DIY Decorative Molding

I have some decorative molding in my dining room that was kind of boring and bland. I wanted to jazz it up. I turned our “dining room” into a music room, so I wanted to incorporate the decorative molding in a fun way. After some searching, I found a fun music fabric. I had a vision of using this fabric to upholster the decorative molding in my new room. When I decorate, I get “visions” and ideas of what I want the end-product to be. Then, I backtrack to figure out how to make it happen. I thought doing an upholstered panel inside the decorative molding would be a more unique alternative to simply painting the inside of the molding. Also, it provides some extra acoustics in the music room. These panels are easy to put up, and take down. You could change out your fabric at a later date, and not be married to a paint color. I know how to sew, but I was trying to complete this project without the labor intensity of sewing. I did it! You do not have to sew to complete this project.

Materials I Used:

Large pieces of cardboard. I used those really big poster displays that kids use for science projects. I had coupons at a craft store that made them very inexpensive. But, you could use large pieces of cardboard from elsewhere.
Yard stick
Tape measure
Pinking shears (you could use regular sewing or fabric scissors to make your cuts, but beware of frayed edges)
Pencil or craft/sewing pencil
Exacto knife (or another sharp-type of knife to cut the cardboard)
Fabric glue (or really good craft glue for fabric, anything that dries clear)
Command Strips (I used small, poster strips. I also used a few small, Velcro strips in a few stubborn areas)

How To:

Measure all four sides of each section of your decorative molding. Be as precise as possible to get a precise fit.
Measure your cardboard to match the measurements you just took.
Use an Exacto knife to cut out the cardboard. Hold up the cut-out cardboard pieces to your decorative molding to test the fit, and make sure you are on target. Most of my decorative moldings were long, skinny rectangles, but I also had several trapezoids that were an odd measurement. To do those trapezoids, I cut out a rectangle shape and a triangle shape and taped those two pieces of cardboard together to make the trapezoid shape. Play around with it and do these tricky shapes whichever way works best for you.
Lay your cardboard cut-out onto your fabric. Using pinking shears, cut your fabric to fit. I left about 1-inch all of the way around. You don’t have to be exact. You just need enough fabric to pull around to the back and glue down. You do not want to have too much excess fabric, because it will be too bulky and then your panel will not lay flat against the wall.
Iron your cut-out fabric pieces before you glue them onto the cardboard. This will work out any of the wrinkles in the fabric, and give your fabric the smoothest look possible.
Lay your fabric on a flat surface, correct side down. Lay your cardboard cut-out down onto the backside of the fabric. Glue your fabric pieces onto your cardboard pieces, working all the way around and pulling taut as you go.
Leave your upholstered cardboard pieces to dry completely.
Then, you can hang up your upholstered panels. You can use anything that works for your room. Nailing it up would be secure, but more permanent & damaging. I used Command Strips. Place your Command Strips around the back of your panel. I used 3 on top, and 3 on the bottom for most of mine. I used a few Velcro Command Strips in the stubborn corners of my trapezoid pieces. You can use more, or less, depending how large/small your panels are.