I finished up maybe a week and a half ago, but haven't had a chance to post yet.
What I did:
- Removed the old trim, from the baseboard to the crown.
- Patched, texturized, and painted the walls.
- Replaced the trim, adding lintels to the headers above the doors and windows.
- Stained and finished the existing window and built-in components to match the new trim.
- Replaced the chandelier, window hardware, and window treatments.
For comparison, here are some "before" pics ... these were from when I toured the house before I bought it:
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Close-ups of the condition of the old trim:
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Some more pics of the finished product:
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We're both pretty happy with the way everything turned out. I love the crown. The existing profile was a small, simple scallop, painted white to match the ceiling. The new one isn't much bigger, and the profile is still simple, but I like the line of color it provides against the ceiling.
I also really like the lintels on the headers. The original headers weren't topped, and I think the lintels make the headers seem a little more complete, somehow. They also feel a bit more formal, which I didn't expect. Compare:
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The toughest part of the trim project was trying to force straight lengths of moulding against uneven surfaces, and trying to miter mating edges in corners that only approximated standard angles. Well, that and the fact that I had no prior experience doing finish carpentry.
The lintels were my favorite pieces to build, once I figured out how. Here's a quick summary:
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The final pic in the group above is an example of how a lot of the work went. There's a gap of about 1/4" between the inner lip of the lintel and the front surface of the header, when it should be flush (the header was slightly warped). It's a reminder to me of two things about the fruits of careful labor:
- No matter how fastidious and precise you can be with your work, factors outside your control can, and likely will, prevent you from achieving perfection, and
- You're probably the only person who'll care, or even notice.
