Sketchbook

Edit: Now with more photos and slightly less words!

This was a long time coming.

Step 1: Measure the wall where you want to put the picture rail.  You will need to know how long you want the boards and if you know before hand, Home Depot or Lowes can cut the boards for you. That makes this process so much easier. Plus it’s free. At least at Home Depot where we had ours cut.

Step 2: Go to said lumber store and look at the molding options. If you are like me you will spend roughly 2-3 hours staring and saying, “It’s TOO HARD!!!!!!!!!!”  The reason for this is probably the most difficult part of the whole process. Let me show you a picture to help explain the process:

Board 1: The first board to go on the wall. You will only see the bottom (the curvy bit) of this board.

Board 2: This board goes on top of boards 1 and 3. This is where the paintings/pictures/whatever you want to put (it’s flexible that way) sits, hence the grooves.

Board 3:  This is the tricky part. This board is positioned at an angle. It sits above the curvy bits of board 1 and the top edges are supposed to line up so that when board 2 is resting on top it is level.  What also makes this tricky is that when it is level the distance between board 1 and board 3, at the top (remember they are touching at the bottom) needs to be as wide as board 2.

Seriously, I wanted to throw myself bodily onto the concrete floor and flail like a toddler on this step. Engineering is hard, yo.

Step 3:  Get your boyfriend* to help you install the first board. This is the hardest one to install.  Joe used a laser level (any one spending a large amount of time hanging paintings should have one.)  Board 1 needs to be screwed into the walls at the studs OR (but not recommened) you have to use wall anchors.   This step probably took an hour. Joe’s really “carefull” about this stuff.

Step 4: Get your boyfriend to change his mind about only help you with the first board by encouraging him to get a nail gun and air compresser.  He will be happy. He will then place Board 2 ontop of Board 1, then he will kudunk, kudunk, kudunk all the way across in about 15 seconds.

Step 5:  Place Board 3 so that it is flush with Board 1 and lines up with the edge of board 2.  The curvy bit of Board 1 also helps for lining up Board 3, but that part should be easy.

Step 6: Boyfriend (man friend, dad, uncle, hot neighbor) will then use said nail gun to kudunk across this one as well connecting Boards 3 and 1 and again on the top of Board 2 into Board 3.  Steps 4-6 will take roughly 2-5 minutes.

Step 7: Prime the boards.

This is what it will look like when it’s all put together. Also, sometimes I do things without really thinking them through. I did not have a lot of tape so I thought I could use paper. Don’t. The paper became stuck to the wood. I know. I probably wouldn’t have mentioned this publicly, but I don’t have another photo.

.Step 8: Paint it. Let dry. And you’re done!

Then it looks like this: (fast forward to the 58 second mark for the rail and a description of what a picture rail actually is.)

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I hope you enjoyed this. I will be decorating another studio over the coming months so I will be making another video like this shortly. And by shortly I mean 6 months from now.