0 Don’t let the doors hit you on their way out…of my den

Last week we touched on my next not-so-glamorous task of installing trim in my den. Knocking out the most tedious task first, I needed to prep both door frames leading from the hallway to the den and also from the den to kitchen.

Both frames originally had doors, but I wanted to keep the opening feeling, well, open, so the doors had to go and the notches where the hinges took residence filled. The end goal is a clean doorway just like this one in my living room…

Time to get to work. Before the focus went entirely to filling the scars from the door hinges, a stray bit of trim running down the middle of the doorways needed to be removed.

First, I used a box cutter to run a seam separating  the paint. Then, a spackling knife and hammer pried the trim away from the frame.

Now on to filling the notches…



A few wood shims, nails and wood filler were all it would take…and a smidge of patience.



First I cut the wood shims to fit the notches…



Secured with a couple of nails…



And used wood filler to cover any gaps, cracks and nail holes.

Once the filler was good and dry, a few swipes with a sanding block left a smooth surface ready for painting.

Check back soon as I keep pushing my den towards trim perfection!