Category: home projects

This project was one of those little things that’s been an eyesore forever, and I finally found a way to make it pretty. Since I did an entryway bathroom door makeover (and still love it), I decided to use a similar look to cover our ugly, old doorbell chimes cover on the wall facing that door.

Step 1: Measure the spot and cut wood pieces. First, I measured the existing cover and decided to go with a new cover of 7×11. That would give me a little wiggle room for placement. I also needed to come out about 3 inches from the wall.

Using spare 1/8 inch plywood pieces, I cut a front piece at 7×11 using my miter saw. (This wood is thin enough that you could easily cut it with a hacksaw or other small saw.) Then I cut 2 side pieces at 3×7, and my bottom piece was 3×11.

To attach these pieces, I found some little 1×1 wood pieces and cut 4 to about 6 inches each. These go on the inside corners, so they don’t have to be perfectly even or pretty.

I sanded all of these pieces lightly to remove any rough parts.

Step 2: Assemble pieces. I used my brad nailer, but you could use little nails and a hammer or even wood glue, if you have more patience than I do.

First, I attached a side piece to one of the inside corner pieces. I made sure to line up the long edges so the side piece would cover the corner piece, but I didn’t want it to overlap because the front piece would do that, hiding the side piece from the front (see picture). I also made sure to leave a little room at what would be the bottom – this would let the bottom piece fit in place so the side piece would cover/hide the bottom edge. And, I left about an inch of space at the top so the corner piece wouldn’t be visible at all from the top.

Next, I took the front piece and also attached it to the first corner piece, making sure it lined up to cover the edge of the side piece. (Again, see the picture for a visual of how all this lined up. The picture is from the bottom, showing the little bit of room I left for the bottom piece.)

(You may note from the pictures that I used nails that were too long, but these were easy to bend back. Again, you’re not going to see the insides of this little box you’re making. So, if you don’t have small enough nails, no worries.)

With that one side and front piece on the first corner, I nailed on the other side piece and corner piece, lining them up the same way.

Next, the bottom piece was pretty easy because it fit right at the bottom of the 3-sided box I’d made. This bottom piece also helped me be sure everything was square, because I squeezed the front and side pieces to sit right tight against the corners of the bottom piece. One little nail at each end into the corner pieces was all it took to hold this bottom piece in place.

From there, I could easily add the last 2 corner pieces at the back of my open box. These I made sure to place flush behind the side pieces so they didn’t stick out. I nailed them into each side first, and then I used my bottom piece to again made sure everything was square. One little nail from the bottom piece into the ends of these corner pieces held them in place.

This created a “box” with an open top and back.

Step 3: (Optional) Add decorative parts. Just to add a little visual interest, I cut 4 pieces of 1×2 down to 7 inches, used my miter saw to create 30-degree cuts at the ends, and nailed them over the ends of my cover. This created some curves and made the whole thing look less “boxy,” plus it helped cover the nail holes and edges, making the whole cover look a little nicer. You don’t have to do this, but I liked it.

Step 4: Stain or paint. I debated between painting this cover green (like other accents in our living room) or staining it, but I ended up using the same dark walnut stain as the door nearby – the door that gave me inspiration in the first place. I’m glad I used this stain because the wood looks surprisingly nice stained, and the color looks great against the plants I used in the final step.

Step 5: Hang the cover. Because this cover is so light, I was able to just use command strips on the back of either end. I placed mine on the 1x2s along the back, but you could use the back corner pieces instead if you didn’t want to add the 1x2s.

After climbing on a stool to reach high enough, I did check to make sure the cover was level before pressing the command strips to stick on the wall on either side of the existing chimes cover.

Step 6: (Optional) Add greenery. You could leave the cover as it is – it looks nice alone as a wood cover. But, I really like how it looks after adding a few strands of fake greenery to hang out – it looks like a planter! I didn’t have to secure my fake plants at all because they tucked down around the existing chimes cover, and they hang down over the wood in a way that the leaves help hold it in place.

That was it! This looks so much better than the old, off-color doorbell chimes cover.

---

DIY Must-Have Lists

These chairs have needed my attention for quite a while. They were still in sturdy shape, so I knew they had a little life left in them. They just looked terribly worn out.

…I’m just now realizing that I intended to use my new paint sprayer on this project, but I completely forgot. 🤦‍♀️ If you have a paint sprayer, you could do this much more quickly, but I used a cheap brush. You could also use painters tape if you need help with a clean edge between the different paint colors, but I always find I do okay with just a simple little craft brush to make clean lines.

Step 1: Sand and clean chairs. I took my handheld sander and went over every part of the chairs that I could. I used 80 grit sandpaper but only needed one sheet.

There was some old stain peeling away that needed to be sanded. There were rough spots that I wanted smoother. And there were other places where the wood was just really worn and old, so I sanded those parts down too. Really, you want to sand all over at least a little bit to help the paint adhere.

Once the chairs were sanded, I wiped them down with a wet rag to get off cobwebs, dirt, dust, etc.

Step 2: Spray paint the hardest parts to paint first. Really, you could paint your outdoor chairs a bunch of different ways, but I focused on how the slats ran across the back and seat. The arms of the chairs and sides of the back and seat had pieces that ran a different way, so these slats seemed like they would look good as their own thing.

I went with black. You could use any color as long as it’s a paint that’s intended for outdoor use. I had some leftover black spray paint, so that’s what I used.

For these harder-to-do parts of the chairs, I definitely recommend spray paint (or a paint sprayer 🤦‍♀️). Spraying on the slats was easier than trying to use a brush and get around all the sides. It was definitely faster. Did this spray paint get on the other parts of the chairs that would be a different color? Sure. But I didn’t worry about this since I knew I’d be painting the other parts next and covering the black anyway.

Basically, start painting the chairs by using spray paint in the color that you want on the majority of the chair, or the most difficult-to-paint parts of the chair. Some might say to use the lighter color first so you can be sure your other paint color will cover it, but my lighter blue covered this black just fine. 🤷‍♀️

Another good reason to use spray paint first is because it dries quickly, helping you get to the next step.

Step 3: Paint the other chair parts. Once the tricky slats were painted, I took my lighter blue paint and used a brush to paint the arms of the chair, the bottom braces, and the side pieces around the seat and back. There wasn’t much need to spray this paint, since these sections were so large that a brush worked just fine. To paint where the blue met the black of the slats, I used a tiny craft brush and made clean lines of blue paint against the black.

If you use a spray for the rest of the chair too, you’ll need to cover the first painted areas and tape along the edges. That seemed like too much effort, and I figured that a brush would be faster than the prep required for my paint sprayer.

I did 2 coats of this light blue, just to be sure the coverage was good over the old wood. I also had a 5-year-old helper, so I went over her areas a few times. 😬

Step 4: Seal. Once all the paint was dry, I gave it overnight to gas off and settle in. The next day, I took a clear gloss spray paint and went over every inch of the chairs to seal and protect the paint.

Once that was dry, the chairs were done! These look so much better than before, and they go nicely with the blue decor I have on the rest of my deck. I like that painting them this way looks a little more interesting than just painting or staining them one solid color too.

---

DIY Must-Have Lists