ORC Master Bedroom Update: Week 4 & How to Move an Outlet & Patch Drywall
ORC Master Bedroom: Update
Well, friends, we are now in Week 4 of this challenge and making good progress. If you remember from the last ORC post:
- moved our bulky furniture out and dressers into the closet after a good purge
- shopped for black nightstands with modern lines
- found out our original design for the feature room wouldn’t work
- finished the last of the drywall patches (see below for a how-to video)
New Here? Hold Up!
Hold up, wait a minute…. If you are new here and just finding us from the One Room Challenge – welcome! We are Katie and Uriah Dortch and together we created The Inspiring Investment – a home renovation and house flipping blog.
TII evolved from our personal journey living through major home renovations which developed into a full-fledged house flipping business. Our ultimate desire is to be a resource and source of inspiration for you! You can read more about us, our first “flip”: The Craigslist House, and if you want to join the Inspiring team, subscribe to our occational newsletter.
…. and if you want to see how others are re-doing their spaces, check out the One Room Challenge Blog page.
Sitting Room Re-Design
Due to the fact that my significant other squashed the plans for a multifunctional feature wall last minute … nope, I’m not bitter … we went back to the drawing board and re-designed our sitting room. The new plan still involves board and batten, book storage, and an art display, but it will look AND function a bit different.
I already gave you some sneak peaks on Instagram, but here’s the re-design for the sitting room.
Board and batten will move from the TV to the adjacent wall, behind the loveseat. The B&B will extend 3/4 of the way up the door molding with a wood shelf mounted on top. This is where my small book colleciton will live. We’ll paint the board and batten black, but the shelf will remain wood.
Over on the TV wall, the floating shelf will be installed lower than the original plan, as will the TV.
Surrounding the TV we will install a gallery wall of framed art, as inspired by Pretty in the Pines.
Although we don’t own a Frame TV, we will try and achieve a similar look and plan out a beautiful gallery wall for our sitting room using this as our inspo space.
Currently considering for the ORC:
- which artwork to display
- frames colors – black, natural, or white
- the perfect pendant light fixture – still loving this one but $$$$
- linen curtains
- final trim design to frame out our walls in the master
**Sad news about frames: I really wanted to use Framebridge for our gallery wall, but due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, they are working with significant delay. As of now, I’ll need to use a local store, probably Target.
Here’s what I already ordered:
- Blinds
- Bedding
- This sconce lighting for above our bed
- Brackets for floating shelves
How-to Move an Outlet and Patch the Drywall
From the aftermath of a plumbing repair, to moving an outlet or even relocating a light fixture: drywall work is something almost every homeowner will need to do at one point or another. If you’re up for it, it also happens to be fairly DIY friendly.
Since we had to move an outlet and do yet another drywall patch for this challenge, we thought we’d share a little how-to on the subject. In our case, the decision to move the outlet came from need to move our TV from its awkwardly high position to eye level on for the gallery wall.
**Disclaimer: we have experience with electrical work, but are not licensed electricians and do not claim to be. We highly recommend you hire a professional if you don’t know what you are doing.
Helpful Tools:
- Sawzall
- Screwdriver
- Drill
- Stud finder
- Sanding Block
- Drywall Knife
- A Mud Pan
Materials Needed
- Drywall Mud Compound
- Drywall Tape
- Drywall Screws
- A piece of drywall for your patch
- Blocking
- Flooring Protection
- Standard, grounded 3-prong, Tamper Resistant Plug
- An electrical outlet box
Steps to Move an Outlet
Step 1: Locate it’s New Position
The first step to moving an outlet is to determine exactly where the new outlet will go. Consider that the box will be mounted to a stud, so use a stud finder to locate the best spot. Unfortunately, you can’t stretch electrical wires, so you’ll need to choose a reasonable distance from your existing outlet.
Step 2: Cut Your Drywall
Next, cut a hole in your drywall to the desired size. If possible, cut out one larger rectangle rather than a bunch of different shapes stacked together. If you are moving wires to the other side of a stud, you will want your hole have enough room to allow you to drill through the stud and pull the wires through to the other side.
In our case, we chose to combine two boxes of wires into one, because each box was separated by a stud. It was easier to cut out a larger square to give us a larger area to work. We only needed to move the outlet down about 8 inches.
Step 3: Pull Wires from Existing Box and Fish to New Location
**Before beginning any electrical work, always turn off power to the room. This can be done on the electrical panel.
On the back of most electrical boxes, manufacturers built tabs to hold the wires in place so they don’t slip out. Bend those tabs back and pull your wires out.
Now that your wall is open and a new location selected, double check your wires. Check for integrity and length to ensure you have enough to play with. If you need to drill through studs to pull wires through to the new location, go ahead and do that now, but be careful not to hit any other wires or nails.
(We typically use a 1/2” or 5/8” drill bit for 1-2 wires.)
Step 4: Install the New Electrical Box
Before installing the box, bend a couple of those tabs on the back of the box to allow yourself enough space to get your wires through the back.
Next, install the box into a stud. Most electrical boxes also come with two sets of nails on the box itself. Be sure to use both sets to give the electrical box maximum rigidity.
Step 5: Pull Wire into the New Box
We like to have about a foot of wire coming out of the box. This gives you enough material to work with. Pull all the wires into the box, then wrap any extra wires with electrical tape. Fold the wires back into the box until it’s time to wire up the plug.
Step 6: Wire the New Outlet
Take your new standard 3 prong outlet and look at the sides. Both sides of the plug should have screws: silver, gold and green colored screws.
- Gold = “power”- gets the black wire
- Silver = neutral – gets the white wire
- Green = ground – gets the bare wire (no sheathing)
Curve each wire in a hook-like fashion around the respective screws and tighten the screw on top of the hook. Once those wires are attached to the outlet, fold the excess wires back into the box and attach the outlet using the given screws to the electrical box.
Step 7: Test it Out
Turn on your breaker to test that you have power at both the top and bottom outlet on your outlet plug. Then turn that breaker back off.
How To Patch Drywall
Step 1: Install Blocking
The purpose of blocking is to add ridgidity behind your patch and a place to attach your new drywall piece. Install blocking at the corners of the drywall, screwing it in between and along existing studs.
Blocking is a critical component of patching a drywall and if neglected, may result in cracking around the edges of the patch.
Step 2: Cut & Install the Drywall Patch
Like a puzzle, cut a drywall piece to fit as snuggly as possible in your opening. This part is very forgiving. A small gap between the new and old drywall is ok, but keep it around 1/8 inch or less.
Install the drywall by screwing into the studs.
Step 3: Prep Drywall Compound
Drywall compound should be the consistancy of smooth peanut butter. The options for drywall mud are endless, but we used this pre-mixed solution.
Step 4: Drywall Mud, Tape, then Wait…
For the first coat of drywall mud, apply a thick coat 4-6 inches out from both sides of the drywall joint. Cut your drywall tape to size and lay it on top of the mud. Holding one end with your hand/finger, and drag your drywall knife steadily along the tape at a 45 degree angle applying adequate pressure. This will remove a heathly amount of excess drywall compound. Check that all of the tape is adhered to the wall and is not pealing.
Now busy yourself elsewhere while wait for it to dry. This could take 24 hours.
Step 5: Sand, Mud, Wait, Repeat
Next lightly sand the wall to knock off any high spots using a sanding block, without disturbing the tape. Then apply another moderate layer of mud on top of the tape and wait for it to dry completely. Again, depending on the thickness of application and humidity, drying time varies.
At this point, your focus is sanding tapering the edges until the wall is smooth and even to touch. You may have to repeat this process 2 more times depending on skill level. We recommend using use a lower grit block at the beginning and higher grits towards the end.
Step 6: Prime and Paint
Once finished, be sure to prime the wall before paint. Paint doesn’t stick will directly to drywall compound.
Next week in the one room challenge series, you can look foward to:
- the install of our board and batten wall with a shelf on top (Uriah has an easy tip to share with you about that)
- a peak at the adjacent wall with TV INSTALLED!
PS. If this challenge seems to have taken over – it has! More than I anticipated… but, I promise we’ll get back to house flips and real estate content soon. If you’re on our list, email us what you want to see here.
