Adding architectural elements to your home does not have to be a major undertaking.  Crown molding was added to the front rooms in our home a few years ago.  I am not a carpenter and don’t profess to be one either!  I wanted crown molding, and when Dave was on one of his trips with work, I did some research and figured out how to install it by myself.  There are how-to’s all over the internet now.

    The boxes which hold the curtains in the entry were inspired by a Christopher Lowell show.  The transition from the entry to the living room on the left and the dining room on the right needed to be softened with fabric.  The boxes with fabric flowing from them made sense and added a little mystery.  You have to peek around the curtain instead of having everything laid out for all to see.

     At the time the original boxes were made, I wanted them to not be a focus, so I painted them the same color as the wall.  That way, the curtains were the focus and the boxes just visually went away.

    To make them, I just used baseboard trim.  I measured the wall thickness where the boxes would be placed and created a box to fit there.  A flat piece of MDF, (medium density fiberboard). was cut to size and the baseboard trim was mitered on the ends to fit perfectly around that flat piece of MDF.  Wood glue was applied to the mitered corners and tiny nails were hammered into pre-drilled holes to hold the trim on firmly.  That created a box, as you can see below.

 

    1-3/8 inch wooden closet pole sockets were purchased from Home Depot and installed on each end.  The one on the left is stationary and the one on the right swivels to allow the rod to be placed in it.  You can find them here►Wooden closet pole sockets.   Wooden closet dowels were cut to fit.

    As you can see in the picture above, four holes were drilled through the box and into the ceiling before drywall screws were used to secure the box to the ceiling.  Those little boxes worked quite well for several years.

    Online one day, I found ArchitecturalDepot.com and decided the entry needed some corbels.  So, I ordered four.  When they arrived, I played with ideas of how to incorporate them into the design of the entry.  The picture below shows one of those ideas.

 

    Dave says I go at things like an artist and I am okay with that.  He says it implying that it is something not to be proud of or valued! Well, I laid it out on the floor and thought about it, mused about it, and then settled on a plan.

 

    The corbels had a rectangular opening in the back.  (Not all of them were the exact same distance from the top, so I had to allow for that when placing the block.)  A block cut from a 2″x4″  board fit perfectly.  The block was attached to the board with two drywall screws.

    I pre-drilled holes for the screws so the wood would not split.  Then, the board was tacked to the wall.  I didn’t hammer anything in securely until the entire surround was in place. 

   A hole was drilled through the top of the corbel into the block and then a screw was securely screwed into the drilled hole.  Another small hole was drilled into the corbel in one of the grooves of the design at the bottom and into the wood trim.  A small trim nail was hammered into place there and set using a nail set.

    A 6-inch wide MDF board was then cut to fit above the shoe molding and across the vertical boards, which would hold the corbels. (This was the only part that I actually had help doing!  Jon-Michael held one end of the 6″ wide board and one end of the crown molding.  It was way too long for me to hold by myself!)  On top of that, a piece of crown molding was applied.

    Back to the boxes, they were just too plain after adding the corbels.  Taking leftover scraps from some of my projects, I managed to find enough leftovers to trim the boxes out, too.  I think they look pretty nice after everything was caulked and painted an antique white.

To pin this, click here ►DIY Architectural Elements.

   I hope this has given you some inspiration!  Maybe you have more building skills than I, but even if you don’t, there is something to be said about knowing what you want and jumping in with determination and making it happen.   Adding architectural elements to your home is really a lot easier than you might think!