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building BTS studio – Floor and Stair Trim install

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Between the Sheets Studio floor and stair trim view up the stairs. Neon sign in vestibule with words it was all a dream

The next step in the Between the Sheet studio Project was installing floor and stair trim. This was another element of the Project we decided to DIY.

If I learned anything from this project it’s that Pattern making skills are surprisingly similar to carpentry skills. Planning ahead, careful measuring and cutting, and understanding how pieces fit together. For all the parts of the project that we managed it involved calculating materials ahead of time- I was worried that not knowing what I don’t know that I would be over or under and for the most part my typical way of calculating consumption in pattern making of adding 20% to accommodate for mistakes worked out in this project as well.

Painting the trim

Back to the smaller sprayer and the trim size bottle – using pre primed trim and an enamel self leveling paint. This combo with the sprayer gave the best finish and was so much easier and cleaner than trying to tape off and prevent bleeds between black trim and off white walls.

Between the Sheets Studio floor and stair trim, painting trim
Between the Sheets Studio floor and stair trim, painting trim outdoors with cardboard to catch any overspray
Between the Sheets Studio floor and stair trim, painting trim with a paint sprayer
Between the Sheets Studio floor and stair trim, painted trim set to dry
Between the Sheets Studio floor and stair trim, painted trim lined up in a row

Start with the longest runs

In patternmaking you cut your largest pieces first. So my plan was to start with the longest runs because if we made a mistake we could always cut a board smaller but couldn’t make one longer. Puzzling together this gap/sill on the stairs and the entryway was probably the hardest part. Otherwise it all went relatively smoothly. I measured and marked, Josh made cuts with the miter saw, and I nailed them into place.

Between the Sheets Studio trim installed along stairs
Between the Sheets Studio trim installed along stairs view from the bottom
Between the Sheets Studio trim stair landing
Between the Sheets Studio trim installing along stairs
Between the Sheets Studio trim view of installed trim pieces from the top of stairs
Between the Sheets Studio trim challenging corner
Between the Sheets Studio trim near the door
Between the Sheets Studio finished stair trim, seen from top of stairs
Between the Sheets Studio trim around corner at base of stairs

Finish nailer vs framing nailer

This is a good time to visit another change in tools needed – when we did the walls I used a framing nailer but here I needed a finishing nailer. For framing we knew we wouldn’t have electrical in yet so we got a battery powered framing nailer. For this finishing portion we opted to get a compressor and finishing nailer combo instead of a battery powered nailer. We added a lot of tools to our arsenal for this project but saved ourselves thousands doing so much of the project ourselves.

Between the Sheets Studio trim measuring boards to cut
Between the Sheets Studio trim measuring before nailing
Between the Sheets Studio trim preparing to nail

Want to see all the stages of building our new BTS HQ in the Hudson Valley? Find the whole series here BTS Studio Build

DIY – recaning and reupholstering vintage cane chairs

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I got these vintage chairs on marketplace a few years ago for only $5 each. They were wobbly and needed new cushions and cane but they are the perfect height for sitting at a sewing machine so I held onto them and finally got around to finishing as we pulled the final space together.

Here’s a step by step on how I went about breathing new life into these vintage chairs

Removing cane and cushions

First thing to prep them for paint was removing cushions and damaged cane. One chair the cane wasn’t damaged but it still had to come off bc I knew matching new and old would be nearly impossible so off it all came. A steamer helped loosed the glue and a flat head screw driver to lift spline and help with removing the fabric from cushion. Since the seats had been repaired over the years it needed a new plywood base as well so I only had to remove one seat cushion cover to make a template. This and removing cane was the most tedious part of this project.

A hand with various tools removing old fabric from the seat cushion on concrete floor
Seat cushions are removed from vintage chairs that sit on concrete floor in garage.
Recaning and reupholstering vintage cane chairs. Removing old fabric from the seat cushion
Several seat cushions are stacked in the floor. Layla holds one of the cushions vertically showing the bottom covering.
Wood seat base with fabric and foam cushioning removed sits on concrete floor with a pair of pliers. Old fabric from cushion lies on floor.
A brown wooden chair is shown with the focus on the seat back with damaged cane.
Several brown wooden chairs are shown with cane and seats removed.
Close up of wooden chair with cane and seat removed.

Painting

Before painting we glued and checked all the fasteners to make sure the final result was stable. I didn’t want to risk popping off the wheels and not being able to get them back on so I just taped those off. I used the same enamel paint on these as on our floor trim in the studio space. I painted them at a different time though and the temps/humidity meant these may not have cured as nicely. (In hindsight it might’ve been worth trying a chemical stripper before painting.)

A brown wooden chair frame is shown upside down on a concrete floor with metal clamps holding glues pieces in place.
Three brown wooden chair frames are shown on a concrete floor with metal clamps holding glued pieces in place.
Three brown wooden chair frames are shown on a concrete floor. Stacks of fabric bolts, staked cardboard, a garment rack, and other materials are in the background of the garage.
Two wooden chairs are lined up on cardboard on the grass next to the BTS studio. Layla uses a paint sprayer to paint black
Four wooden chairs are lined up on cardboard on the grass next to the BTS studio. Layla uses a paint sprayer to paint black
Four black wooden chairs are lined up on cardboard on concrete floor inside a garage for paint to dry fully
A black painted wooden chair frame has a roll of caning material resting on it.

Recaning

There are two types of caning- hand woven and spline. Hand woven is basically holes on a chair seat or back and you weave the pattern, spline caning is what these chairs have and it involves cutting and sheet of cane and inserting it using spline and glue. To size this you have to measure the channel the spline is inserted into and then order accordingly.

Cut to size and Soak spline and cane to soften it.

Line it up with chair and use wedges to press it into channel and hold it in place

Use chisel and hammer to trim cane

Insert spine using wood glue into the channel and a mallet to hammer it in without shifting the cane. Actually relatively easy

Let it dry and the cane tightens and glue holds cane and spline in place

Black painted wooden chair frames lined up on studio floor section of caning.
Two black painted wooden chair frames lined up on studio floor section of caning.
Cane and spline for recaning chairs soaks in a large plastic tub, on floor of studio
New cane is added to back of black painted wooden chair frame using wedges.
New cane is added to back of black painted wooden chair frame using wedges
New cane is added to back of black painted wooden chair frame using wedges and excess cane is cut
New cane is added to back of black painted wooden chair frame using wedges. Chair is shown laying on its back on tile floor. New cane is stretched across the seat back.
Black wooden chair is laying on its back on a patterned carpet. New cane has been inserted into the seat back and excess cane has been trimed from edges.
New cane is added to back of black painted wooden chair frame using wedges. One black chair frame is on the floor on its side. A second chair has cane inserted in the chair back. View faces towards studio bathroom
Black chair frame has new cane fully installed with spline attaached.
Image shows before and after images of recaned chairs. Top shows black painted chair with new cane back. Bottom of image shows brown wood chair with broken caning, prior to refurbishment

New seats & cushions

To fix the seat cushions we started from the plywood base and cut 4 new ones using the old seat as a template. Dry fit to make sure it works

Then k carefully seal ripped the old seat cushion to make a pattern for new cover.

Or this I am using an old set of curtains as material for the new seat cushions (cutting on the floor since our cutting table had not arrived yet)

Also cut new foam for the seats and test fitted this once before getting it right and cutting and assembling all 4

Next step was stapling the fabric to base and adding dust cover to that, then securing it to the seat with screws.

Two black chair frames with new cane backs are shown. Old fabric covering from chair seat rests on chairs.
Black chair frame with new cane back is shown. A newly cut chair seat base made from plywood is dry fit in the chair frame.
Old chair cover is set on a piece of pattern paper. Pattern weights hold the fabric on the paper. A pair of scissors and a marking tool set on the paper
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. A wooden table with various tools and pattern paper is shown.
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. A wooden table with various tools and pattern paper is shown.
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. A wooden table with various tools and pattern paper is shown.
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. Seat cushion foam is stacked on a sewing machine table
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. The pattern is laid out on the floor, on top of a piece of fabric, held with pattern weights
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. The pattern is laid out on the floor, on top of a piece of fabric, held with pattern weights
A newly covered seat cushion sets on a sewing table in the BTS studio.
Newly covered cushion is fit into a newly repainted black chair frame. Chair sits on tile floor in BTS studio with back facing a row of sewing machines
Using the old seat cushion a pattern is created for a replacement cover. The cover is wrapped around a pieces of foam and affixed to a new wooden seat base. A stack of newly covered chair bases sits on the floor, next to a chair frame.
Final recaned and reupholstered chair sits on a brown tiled floor in the BTS studio. White walls and a portion of a sewing machine table can be seen.
Final recaned and reupholstered chair sits on a brown tiled floor in the BTS studio. A row of industrial sewing machines sets behind.

Final result

From start to finish these look like totally new chairs and match the details of the space perfectly. The new storage hutch in the coffee bar area is also black with pale cane and it really ties the look of the space together to have these details echoed throughout the space.

An image of brown colored wooden chairs from before recaning and refurbishment sitting on concrete floor in garage.
Final recaned and reupholstered chair sits on a brown tiled floor in the BTS studio. White walls and a portion of a sewing machine table can be seen.
Four final recaned and reupholstered chairs sit on a brown tiled floor in the BTS studio. Industrial sewing machines can be seen in the sides and background.

building BTS studio – coffee nook

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Coffee Nook

BTS Studio coffee nook. Alcove with butcher block counter top, sink, green cabinet, and mini fridge. The counter has an automatic espresso maker and an assortment of other objects.

This was a spot for the studio build where I am glad we DIY’d. I think most contractors we talked to earlier assumed this would be a full kitchenette, like a big space. I had inspiration images of other coffee nooks and wet bars under stairs and in closet type spaces but none with this specific orientation of ceiling. So this is where doing it ourselves made it easier to execute.

Unlike the bathroom we wanted this to have a deeper sink for washing dishes, a mini fridge (maybe one day I will upgrade to an undercabinet fridge but I found this one with plastic wrap still on it at an estate sale and we built around that!) and enough counter space to hold a small espresso maker.

Counter top

For the coffee nook we were anticipating a high use counter so we went with something we could DIY. The long term plans for built ins along one wall I pictured two butcher block desks along that wall so we bought three butcher block pieces – two for the future built ins and one to cut down for this nook. We made a template of the sink and cut this out with a jigsaw and then routered. On looking back it probably would’ve been fine to just jigsaw and then sand bc this wood had some thick knots that caused issues with the router. A learning experience and we patched some of these with wood filler and epoxy.

BTS Studio coffee nook. Preparing to make the cutout for the sink in the butcher block counter top using a template
BTS Studio coffee nook. Counter top is on workbench. A router and sanding block sit on top. The sink cutout has been made in the counter top
BTS Studio coffee nook. The counter top with holes cut for sink and plumbing is dry fit into nook before mounting.
BTS Studio coffee nook. Layla fits the countertop into the nook.
BTS Studio coffee nook. The counter top with holes cut for sink and plumbing is dry fit into nook and then metal brackets are used to mount into the counter and wall studs
BTS Studio coffee nook. Layla uses a measuring tape and level to ensure the countertop is properly mounted.
BTS Studio coffee nook. The countertop is leveled and mounted in the nook. A level rests on the counter.
BTS Studio coffee nook. Josh uses a router and a wooden template or guide clamped to the counter top, to route the edges of the hole in the counter where the sink will be mounted

Cabinet

While we were painting the door and bathroom trim we also painted this ready made cabinet base. It came with a top drawer which we removed and bought hardware to convert it into a false drawer to make room for the sink. This also allowed us to still have a little storage spot for dish sponges etc. to install we lined it up with the counter ensuring it could slide it underneath. After the sink was installed it was attached to wall and counter.

BTS Studio coffee nook. The wooden cabinet that will house the sink in the coffee nook is placed outdoors on cardboard and green paint is sprayed on. A green door and ladder are in the background
BTS Studio coffee nook. Pieces of green painted trim and the cabinet door for the coffee nook are set to dry on a painters drop cloth on a concrete garage floor
BTS Studio coffee nook. The green painted cabinet is set on the right side of the coffee nook to ensure a proper fit before the counter is installed.
BTS Studio coffee nook. The green cabinet is set in the nook. The front face of the cabinet is shown with a hinge that allows it to tip forward and a plastic storage tray is mounted to the interior of the face.
BTS Studio coffee nook. The green cabinet is set in the nook, the counter top is installed. A level sits on the counter. White walls and a brown tiled floor with a potted plant in the foreground

Sink

Here is where we left things off, sink mounted and ready for our plumber – he came and connected the drain and installed faucet. After that was installed I treated the butcher block with tung oil.

BTS Studio coffee nook. A butcher block counter top is seen resting on a carpet. A sink is placed on the counter with the underside facing up and the top of the sink resting on the counter. A measuring tape and mounting hardware for the sink are on the counter
BTS Studio coffee nook. The green cabinet is set in the nook, the counter top is installed. A black rectangular box labeled Kraus contains the a faucet
BTS Studio coffee nook. Counter top, cabinet, sink, and faucet are all installed. The Counter is full of various wooden jars, glassware, utensils, and a small potted plant. A red and white plastic cooler and several wooden containers sit on the floor.

Coffee and Beverage Corner

I found this small storage cabinet to match our revamped vintage cane chairs, tucked in this estate sale find mini fridge, and all my vintage details to wrap up this cozy little space next to our “showroom” corner with all our samples.

BTS Studio coffee nook. Alcove with butcher block counter top, sink, green cabinet, and mini fridge. The counter has an automatic espresso maker and an assortment of other objects. Walls are white and tile floors have the appearance of wood. A cabinet with whicker facing is in the foreground with wooden storage containers on the counter top
BTS Studio coffee nook. A tufted grey chair and spotted carpet are in the foreground. Brown tile floor, whicker faced black wood cabinet is in the mid-ground and green cabinet with sink is in background

To be continued bc as cute and functional as it is now, it’s still not complete. Future upgrades I have planned for this spot include installing a tiled backsplash, adding rechargeable LED sconces, and adding a towel hook and small shelves. Oh and *possibly* upgrading the fridge.

Want to see all the stages of building our new BTS HQ in the Hudson Valley? Find the whole series here BTS Studio Build

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