Thanks for posting, Tryin'! She is a great writer, for those who haven't visited her article yet. I believe this one is the story about the neighhhhbors!

:))

LOL! That's great!

She is a good writer. I need to go to that site more often.

Good gravy~ You guys are quick! Ha!

Yeah, we had some neighbor troubles along the way (you know, the kind that's only funny from *hindsight* :-) It was a bit hard to write about and not get my silly-self in trouble :-P

T2G-- Thank you for the kind words...it was a fun piece ;-)

Hilarious. BTW, "felony" is the technically correct word.

kitchendetective-- Ha! You should've heard the 'appropriate city official' we contacted :-)

That poor woman had a *fit*!

It sounds like our adventure with this house without the permits.

OMG, Rug-Buddy!! I LOVE it!! Only in Texas, eh? Your narratives are great. :)

What a great story! Connie is a wonderful writer.

I read on past the angry neighbors part, as she is so enjoyable to read. The house is going to be a charming thing when they get done. And how lucky to have a brother with so much talent with wood - WOW!

The one thing that puzzled me was the 'crow's foot' texture on the ceiling - not sure that it would seem any better than the popcorn that was there? But maybe it is better in person.

les--Thanks ! And yes, 'better' is the operative word... and it was within budget, which was getting snug already by the time they got to ceilings :-P

The texture isn't the best either way, but the crowsfoot over popcorn is so much better than the popcorn alone. One point I didn't make clear was that this popcorn wasn't of the most horrific variety Also, it was very tightly attached to the ceiling... not coming off in your hand the way some popcorns will do. And they didn't ask what we wanted, lol. Frank's known us long enough that he just had the guys stamp first and beg forgiveness later :-) Only it came out much better (not perfect, just better) and it was much less expensive than scraping (which we would've done if we were moving in or selling).

I'll see if I can find a picture here in a minute.

Hottie ! There you are-- I've been missing you :-) What on earth have you been up to? Love your projects-- you always come up with the coolest stuff... is the black dining room finished?

Its hard to make out in pictures but maybe this will show it a little--Sorry for the poor quality. My camera was fritzing out and made that ugly pink line on top:

This next one is a close-up-- you can see the bumps between the feet pretty well--hasn't been painted yet, so there's lots of contrast between old and new.

Actually, it looks better than this because visually, its further away and much less noticeable-- no one so far has noticed unless we point it out :-)

Not sure this is something I'd do in my home, but I'm pleased for this application :-)

Thanks for posting the picks, Free. Up close it is kinda scary, but at a distance it actually looks kind of like a fern pattern on the ceiling. Kinda cool! Maybe if anyone asks you can tell them it is a 'green' ceiling: botanical and nature-oriented.

Oh, and please don't think I was criticizing as far as budget-related decisions - I fully understand and appreciate those. Just wasn't sure that one textured ceiling was better than another.

Ha! Green ceiling... too funny :-)

I keep hearing about the beautiful smooth walls and ceilings that other folks have (and try not to get jealous :-) but to tell the truth, I've never actually seen one IRL. Maybe its a regional thing?

Wonder if its because we can't have basements in this part of TX (water table's too high-- basements would shortly become 'indoor swimming pools' :-) so most homes are built on blocks or concrete slabs. Our gumbo soil is horrible on foundations--- both types tend to shift and the sheetrock will crack. Maybe the texture is trying to conceal that? Dunno :-(

The essay was HILARIOUS! Thank you so much for sharing!

As for crow's feet on the ceiling, I am not a popcorn fan at all (spent 3 years getting my townhouse rid of it) but I think moderate texture on ceilings has its place and looks good, and I have noticed that it's a "regional thing", more prevalent in the western US. My son laughed because he spend a Christmas vacation removing some popcorn from my townhouse ceilings in PA, then spent the following summer INSTALLING popcorn (or at least, textured ceilings) in my brother's new home in AK!

Certainly a textured ceiling looks much nicer than popcorn. And I have seen tons of textured ceilings and walls in the western US, and they look kind of interesting, like adobe or something. :-)

Either way, this thread is fun - thank you for pointing out the essay!

~Lynne

free at last, please let me see the final outcome of your Magnolia cabinet project. They look like my 50's birch cabinets that I can't decide whether to paint or stain.
Would be ever so grateful to hear how you were able to make these beautiful again.

free at last, great reno, enjoyed reading all about the trials and tribulations.

If you don't mind my asking, how do you install crows feet over popcorn ceiling? What is the material you used and application method? Plaster hand troweled? or what ? We removed the popcorn in living, dining, kitchen, hallway and put in smooth ceilings. But would like to camoflauge the popcorn ceilings in the bedrooms. Thanks.

papercrane-- thanks so much ! I'm glad you enjoyed it :-)

pcweary-- I have *no idea* what we're going to do with those cabinets :-P A friend came by a couple of days ago and suggested we paint them white and glaze them. I'll probably post over on the kitchen or paint forum and ask for help as we've never glazed anything before.

If the cabinets come out ok, I'll post an update, but if they stink, I may have to go into hiding :-)

springville-- They used a round brush that looked sort of flattened and the same texture compound they were using everywhere else on the new sheetrock, so there was no extra mixing...don't know if there was extra prep work, but I'll see if I can get more information and post it back here.