2. I love it Brooke! I've been dying to add crown molding to our home but haven't been all that proactive about it because I was anticipating it to be very expensive. Looks like you've proven that theory to be wrong! Can't wait to get started on our house šŸ™‚

  3. That looks AWESOME!! I love it! It really dresses up the space. I've been wanting moulding like that in my house forever. Way to go, Dan!!

  4. It is attached directly to the wall. Ideally, I would like a thin piece of MDF to be in the background instead of my wall, but since my baseboards would need to be removed and reinstalled to do this, it was not worth the extra cost. Finish carpenters would probably suggest to use MDF in the background of this look because it doesn't dent and ding like a regular wall does. But, I didn't think it was worth it to ruin perfectly good baseboards.

  5. I'm in love with the wainscoting/moulding look! I have been wanting to do that in our living room/formal dining/piano room ever since we moved here 3 years ago. šŸ™‚ I LOVE how it looks! Good job Brooke (and Danny!).

  6. I love the look of your entryway! The dual color combo really balances out the space with flare! I too feel a sigh of relief when projects come to a close. It's fun working on them, however it feels good to know that they can actually come out of the garage and into their new homes!

  7. It looks great! Can your husband give a tutorial on cutting the angles for the moulding correctly? That is just something I have yet to figure out!!

  8. Looks awesome!Just one question, I noticed you taped and painted all the way to the baseboard…..instead of just to where the chair rail started. Was there a reason for this, that I should know? šŸ™‚ I love how Dan is so involved in your projects….that's the way I roll, too!

  9. I just started following your BLOG and i am so excited to do a lot of the things you have. I have never been excited to find old antique furniture and refinish and paint it myself but i am soooo excited now that i have seen what you have done.
    And i LOVE this post with the picture molding. My house is brand new and we have that in the formal dining room but i've always wanted to put it throughout my house. How many hours and how expensive was all the moulding that you needed? Where did you find it at?

  10. Kolbi,
    Good question…I honestly thought that the moulding would be months away because Dan was so busy with work, and I underestimated how fast he could do it all. So, when we painted the blue, I fully intended to put up moulding, but I didn't want my wall to look unfinished until the moulding got done. So, if I would have known that he had planned to do it that quickly, we would not have painted all the way down. šŸ™‚ You live and you learn, right!?!

  11. Looks fabulous! I am forever admiring all the molding at ReStore (which is cheaper than Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. AND supports Habitat for Humanity)I may have to consider doing this in a room in my house. Of course, I have already been wanting to do this to the ceiling in the parlor, but that will have to be AFTER we redo the ugly ceiling someone installed *sigh*

  12. Looks amazing! Such an incredible difference! do you have textured walls? I would like to do this in our family room but am wondering about the textured walls!

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