i'm coping

Over a month later and the hallway/half-bath/laundry room project is officially completed.

At the last minute, I decided to add that final finishing touch: Crown Moulding. Which, unofficially, added two weeks to the project.

While the floor, the main jist of this project, has been done for a while, it's all the details that have been killing me.

Things I've learned:
1. Test stain before you stain all the woodwork. The pictures on the can LIE.

2. Pine, though less expensive, will never match your oak woodwork.

3. Stripping woodwork of it's finish will drive you slightly nuts.

4. Trying to figure out how crown moulding works will drive you slightly nuts.

5. Removing ceramic tile will drive you slightly nutes.

OK, that last one pertains to the next project. But it's still a lesson learned since the last post.

I ended up scrapping all the old baseboards and the pine crown moulding I bought and bought all new. In oak.

Expensive lesson learned.

I've spent more time on the internet trying to figure out how to cut crown moulding the easy way than I actually spent cutting it. In the end, I discovered that the corners in my house are not square and my expensive compound mitre saw is worthless when the angles don't come to 90 degrees.

SO, after realizing that none of the corners in the hall and bathroom and laundry room crown moulding were going to meet (fixed with a bit of caulking and wood paste) I tried my hand at how the 'pros' cut crown: coping.

It's WAY too complicated to explain here. I felt like crying at times trying to figure out the math of a "compound angle." Suffice to say, it sucks doing it, but the end result doesn't require a puttied corner. Here's a basic picture of the complexity of what I was dealing with:


Here's a link to a video that explains it if you really care that much:
http://www.miterclamp.com/

And here's the link to the best page with the best info. Also the one that gave me the biggest headache:
http://www.altereagle.com/

OK. Onto the good stuff. Here's some pictures.

I don't have any real before pictures, so I snapped some pictures of other areas of the house that have the same finishes that I removed from the hall/laundry/half-bath.

[ALL PICTURES FROM THIS PROJECT HAVE BEEN LOST.  YOU'LL NEED TO USE YOUR IMAGINATION]

New floor, new threshold, new vent cover, new baseboard.

A further away view, showing what the Home Depot computer told me would be three coordinating colors between the Kithchen, Hall and Bath.


Also notice the shiny, new looking wood. The new base and crown made the old doors and trim look dowdy, so I shined them up with a fresh coat of Amber Shelak.

Crown Moulding and new light in the Hall:


Half bath: New mirror, new light, skimcoated walls, new faucet.


Half bath crown:


Laundry: Painted cabinets (took 5 coats to cover the stain... and yes, we used two coats of oil-based primer), new hardward, new baseboards.


Laundry crown:


All new switches:


All new hardware:


Oil-rubbed bronze, folks. It's the new brushed nickel.

And while I was crowning things, I decided to go ahead and do the dining room. These corners have no putty, because I did it the right way. I coped.

The clutter on the table is the plethora of ongoing projects. (see below.)

NOW: I'm ripping out the entry-way tile.


Ripping out the fireplace tile:


And going to replace the plexiglass sheet behind the stove with tile:


Can you all understand now why I haven't updated? Every fricken night I've been working trying to get it done before the holidays. I swear, I will not be painting on Christmas Eve this year.