I often like to rearrange the furniture, and while I’m at it, just throw some new paint on the walls.  It’s a very serious yet incurable condition ~ fortunately, my hub has adjusted to these sudden whims I have.

A few months ago, I repainted the kids playroom a pale green color.  It’s a combination of the leftover BM ‘Camouflage’ from the kitchen, mixed with some of the green leftover from these cottage chairs. 

The other day I was at Tarjay and found these modern stacking green chairs for the kids’ play space ~ I just love the pop of fresh color they bring to this room.   I’m also loving this Dash & Albert Caravan Stripe rug ~ it was meant to go upstairs in the boy’s room, but it’s just going to have to live here for a little while. 

Then I remembered I forgot to write about the wood window cornice I built for the room several months ago ~ you can catch a glimpse of it in this article about painting laminate furniture. 

I wanted to add some architectural interest to the window beyond just window panels, and disguise the blinds that pull up underneath, so I built this solid wood cornice out of supplies found at Lowes.  

How to Build a Wood Window Cornice: 

Supplies:  1/4 inch thick plywood cut to width and height of window;  1/2” thick wood top cut to length of front piece; 2  1” thick boards cut to height of front;  crown for top and thinner molding for bottom trim; framing nails; wood glue; primer and paint color of choice;’L’ brackets.

Tools: Compound miter saw; hammer; clamps

1: Prime your wood pieces, then cut the sides and top with a miter saw to form the frame of the cornice. 

2: Nail your side pieces to the top piece with framing nails to form the frame. 

3.  With more framing nails, attach the front piece to form the box.   4.  Cut your crown and bottom trim with your miter saw to wrap around the cornice box; you can use wood glue and clamps to attach your trim ~ small brad nails also help to secure your crown and trim. 

Two coats of paint later . . . a custom wood window cornice.  Secure it to your wall studs with ‘L’ brackets.  

Another bonus from a cornice is it gives you extra display space since it forms a little shelf just above your window ~ perfect display for all those sports trophies, critters, or collectibles.    

My white canvas panels are simply stapled to the inside with a staple gun  ~ no rod underneath. 

New pops of color plus a new white wood cornice in this freshened space !

The National Geographic mural wall map comes in quite handy whenever something happens around the globe, like the World Cup.  “Hey hun, where’s Uruguay?” 

The real reason for the wall map is so that the kids learn their geography better than their parents.

Have you added any fresh color to your home lately ? 

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Tags: cornice, playroom

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