Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Guest Tutorial from My Crafty Home Life - Pagoda Cornice


Hello Chinoiserie Chic readers. I’m Linda, from My Crafty Home Life. I decided to give my dining room a much needed makeover. I joined fourteen other bloggers in the One Room Challenge, where each of us tackled a room in our home….start to finish. I would like to show you how I made my Custom Pagoda Cornice.


It all started with this image that Chinoiserie Chic posted.


This one is made with fabric. I wanted to create a similar look using decorative moldings. On a recent trip to Lowe’s, I found this….an outside return for crown molding.


It is made out of polystyrene….and when I inverted it, I saw this.


The beginning of my Pagoda Cornice; and here are all the pieces I used for the bottom portion.


The Greek key is from a fancy lumber store and it is wood. First, hang your drapes to your desired width. I like to hang mine a bit wider than the window. Once your drapes are hung, hold your inverted end piece in the finished position.


Measure for your custom length and cut a board (I used a 1x2) for mounting to length. Now using some adhesive caulk - 


Add a bead to the inside of your corner piece and place it on the end of your mounting board. If needed, tape it in place until it is dry.


Cut the molding to length and using some nails and caulk, continue down the row…add the other end.


Once that piece is secure and dry, add the Greek key….cut to length and miter the corners. I stepped the Greek key out to give it more interest.


Once this is finished with the return added, place it on some “L” brackets in above your window (remove drapes to keep them clean).



This is the bottom portion of the cornice. Now it needs a top. I chose this profile from the same fancy lumber store.



I cut the ends on a 45 degree angle and mounted it on a square piece of filler to give it an extra profile. I also decided to add some gold paint on some of the details.


Your offset will be determined by your own personal preference.


Here are the profiles I used for my cornice.


…and here is the finished cornice over my drapes.


Thank you, Beth, for letting me show your readers how I made this cornice. Many of the Chinoiserie Chic images can be made into DIY projects…that’s why I follow it on Pinterest!

9 comments:

  1. Linda ~ WOW! Great creative mind! Very impressive.

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  2. Very interesting! I am thinking of other areas/ways to use this idea in my own home...hmmmm.

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  3. Linda can make anything! Great DIY tutorial!

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  4. This is amazing. What can't Linda make?

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  5. Beth, thank you so much for overlooking my technological inadequacies. This was a thrill for me to be on your blog!

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  6. Great step-by-step tutorial!
    I'm quite sure I would never have looked at that inspiration photo and thought "Yep, I can make that out of molding". That's why Linda rocks!

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  7. LOVE this idea. I want to do this to visually raise the height of the doorway into my powder room. It is a lower doorway, surrounded by 8' openings everywhere else. It is a Chinoiserie powder room, of course!

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  8. Absolutely gorgeous!! I love PAGODAS

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