Update & a New Project

Hey!  So last week was a crazy one, and I know I disappeared from around here entirely...  We found out last weekend that my sweet, 94 year old grandfather died, and we had a quick turn around to pack up and drive back to my hometown (Raleigh, NC) for the funeral and a few days with family and friends.  Thanks for being so patient while I was gone, and it's nice to be home.

Before we left town we had started up a new project (my favorite phrase:)) that we'd been plotting for a long time but just hadn't had the chance to tackle: crown molding.  I love the refined, finished feel that crown can add to a room, and I have started noticing the variety of shapes and thicknesses out there that range from simple and modern to graphic to crazy ornate and opulent.  Thankfully Jady loves molding as much as I do (maybe more!), so from the minute we bought this house we knew we would eventually want to add some ourselves.  Although we definitely have dreams of installing it throughout the entire first floor (or maybe the whole house?!), realistically I knew that amount of work could overwhelm us, so we decided to start with one room and see how it goes.  First up: the living room.

Instead of simple crown, I wanted a wider, built up look, which is more difficult to install (of course- sorry, honey:)).  After a little research on building multi level arrangements, I decided on a three piece crown molding, which takes more time than single piece but isn't wildly complicated.

In order to create the built up look I wanted at the lowest cost possible I priced several options all the way from buying a single super wide foam piece to using the least expensive stock moldings available.  In the end I decided to use a Pro Pak of small, simple base molding from Home Depot for both the wall and ceiling sections, which is discounted because you're buying in bulk.  With the money I saved on that, I decided to splurge a little on a wider crown molding of 5 1/4" instead of the less expensive 3 1/4" option to give us an overall larger finished product that I think will fit better proportionally with the high ceilings on the first floor.

In the end this project will cost us about $2.79 per linear foot, plus a little extra for excess scrap wood, which means the living room should come to a total of about $170!  Not bad for an improvement I know we'll love.  

Now we just have to FINISH it ;)

xo

Liza