Sunday, December 20, 2009

curvaceous pelmet boxes

Of all the projects we've done, this is one of the ones we're most proud of. When all is said and done, I think the babies room is going to be the dopest room in the house.

For a long time, I wanted to put up a cornice box - also called a pelmet box - above some of the windows in our condo. G and I had done some planning, and we mostly knew how to do it. The problem was that G said we don't have a jigsaw so we couldn't build a cornice with a shape that I like, it would have to just be a rectangle. It wasn't exactly what I hoped for, but G said it was the only way.

But because this was going to be the first cornice in our home, and it was going to be in the babies room, I never gave up hope we could find a way to have a shape. If it was for our bedroom instead, maybe I would have accepted the plain front, but for this room, I was motivated to figure it out.

Just a couple days before we were planning to start on building them, I found a tutorial online that said you could make a beautiful pelmet out of just foamcore! That makes it easy to carve any shape you want! Isn't that a great idea? It's inexpensive and you can choose any shape you want, which allowed us to splurge on the fabric.

When I told G this idea, he was a little hesitant. He didn't think it would be strong - and he also prefers using wood because he thinks it's more tough and manly. But he changed his mind when he realized how much I really wanted some kind of style other than a rectangle on it. Thats something great about me & G together: I tell him what I want, and he helps me make it happen. Without him, I don't feel I can finish any projects. Without me, he doesn't ever want to start any projects!

Here is a step by step tutorial. We didn't do it exactly the same way the Little Green Notebook did, but hers was a good place to start.


First, we designed the front of the box. I was looking for a style that wasn't too ornate, but was still pretty. I definitely wanted a little bit of curve, not just right angles. Here's G drawing the design on foamcore. He's wearing a Randy Moss jersey in support of him since everyone else is blaming him now!

 
Then we used a boxcutter to cut out the right shapes, and used duct tape to connect them pieces together. This is G looking proud of the job he did!



Instead of using all foamcore like the other site, we compromised and used wood on the back so it's sturdier. The wood keeps the front from bending and also is the piece that attached to the wall.


We then covered the front of each box with batting to make it puffy. After that, we wrapped it with this fabric. Initially, we were going to use an amy butler fabric for this project, but based on the design of the fabric and the style of the cornice, they weren't a good match, so we changed our mind last minute. We looked all over the place for the right fabric, and when we finally found this one, we were excited!


Here is G using a staple gun to upholster the cornice. Can you believe it's just made of foamcore?


This is what it looks like on the window. Isn't it pretty?


So what do you think?

11 comments:

Eugene said...

Beautiful project. Good teamwork as always. And truly inspiring.

And, I also think G in #81 better than G in a tank top.

gl said...

i'll be sure not to wear a tanktop at your house.

Les said...

Great job! Happy birthday Grouchy!

questinfinite said...

i love it!
the size of the pelmet box also brings the scale of the room down... makes it more baby-sized!
fabric is beautiful. where did you find it? you'd go nuts over the fabric district in LA. it's overwhelming!

gl said...

t - S & I went to the fabric district before we got married - her strategy was to buy all the fabric from one store to try to get a discount. it worked too!

sham said...

The nursery is so beautiful! I feel so lucky to have seen it in person! You and G are an awesome and beautiful team.

pheak-pheak said...

hey T..
I bought the fabric from Freddy Farkel-a fabric store in watertown. I love LA fabric district!!! I can spend an entire day there.

sochan said...

Wow, this is so pretty...looks professional.

When you coming over?? This is your next project for my house!!! ;-)

Anonymous said...

i likey, do you plan on adding drapes?

pheak-pheak said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
pheak-pheak said...

Kay, no drapes but we added white roman shades that we also diy'd. It will be an entry to a future blog.