For most of yesterday I experimented, measured, cut, and nailed the aprons (trim) up below the window sills that I had installed the previous weekend. This was a fun part of the project because it was easy and because it made the area look really good (finished). In the beginning I spent a lot of time thinking through and experimenting how I wanted to finish the edges of the piece of trim. In the end, I think I stumbled upon a trade secret. That, or I invented a sweet shortcut on my own.
First of all, I went with the same trim that is throughout the house - only it's turned upside down so that it looks more like a "support" (that's standard though). I experimented with what to do on the ends, and after some time I realized that if I set my miter saw at 30 degrees and 30 degrees I could achieve a nice looking cut with minimal effort. The minimal effort comes into play because the ends of the trim are actually cut back towards the center of the window, leaving the ends unfinished BUT not visible unless you look directly down the wall (i.e. your head has to be within about 12-24 inches of the wall). Since there is only one place in our house that you can look down the wall, it really was a non-issue. If not, I would have had to cut about 50 tiny end pieces and glue/nail them into place. It would have taken a lot of time and been a big headache. It's hard to explain, but basically you can't see the cut ends because they are hiding behind the leading edge of the trim and in the shadows. So, it was little to no work and with that setting I was able to make the angle of the visible front edge greater and more attractive. Better looking and easier - that's what I'm talking about.
Phase 3 is going to involve a small piece of trim installed around the inside of all the windows to make the windows look like they are wood (i.e. an old window). Then, we'll paint everything and be done. It already looks nice before painting and installing the other trim (which is a great sign). It's amazing the difference a little trim makes and how cheap and easy it really is to do. After I logged the receipts in my binder (I keep track of every upgrade I do to this house and its cost) I realized just how cheap it really has been to do what we've done to the house. Not counting things that aren't improvements to the structure and excluding the basement finish (i.e. only counting things like landscaping, painting, trim, etc), we've completely re-done the entire inside of the house and the front of the outside for under $150 a month since we've moved in. That's really not a lot of money when you consider most people spend upwards of $100 a month on a family cell phone bill.
Anyway, I love how this project is turning out. I'm tired, but it's good tired. I hope you like these pictures (but as usual, they don't quite do it justice).
