Baseboard Trim

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Roeshel

Yesterday I shared how I installed grouted vinyl floor tiles in the bathroom and today I just wanted to share a little baseboard trim tip. I re-used existing baseboard trim because it’s the old wide original trim in good shape. See how to easily swap out your baseboards here and a little tip for easy decorative trim detail here.

I gave it a good scrubbing and a little scuffing with sandpaper.

Then reattached the baseboard trim using my nail gun and brads. Countersink the nails, fill with wood filler and sand.

Next I sealed all of the seams with caulk – where the trim meets the wall and where the shoe moulding rests against the baseboard. I use DAP paintable caulk for windows/doors/trim.

FrogTape® Mult-Surface tape applied to the wall ensures a nice straight line without caulk smears. Apply the tape horizontally above the baseboard onto the wall. Use your thumbnail or a credit card to activate the PaintBlock® Technology.

Cut the tip of the caulk tube at an angle (the larger the hole, the bigger amount of caulk-age, so I prefer to keep the cut on the small side. Holding the caulk gun at an angle so that the flat end of the cut hole faces the seam where the baseboard meets the wall, run a bead of caulk.

I fill my FrogTape container with a little bit of water. With a wet finger, smooth the caulk. I work from left to right and since this is a small space, I worked in an entire section (about 4-5 ft. at most). You’ll have a lot of excess (remember to have those paper towels handy).

Then peel away the FrogTape starting at a bottom edge and pulling up and away from the caulk.

Nice clean line! Repeat until all top baseboard seams are sealed.

Now repeat the caulking steps (without the painter’s tape) where the shoe moulding rests agains the baseboards. Once dry (about 30 minutes), it’s time to paint!

Paint is Dutch Boy’s Cabinet and Trim paint. I used FrogTape where the shoe moulding meets the floor to prevent getting paint on my nice new grouted vinyl tiles. Using my thumbnail, I again activated the Paintblock Technology, then painted my trim. After the second coat of paint, I removed the FrogTape while the paint was still wet.

The vanity: I could have cut the baseboard trim so that the vanity sat flush against the wall but since the countertop had a little play (it sat out from the vanity about an inch), I attached scrap (stained) 1x4s cut to size to the back of the vanity, so that it would hide the gap and rest above my baseboard. (Also…one of my baseboards was good and glued as well as nailed to the plaster wall…I feared created a bigger more involved mess with pulling it off.) Now my countertop rests against the wall and is flush with the front of the vanity with no overhang but I don’t believe there’s a law or rule that says the countertop must protrude from the vanity. Is there? It also gave me a little more wiggle room for the tight fit plumbing.

Good as new! I love fresh, clean, white baseboards.

I used my FrogTape along the door frame and window trim too.

If you missed it, you can see the complete before and after bathroom makeover here.

Disclaimer: I received compensation to complete this project for using FrogTape® products. All opinions, projects and ideas are based on my own experience.

Easy Painted Patterned Accent Wall DIY

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Roeshel

Earlier, I shared the pantry reveal and I’ve had a few questions related to one of the walls as to whether or not I used wallpaper.

While I do love the look of wallpaper, I’ve had enough wallpaper removal to last me a lifetime so the answer is ‘no’. It’s paint! If you’re a long time DIY Show Off fan, you know that I am a big fan of using FrogTape® to create fun accent walls (see here, here, here, here) and with the addition of the Shape Tape, there are even more options for a creating a fun accent wall. I’d prefer to lightly sand and repaint than strip wallpaper in the future, wouldn’t you?

My wall is small. I used FrogTape and chevron Shape Tape to create a fun accent pattern with a tribal/Aztec feel. My lines were mostly “eyeballed”… but use a level and pencil if you’re more of a perfectionist.

I started at the bottom of my wall space and created straight lines with the Multi-Surface FrogTape and lined it up with the chevron Shape Tape to create stripes, zig zags and diamonds…no real planning out a pattern…I just got creative working my way about 1/3 of the wall (again, no measuring).

Then worked my way down from the ceiling to about 1/3 of the wall space copying the same pattern I used at the bottom of the wall.

Next I found the center of the wall and spaced out a similar pattern there to meet the bottom and top design. Since it’s the center, I didn’t feel it had to be a perfect match with the top and bottom pattern. I was right! It only adds to the uniqueness of the design. Here’s how it looked with the taping complete:

I actually painted the walls with my base color last April. It’s Valspar (Cool Grey). I didn’t want a loud bold design, so I used some leftover True Value Platinum (Old Fashioned…a light blue/gray) from our kitchen walls as the accent color.

Once my tape design was complete, I used a credit card to burnish the edges of the tape as I worked by rubbing the tape edge then painting the section. I only did one coat (again, I wasn’t looking for bold results and wanted the irregularity of one coat). This wall is bumpy in places so just doing a light colored pattern helps to take focus off of the wall’s imperfections.

As soon as I was finished painting, while the paint was still wet, I removed the tape.

So within a 1-2 hour time frame, my wall had an awesome new ‘wallpapered’ look with a subtle design!

I was going for a tribal or Scandinavian vibe. From a distance, it reminds me of writing paper. Remember it from grade school?

What I love about this: Cost for 1 roll of FrogTape and 1 roll of chevron Shape Tape is less than a roll of wallpaper! Use leftover paint! It’s also less time consuming and less work – all for the same look as wallpaper without the headache to install or remove plus the option to personalize colors and design.

Disclaimer: I received compensation to complete this project for using FrogTape® products. All opinions, projects and ideas are based on my own experience.

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Ornament Frames

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Roeshel

Ever want to draw attention to a special ornament on your Christmas tree? Why not frame it?

I used FrogTape® and acrylic craft paint to give mine a fun ombrè look for my ombrè Christmas tree. Here’s how:

Tape off the middle section of a frame using FrogTape. I pressed down on the edges of the tape with my thumbnail in order to get a crisp clean line.

Then I painted the top and bottom sections using my lightest paint color on top and the darkest on the bottom.

While the paint was still wet, I removed the FrogTape and let the paint dry.

Then I taped off the middle section and followed the same steps.

The frames serve as custom color coordinating ornaments themselves but they also draw the eye to the “framed” ornament. Do you have a favorite or meaningful Christmas ornament?

Disclaimer: I received compensation to complete this project for using FrogTape® products. All opinions, projects and ideas are based on my own experience.

Bumble tree submitted by Courtney for the Christmas Tree Contest

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Category Archives: FrogTape

Baseboard Trim

Easy Painted Patterned Accent Wall DIY

Ornament Frames