The crown molding arrived at the end of September. While waiting for that I did a little electrical work and some more demolition, which you will notice in some of the pictures that follow. I’d never done crown molding before, so a lot of time was spent researching it. Joining the pieces can be done using a straight 45 degree cut (nested or flat) or by coping. I’m not going to explain that here, but I tried them all and learned a lot. Except in a few places, I cut the crown flat on the miter saw (you need a compound miter saw for that). I tried my hand at coping, but only needed it in a couple of places. Coping takes a lot longer, especially for the uninitiated, so I was glad it wasn’t extensively needed. Below, I start by showing a side by side comparison of a coffer with and without the crown.

Without and with Crown.

Doesn’t that look better? Here are some more images that will provide a better sense of it.

Crown Installed

The triangular coffer was very tricky. I had to cope that inside corner. I was happy with the result.

Next up, lights. I originally tried installing 6″ recessed lights in every other coffer, but found it did not illuminate the room sufficiently. So I ended up putting one in each coffer except the center one, which will have the fan. The lights are dimmable and I installed additional switches to control them, so you can turn them on/off from the main entrance, when entering from the kitchen, and when entering from the master bedroom.

Lights Installed

You’ll also notice from the above pics that I pulled down the drywall along the main wall. I will need access to that space for electrical and internet wiring down the road.

With the coffered ceiling up, it was time to move onto the kitchen ceiling. That will be the next post.