1930’s Cased Opening Tutorial

Today I’m sharing how simple it is to create the look of a 1930’s cased opening!

If you’re trying to add character to your home, this 1930’s cased opening tutorial might be for you! With some basic materials and a few simple steps, you’ll see how easy it is to add dimension and beauty to what would otherwise go unnoticed. 

This post contains affiliate links. For my full disclosure, click here.

We completed this project last year, and I’m finally getting around to sharing all the details! As you guys know, a lot of what you see in our home was DIY. But the previous owner did a lot of wonderful things in this home, too. One of the things they did was open up the entry into the living room. Yes..the opening in the photo above used to be a single doorway! Crazy, huh?

While I love how open and airy it is now, one thing that always bothered me was the drywall around the opening. Our home was built in the 1930’s, so the plain, drywalled cut-out almost felt too modern and not true to our home’s history. 

Here’s an older photo of what the opening looked like before –

When we refinished the entryway with bead board last year, I asked my husband if we could finally create the look of a 1930’s cased opening. He agreed, and we used our existing window and the door trim for inspiration.

Here’s a close up shot of our french doors leading out to the sunroom –

This is the look we wanted to recreate! So let’s get started. Here are the supplies you’ll need for this project:

1930’s Cased Opening Tutorial – Supplies

1×4 pine or MDF boards

Corner trim (we used 3/4 inch)

Brad nails

Brad Nailer

Liquid Nails

Miter saw

Tape measure

Pencil 

Wood filler

Caulk 

Primer 

Paint 

Cased Opening Tutorial – Step 1

First, you’ll want to measure your opening to see roughly how many boards you’ll need. Be sure to purchase boards that are longer than what you’ll need. It’s always wise to leave room for error, plus you’ll be adding 1/4 inch in length to your vertical pieces, and roughly 7-8 inches to your top horizontal piece. But we’ll discuss that later on. 

Forgive me in advance for these cell phone pics of the process…not the best quality, I know.

For our opening we used 6, 6 foot 1×4’s (since we cased both sides of the opening).

In order to mimic the look of our original 1930’s trim, we chose pine 1×4’s. You could most definitely use MDF if you’d like, but we live in a very small town and pine is what’s most convenient for us. 

Cased Opening Tutorial – Step 2

It’s time to measure and cut your boards. This part can be a little tricky…in fact we started this project knowing what to do and somehow we still forgot and cut wrong. Measure twice, cut once! Ha! Will we ever learn?

Begin by cutting your vertical pieces first, and be sure to add a 1/4 of an inch in length to each! This is important! The reason for this is because you are going to offset all your 1×4’s a 1/4 of an inch away from your opening. This will give your opening a more finished, professional look without having to purchase any extra materials. 

If this seems confusing, refer to the photos below!

Cased Opening Tutorial – Step 3

After your vertical pieces are cut, it’s time to nail them to the wall. Use your tape measure and pencil to mark a 1/4 inch away from your opening in several places. 

Once your board is lined up with all your marks, apply liquid nails to the backs of your boards, then nail them in place!

Notice the 1/4 inch of drywall we left exposed? Once it’s all caulked and painted one color, you’ll see how beautiful it looks!

Cased Opening Tutorial – Step 4

Now that your vertical pieces are nailed in, you can measure for your top, horizontal piece. You’ll want to measure from end to end of each of the vertical 1×4’s you’ve just installed. 

Once your top board is cut, set it on top of your two vertical boards and nail it in place!

Cased Opening Tutorial – Step 5

You’ll notice we didn’t miter the edges. Let’s go back to my French doors…

See how the top board sits directly onto the vertical? It really bothered my husband to do it this way, but I wanted our cased opening to look original and match the other trim throughout the house!

The final step is to add corner molding to each side of your 1x4s, and in this case we did miter each edge. 

Cased Opening Tutorial – Step 6

Now it’s time for the finish work! This is where I come in.

Fill all of your nail holes with wood putty, and be sure to caulk every seam for a finished look.

Once your wood filler and caulk is dry, it’s time for paint. 

I chose a special primer that is supposed to even block knot holes, but here we are a year later…and a few knot holes are showing through. For the most part, though, it’s working well. 

We went with a classic white paint in order to match all of our existing trim. 

Finishing Thoughts

One thing you will notice is that we did not bring our trim all the way to the ground. You could most definitely tear out your baseboards or use an oscillating tool to remove part of them, we just chose not to. I don’t mind the way the baseboards wrap around the opening. 

And that’s it! Can you believe the before and after?? 

What a difference! 

I hope this 1930’s cased opening tutorial was a help to you! Did I miss anything? If so, let me know in the comments below! 

PIN IT FOR LATER

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE…