Thursday, September 20, 2012

Bat Pediment and Fluted Molding

My house has very little trim/molding. The windows are bare, and the baseboards and door casings are small and plain.

As the first step in my quest for a house-wide trim upgrade, I bought fluted molding and corner blocks for the doors in my bedroom. I had the idea to paint black stripes into the fluting to coordinate with the room’s black and white striped accents. Alas, my hands are too shaky to paint with that kind of precision. The stripes were sloppy no matter what I tried, and I had to abandon the idea. :(

But even in plain white, the fluted trim would be an improvement. I went ahead and installed the trim around the closet door... poorly. My measurements were off, and I did not like the way the corner blocks looked. :(

The quest was not going well.

I'd used glue to install the trim, and removing it caused significant damage to the wall.

The quest was not going well at all.

To cover the damage, I needed some kind of trim that was larger than the fluted molding and corner blocks. Surfing the web for ideas, I came across this:
source

The shape immediately made me think of an MDF bat I'd bought.


Inspiration! I would make a bat pediment!  :)  Using careful (extra careful!) measurements of the doors, I drew and cut a template out of cardboard.


When I was happy with the size and shape of the template, I traced it onto MDF (medium density fiberboard) and cut it out with a jigsaw.  Because the MDF was about half as thick as the fluted molding, I cut two pieces and glued them together to get the necessary thickness.


I painted all the pieces white and glued the bat in place.

And installed the pediment over the door. 

I'm liking it, but it doesn't look quite finished. Perhaps a bit of thin trim along the bottom of the pediment?

39 comments:

  1. AAAAAAAAAAAAA YOU ARE THE CLEVEREST PERSON I HAVE EVER SEEN I AM FLAILING A LITTLE BIT AND MAKING SQUEAKING SOUNDS.

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    1. Dude, I still use your clamps-on-the-blinds method of curtain hanging.

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    2. Sweet. I love when my ideas are helpful. :)

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  2. Love it!! Will you also be painting the bat another colour so it stands out?

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    1. Thanks! I hadn't planned to paint the bat, but it is an intriguing idea. Hmmm...

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  3. you've done it again... gone and blown my mind with your creativeness!

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    1. Thank you. I guess it's good that I make mistakes - then I'm forced to come up with creative solutions. :)

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  4. Girl, you are really something!

    I agree-painting the bat would be nice.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I think I'll have to try painting the bat.

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  5. That's so great =D

    I think adding a little depth with more layers to the bat would be enough-- it would probably be tedious, but I bet it'd look grand

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    1. Thanks! I actually went back to Hobby Lobby to get more bats to layer, but they'd sold out. :( I hope to find some at another store location this weekend.

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  6. Wooooow!! So beautiful!!! doesn't the cardboard makes it look a bit simple? I mean it doesn't look simple at all from the picture but I am just interested.
    amazing job!!

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    1. Thank you! I'm not quite sure I understand your question... I used the cardboard for a template/pattern, but the pediment itself is made of MDF (wood).

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  7. Wow! That is gorgeous! :) And very helpful!

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  8. It looks amazing! Really classes up the door!

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    1. Thanks! I suppose it does make the door look a bit more important... and it is - all my clothes are behind that door! :)

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  9. Oh my word that looks FABULOUS!
    I think I want your house...Do you need a lodger?

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    1. Thank you! You're seeing one of the good parts of my house. You'd probably change your mind once you saw my horrible kitchen. ;)

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  10. I think maybe paint the bat a traditional black colour because as at the moment it's not immediately obvious that the bat is there. From a distance it just looks like scrolling or something at the top of the door.

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    1. Yes, I will have to try painting the bat black. I'd originally planned to put small black bats on the corner blocks, so I don't know why I didn't think of painting this bat black.

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  11. You're so handy and creative. :) I really like the idea and the shape of the bat turned out very nice. Though I agree that it looks like it needed a bit of something to look finished. I think it's the depth – those vertical trims have more depth in their pattern, more than the bat and its background. I might suggest something that would, more or less visually, make the top ends of the vertical trims seem like they were farther away (than the pediment, like they were fully below it). Maybe indeed a thin trim at the bottom of the pediment or something. Another idea, which might not work but I cannot try out if it would, would be adding some decorative quadrangular (but not right-angled) shapes on top of those pillar-like trims, thus also over the left and right side of the pediment... I'm not sure if it makes any sense. :D Anyway, you are extremely creative!

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    1. Yes, I agree, I think it's the depth. The pediment is too flat compared to the fluted trim pieces. I'll play around with adding some molding or appliques to the pediment to make it look more substantial.
      Thanks!

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  12. If you can do some trompe l'oeil on the bat and pediment in subtle grey tones, that might be just the accent it needs. It's looking great!

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  13. Oh clever you!! It's amazing!!! Nice that you saw batwings in the door crowns and made your own defined version. It's perfect!

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    1. Thanks! It was a great coincidence that I'd bought the bat just a few days before. :)

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  14. This is the wonderful! Utterly fantastic! Many other positive adjectives!

    I do agree with the some of the other that maybe the bat should be painted. If you don't want it to stand out too much, maybe a light grey?

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    1. Thank you! I don't mind if it stands out, as long as it doesn't look overwhelming on the narrow door or in the small room. I won't know 'till I try! :)

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  15. I think you're right about some trim along the bottom of the pediment. I'd have trim up the sides and meeting the bat, too, but that might be quite hard to do. Maybe you could paint swirls either side of the bat?

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    1. Yes, trim up the sides would look nice. I'd just have to figure out how to make a smooth end/transition where it meets the bat.

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  16. That is just... just awesome!
    I wanna do all my doors exactly the same!

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