If there is one thing that we get asked about most when people walk in to our home, it is hands down all of our moulding and trim. The wainscoting, the crown, and especially the baseboards. Yes, all of these things are considered to be totally ‘classic’ but especially when it comes to our baseboards, we did it a little different than the norm.
The typical size baseboard is 3 1/2- 4 in. and ours is 7 1/2 in. That may not seem like that big of a difference, so let me show you:
Those few precious inches make a huge difference in how dramatic your baseboard looks. We are not shy about our love for moulding, so the bigger the better to us!
When it comes to putting anything in our home though, we know not only our limits, but when a project is simply worth it to hire out. Like how we hired out our boxes for wainscoting. Boxes are something we could have made ourselves, but when you need close to 70 of them, it was so much better to just have them done, and done perfectly.
As for everything else though, we DIY! Something that has made that process insanely easier for us as of late is our new tools. For about 90% of our baseboards and crown getting cut, we did it on the ground in our back yard, bending over with our backs. Now its not like we are 90 years old, and can’t take a little back bending, but that was a lot of trim to cut! And listen, this pregnant mama doesn’t want to have any more reasons to bend over than I already have. Then we got the Ryobi Miter Saw Stand, and it was like getting a freaking massage cutting the trim.
The next tool that was a total game changer for us was the Orbital Jigsaw. There were so many times that we had to cut insanely weird cuts for the baseboards, all while wanting to crawl in to a hole and hide because they either turned out bad, or took forever. Then we got the saw and we did an awkward cut for the office baseboards, and it took approximately 5 minutes. I squealed, and Jeremy, well he didn’t squeal, but he smiled big:)
Even though that baseboard was just a little part of the whole office makeover, it was so nice knowing that it was done great {and easy!} Also, the reason we even had to make this weird cut is we needed the cabinet to be all the way against the wall, so we couldn’t have a piece of baseboard behind it.
How do you decide in your home what you DIY or what you hire out? Is it usually more a time thing, money thing, or skill-level thing? And remember, if it is ever a skill-level issue, YouTube is your best friend when it comes to learning how to do something! That’s how Jeremy has figured out most of our projects!!
disclosure: This post is sponsored by Ryobi Power Tools. We love them dearly, and have since the beginning.
Hi Love! I noticed the mop in the first picture so I had a question…
I love cleaning but do not know the best products, When we moved out of our apt I was shocked at the dust in all the crevices that I missed! We have had molding installed in our new place, and a chair rail in the baby room… what do you use on your baseboards and molding to keep it clean? How often do you clean in?
Hi Mandi- so exciting. Check out this post for how I clean the hardwood floors/baseboards:
https://dreambookdesign.com/2013/07/the-best-way-to-clean-hardwood-floors/
For the chair rail and upper mouldings I simply use a microfiber cloth. I am pretty bad about cleaning the trim often, but I find that if I do it about once a month its good to go.
This is just what I needed, I’m itching to put crown molding in the final bedroom. Our family put up crown molding for us when we were pregnant, so my options are either get pregnant and try to convince them to do it again or learn how to do it myself.
Haha I love your options:) good luck!