We’re making progress in the family room, after leaving it nearly the same since move in.

This is what progress looks like:

Yes, at first, progress always looks like a big mess.  It has to get worse before it can look better.  We pulled down the old, upside down (?!) crown before installing the new trim.  I forgot to take pictures, but here you can see it in the basement:

We know the previous owner liked to do things his own way, but we’re not fans of the look.  Especially compared to properly installed crown via This Old House:

So, down came the old stuff, leaving small nail holes in the ceiling.  Filling with joint compound isn’t difficult, just another step added to my list.  Two if you count sanding.

Along with caulking seams and filling nail holes in the new trim.  While I had the filler out, I removed all nails and spackled old nail holes (there were many).

Trim around the entry hasn’t gotten the full treatment yet, but will once we break the ladders out.  After that, painting the last white coat and walls.

We’re crownless in parts of the dining room until we swap the door for a window with a header.  At that point, we’ll run a solid piece across.

For now, and hopefully not much longer, we have a lovely patchwork of colors and textures.

I’m carving out time this week to get the trim, ceiling, and walls painted.