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One for the Pros.

It’s done! The crown molding is officially cut, installed, caulked, and painted.

If you were following along back here, you may recall that the crown molding had become a herculean task for this duo. I could count on half a hand the amount of times we’ve brought in outside help for a home project, but after a botched attempt, a wasted day and too many forty five degree angles on top of angles (even for my math inclined wife), we knew we were in over our heads.

Honestly though, it turns out that we’re not alone. Even our friends who have been doing remodeling and renovations professionally for years had no interest in this side job. Everyone hates doing crown molding. So, After getting shot down a few times by friends and loose acquaintances, we turned where any logical couple would: Craigslist. (That said, in no way, shape, or form is this a tutorial on how to install this devil molding. We will, however, kick you a few more pointers on caulk and spackle.)

We found a nice-sounding guy from the suburbs who quoted us a rate we could live with and set the date for a few days later. Here’s a quick refresher of how things looked before our contractor showed up:

Our contractor made short work of the molding, and even installed the chair rail for a small additional fee. In order to save him some time and us a bunch of money, the only job we farmed out was the rough installation of the molding itself. This left the caulking, spackling, and painting up to us. This is how things looked after install:

As you can see, the work was done carefully, the joints met perfectly, but by no means could we call it a day. It was now my turn to finish up the job and caulk the joints, spackle the nail holes, and then turn the reigns over to Kim for some careful paint application. You might know that I’m no stranger to caulk (I’ve had some practice over the years!), and with the way Kim’s got me constantly shuffling art and shelving, I can spackle like a champion.

This time around, I made a careful effort to use as little caulk as possible, as it’s not as easy to clean off of painted surfaces as it is tile. I’d run a thin bead into the gap I was looking to close, then wipe up any surplus with my finger. After the excess caulk was removed, I’d follow with a clean wet rag to wipe up any excess material.

Spackling the nail holes was a pretty similar process, using my fingers and a damp rag since the surfaces of the molding are less than flat, making use of a putty knife impossible.

 After the caulk and spackle were finished and given ample time time dry, I ran a quick line of blue tape around the edges of the molding using this handy guy and Kim got to work wrapping up the trim paint, along with the pesky touch-ups on the ceiling and walls that we’d been putting off.

What we thought might be a quick few-hour project turned into an almost 12 hour day, but more than just molding was on the agenda. Along the way, I was also able to run all of the cable for the television and media system behind the wall and install some pretty sweet in-wall speakers to cut down on the clutter and still kick out the jams. And in between Kim’s trim paint and touch ups, she got to work painting her studio table (more on that in the coming days).

So without further adieu, the money shots:

The construction portion of Kim’s office reno is nearing completion. Thanks to the crown molding installation, our DIY upper shelving looks more like a built in (rather than the floating wall of shelves we’d been getting used to), and I was even able to put the BBOT back into it’s hiding place for the first time in almost two months on Sunday (that felt great, by the way). Kim’s vision of custom open shelving, a bright airy feel and an inspiring workspace is almost here. What’s left:

Prime the walls, trim and doors
Paint the walls, trim and doors
Install crown molding and chair rail (screw it, we’re hiring a professional)
Paint the painting table for the new room (yes, really)
Sell and/or donate the unnecessary furniture
Design, build and install a storage wall (similar to our media wall)
Decide on artwork for the room
Clean, paint and prep thrifty frames
Frame, mat and hang inspirational artwork (using this technique)
Decide on lighting
Decide on textiles: rug, curtains and upholstery for seating
• Buy the decided upon things. Budget. Install them. (halfway there)
Re-stock painting, shipping and packaging supplies
• Pull it together like we own it
• Return to normalcy (we can only hope)

We were able to cross a few more things off the list (which, of course, only added a domino effect of other to dos), but we’re so close. And how about your weekend? Were you able to spend some quality time lazing around the house, or did you make five Home Depot trips in two days like me? (True story.)

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  • Annie3.5.12 - 9:52 AM

    Seeing this almost finished makes me super excited about the neutral office/playroom space we’re pulling together upstairs! = )ReplyCancel

  • Kim3.5.12 - 10:23 AM

    Hey Annie, there are still a few integral pieces of the room that’ll add a punch of color, but we do like how soft and airy it feels right now too!ReplyCancel

  • a Girl Called Kim3.5.12 - 12:47 PM

    I love how the studio is coming together!
    I’m always a little wary when there’s talk about installing crown molding, though I’m not sure why since I’m never disappointed with the end result!ReplyCancel

  • Emma3.5.12 - 2:28 PM

    Oh that is just so beautiful. Trim-tastic! You’ve added so much value to your home too.ReplyCancel

  • Kyley @ Painting Pony3.5.12 - 5:48 PM

    Oh yay! I can’t wait to see it all done – and then have you paint my happy little guy in your new studio!!ReplyCancel

  • Kim and Scott, the office is looking fabulous! I’m sure you’re all excited to have the crown done. Some things are a total pain in the butt, but it looks great and you won’t have to worry about it again!ReplyCancel

  • blair3.7.12 - 3:30 PM

    We’re thinking of doing a similar photo gallery in our overly long hallway… where did you get all your beautiful frames?ReplyCancel

  • Chris Loves Julia3.19.12 - 1:43 PM

    After we read this post, we were really worried about the idea of tackling our own crown molding for our built ins. We found really great, DIY friendly crown molding from So Simple Crown. Mentioned you guys in todays post!:

    http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2012/03/giveaway-gold-put-own-in-crown-molding.htmlReplyCancel

  • Kim3.19.12 - 1:58 PM

    Chris Loves Julia,

    AMAZING. So easy! Good gracious!ReplyCancel

  • Tori3.5.15 - 10:26 AM

    Shiver me timbers, them’s some great inriomatfon.ReplyCancel

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We’re Kim + Scott, Chicago based content creators behind the Home + Lifestyle brand Yellow Brick Home.

Join us as we renovate and nurture vintage homes across Chicago + SW Michigan!

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