Designing a Design

The only thing two days might have in common with one another is the unpredictability of them. We plan one thing, and then something happens that turns what we hoped to accomplish completely on its head. It’s life. A road works, temporary traffic lights and a redirection sends us a different, much longer way. Today...

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Upgrading Our Windows: DIY Custom Casings & Smart Motorized Shades!

Our kitchen has a cozy little eating area surrounded by five big windows, which sounds great—until you realize they were covered with cheap, malfunctioning shutters. Not only did they look better from a distance than up close, but they also made opening and closing the windows a hassle. So, it was time for an upgrade with DIY Custom Window Casings!

The Plan: A Full Window Trim Makeover

I knew we wanted to ditch the shutters, and shades seemed like the best replacement. But not just any shades—smart motorized shades! Enter today’s sponsor, SmartWings, but we’ll get into that later. First, I had to tackle the window trim.

When I removed the shutters, I found that the windows had drywall returns. That meant I had a choice: slap some new trim over the existing drywall or go full-send by removing the drywall returns and making new ones as part of the window casing. Naturally, I chose the harder route in the name of quality.

Designing and Building the New Window Casing

To ensure a clean, professional look, I designed a two-frame system:

• The jamb frame sits against the window.
• The outer casing frame sits on top for a finished look.

Since nothing is ever perfectly square in a retrofit, I left a small gap that would later be covered with trim. I milled poplar for the job (since it would be painted) and carefully cut each piece to size.

One detail I paid extra attention to was the casing width. Because the windows are tall, I made the top and bottom rails slightly wider than the vertical stiles for a balanced look—just like on high-end doors.

Assembly and Installation

The jamb frame went together with butt joints, glue, and 18-gauge brads, ensuring everything stayed square. The casing was assembled with Dominos for extra strength because one of my biggest pet peeves is trim that separates over time.

Before installing the frames, I sanded and painted everything—primer plus two coats of paint. The biggest challenge? Waiting for the paint to dry when all I wanted was to get these things installed!

Once dry, the frames went in, but not without a little persuasion. Some old caulk and drywall mud buildup caused small gaps, but a quick pass with the sander fixed that. Instead of relying on caulk to hide imperfections, I used thin trim strips for a cleaner, more professional finish.

The Finishing Touch: Smart Motorized Shades

To complete the project, we installed SmartWings motorized shades in a 70% light-filtering white fabric. Ordering was simple, and the shades came with everything needed for installation, including mounting brackets, a remote, and a solar charging strip.

Setup was a breeze:

1. Attach the brackets to the window frame.
2. Click the shade into place.
3. Connect the solar strip to keep the battery charging.
4. Program the remote to control all five shades individually or together.

With Matter compatibility, these shades integrate seamlessly with Apple HomeKit, Alexa, and other smart home systems. I even set up automations so that:

• Morning sun is blocked just enough for comfortable breakfast lighting.
• Later in the morning, the shades fully open to give my plants some sun.
• In the evening, the shades close completely for privacy.
• Voice control lets me adjust the shades on command.

Final Thoughts

This project was a total success! We now have beautiful, custom window trim and smart shades that enhance both privacy and convenience. Even our dog, Abby, approves—she still gets a clear view to keep an eye on those pesky squirrels!

A huge thanks to SmartWings for sponsoring this upgrade, and to all of you for following along! If you’re considering a similar project, I highly recommend upgrading to smart shades—it’s a game-changer.s

Stuff Featured in the Video:

• Festool Domino 500
• Milwaukee Trim Router
• Timbermate Wood Filler
• Titebond Speed Set

The post Upgrading Our Windows: DIY Custom Casings & Smart Motorized Shades! appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

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Nine Years a Café Chair Equals . . .

. . . 50–200 years, a home version. At least that’s my consideration from what I found in the facts surrounding this mass made chair from the café I go to each day. At first, I said 50 years service, but then I thought, in careful use, an average family size of 1.7 children under...

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Replacing My Electric Fireplace with a Custom Built-In

If you’ve ever let “resale value” dictate your home improvement decisions, it’s time for a reality check. Your house should work for you, not for some hypothetical future buyer who may or may not love your style choices. That’s exactly why my wife, Nicole, and I decided to kick our barely functional electric fireplace to the curb and replace it with something way more useful: a custom-built wooden insert that houses a proper center channel speaker.

The Problem: A Fireplace That Did Nothing

Our basement family room had a lot going for it—except for one glaring issue. It wasn’t wired for surround sound, and there was no good place for the all-important center channel speaker. The main culprit? A cheap electric fireplace that:

• Made more noise than heat
• Looked realistic… but only when it was turned off
• Took up prime real estate where my speaker should have been

One day, curiosity got the best of me, and I tugged at the fireplace. Surprise! It wasn’t even secured. It was just sitting there, mocking me. That unexpected discovery gave me the perfect opportunity to run the speaker wires I needed. But it still left me with a dilemma—where would the speaker go?

The Solution: A Custom Wooden Insert

Enter my brilliant wife, Nicole, who suggested the obvious answer: get rid of the fireplace entirely and replace it with a built-in wooden insert. And thus, a project was born.

Designing the Insert

I jumped into SketchUp to design a simple but sturdy box that would fit snugly into the alcove. Nothing fancy—just a well-constructed plywood case with a walnut face frame to class things up.

Choosing Materials

For this project, I treated myself to some high-quality materials:

• ¾” and ¼” walnut plywood – Pricey, but hey, sometimes the cobbler’s kids actually get shoes.
• Solid walnut for the face frame – Because if I’m doing this, I’m doing it right.

Building the Insert

1. Cut the plywood pieces – Two long pieces for the top and bottom, plus shorter side panels. And one piece of 1/4″ for the back.
2. Assembly – Glue, brads, and 90-degree clamps kept everything square.
3. Face frame – I used my Domino joiner for extra strength and alignment.
4. Finishing – A classic combo of Seal-a-Cell and Arm-R-Seal for a rich, durable walnut glow.

Installing and Wiring

With the insert finished, I took care of some bonus upgrades:

• Ran speaker wires and installed a low-voltage bracket for the center channel
• Added extra electrical outlets because future me will thank past me
• Secured the insert in place and even threw in an LED smart light strip for a little extra flair

The Final Result

The new insert fits like a glove (cue the Ace Ventura reference). It’s sleek, functional, and—best of all—it doesn’t pretend to be a real fireplace. Now the center channel speaker sits exactly where it should, and our home theater setup is finally complete…

…except now the built-ins next to the alcove look terrible. But hey, that’s a project for another day.

Until next time—happy building!

• Makrs Stain Pads Use Code TWW for 15% OFF!
• Milwaukee 18 Gauge Brad Nailer
• Domino 500 Joiner
• Titebond Liquid Hide Glue
• Wood Whisperer Guild Courses
• Seal-a-Cell
• Arm-R-Seal

The post Replacing My Electric Fireplace with a Custom Built-In appeared first on The Wood Whisperer.

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What else would you like to see?

It’s Katrina (Paul’s daughter in law here). Since 2021 Paul has been sharing the journey of making all the furniture for his Oxfordshire home at Woodworking Masterclasses, in our series Sellers Home. The idea behind the Sellers Home series is that if you were to follow along and make every piece of furniture you would...

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Hand Tools on Wood

We all have creative ways of entertaining ourselves, but it might be a little more unusual for us to see the contrast between watching as a spectator and creating our way out of one world into another by the doing of things creatively, working with our hands. In my early days, as a new and...

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Writing On a Lived Life

In past years, like many of us, I’ve had to recover from different things. The most recent of these was recovering from three busted ribs after a man, an athletic runner, chased after me and with no warning, rammed into my back. I felt my ribs pop on impact, before I even hit the ground...

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