Project Modern Farmhouse: The Single Greatest Update
Ok, ok, the title might be a bit dramatic, but if we had to narrow it down to one of the most effective and sneaky updates, I could say it in one word. Baseboards. Walking into the project, we actually had pretty decent floors to start with in the living room, dining room, and entryway. Each of the bedrooms had great carpet, it just needed to be cleaned. The only problem was you couldn't see the potential of the flooring and carpet for the eye sore of the squatty, dingy, busy baseboards that currently were in place. As you can see below, the baseboards were just asking for an update. Another problem we faced was the previous home owner DIY'd the plank floors . . . but they didn't quite make it to the wall in some places.
So you can see where the old baseboards were at the 2.5'' marker. We ended up using the baseboards to the right in the picture. They came in at 5.25'' and wow! WHAT a difference that made.
Below are the two secondary bedrooms. In here, all we did was remove the popcorn ceiling, paint the ceiling and walls, replace the baseboards, replace the blinds, and add light fixtures. The previous fixtures were fans, but they did not have any lights. We thought it was important to bring in some light to these two rooms. Don't ask how many coats of paint it took to cover up that blue, ha! Isn't it crazy how much taller those ceilings feel with the 5.25'' baseboards?
Below is the before, during and after of the master bedroom. Similarly to the secondary bedrooms, all we did was remove the popcorn ceiling, paint the ceiling and walls, replace the baseboards, replace the blinds, replace the fan light fixture, and replace the windows. As you can see from the photos, we first very carefully removed the baseboards to preserve the drywall behind them. You then measure, cut, and nail in the new baseboards. After filling the nails holes, you then paint the baseboards. Since these were already primed, and we were painting them white, it only took one coat of oil-based paint. Then we steam-cleaned the carpet and they were good to go! We also added a couple of door stoppers where needed on certain parts of the baseboards.
Not having to replace the flooring the bedrooms and common areas was one HUGE expense we were able to save on the house. All in, baseboards for the entire house came out at about $800. I'll take that over the thousands of dollars it would have cost to replace the floors with a different wood or carpet.
As I mentioned before, the wood planks didn't quiiiiiiiiiite make it to the wall or fireplace in some places. So to address this issue, we added quarter round pieces to build it out and fill in the space on the living, entry, and dining floors.
I like to think that our Project Managers Reagan and Winston approved of the final product. Reagan is the Redbone Coonhound, and Sir Winston Churchill is the English Bulldog.
You can't help but stare at the baseboards now, can ya'?
Obviously we did more than just update the baseboards in this room, but I will go into more detail on that in an upcoming post. You can get more product details and paint colors towards the end of the post.
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Wall Paint Color: SW 7029 Agreeable Gray
Trim/Cabinet/Ceiling/Fireplace Paint Color: SW 7005 Pure White
Click the links below for the exact or similar products used.
Entryway Light | Family Room Fan Light (similar) | Dining Room Light | Baseboards (similar) | Fireplace Mantle (in Aged Oak Stain) | Outlet Switches & Plates
Check out some more side-by-side before and afters below.
For more information about this renovation, follow along with the "Project: Modern Farmhouse" Series on our blog. To see the completed photos of this house, click here.