Our crowning achievement...almost.

First of all, Happy July 4th! This is Chris sanding down a part of our dining room crown molding. Crown molding can be cheap, it can be expensive, but all in all it adds to resale value so suck it up and do it. If I had it my way, Chris wouldn't touch the crown. It's a pain to put up and someone with experience can have it done in a jiffy. But being the extremely money conscious people we are, we did it ourselves. I do , however want to pass along a few lessons learned from our first crown hanging experience. I'll do that when I wash the primer off my hands...hold please!

Ok so here's what we learned:
DO NOT WOODFILL THE CORNERS. Someone out there is laughing right now and I can accept that. I TOLD HIM NOT TO DO IT, HE FILLED THEM AND IMMEDIATELY REALIZED HE WAS STUPID. So no lesson for me, but one for Chris.
LEARN HOW TO DO THE JOB BEFORE YOU BEGIN. You do nothing but waste money when you don't research your projects and ask questions. Get out there and search for a site with directions your trust. I recommend DIY.com. They are pretty concise and clear in their explanations. Otherwise, visits Barnes and Noble or Lowes or Home Depot. You're sure to find a book or magazine.
PAINT THE CEILING TO ADD SOME CHARM. You're going to have to buy ceiling paint anyway, buy off white or a similar color with a prettier name to make the ceiling pop from the trim. The tad bit of color will get ohhs and ahhs when buyers stroll through.