Amandasplit, I just measured mine and looked at the order from the cabinet maker. The order calls it square crown and it was for 3 inch and 2 inch crown Then top piece on mine measures 2 inches so I assume the one under it is the 3 inch. The underneath piece is actually showing only 1 inch. So the total height of my crown is 3 inches not the 3-3/4 that I said earlier. You might still be able to do a step crown with 2 inch on top and only have a 1/2 inch of the underneath board showing. Hope this info helps. I love how your kitchen is looking. Good luck on the finishing details.

Well, the good thing is that there will be no transition issue on the 2nd floor (main living area) - since the mouldings are this 'tan' color, and I love the combination. This is why I decided to do the 1st floor the same, to keep the look of the foyer and main living area the same. I am convinced to paint the stringers tan as well. I will report on how it will look. Tomorrow will have to talk to my contractor about repainting - see how much he will ask (sigh). The good thing though is this is the first (!) time ever I am redoing something at extra-charge. My whole house - 3 floors - was remodelled with literally no mistakes, so I guess this is the one that I will have to pay extra for. But I am happy that I will have what I like!

jiggreen- Coping is a superior method, even for corners that are a perfect 90 degrees because there is seasonal expansion and contraction or wood, and a coped joint will hide this, while a mitred joint may show a gap. To make a coped joint, you cut one piece at 90 degrees and butt it into the wall. Then you take the other piece that you're matching up in the corner and butt a piece of scrap up against it and trace the profile as best you can with a pencil. Then you get out your trusty $10 hand coping saw and cut carefully along the line. This is the hard part, and the only way to get it right is to practice. Once the profile is cut out it helps if you get out a utility knife and whittle a little bit away from the coped end (coming at it from the back and whittling against the cut end to almost the front edge). This helps the joint to be tight because there's no interference along the cut line from any of the wood behind the visible front edge. If you are real good, the pieces will marry perfectly. More likely, you may have to fiddle with the cut line a little using the utility knife. If it's really crappy, you may have to try again. That's why it's best to leave the other end a little long, so you can still use the piece if you have to recut it and make it a little shorter in the process.

I've always seen the carpet tucked into the tile/carpet transition using the same scraping/tucking tool that's used at the baseboards. I guess it's possible to do this poorly and end up with fraying at the carpet edge, but I've had many like this in my homes over the years and none have frayed. This doesn't typically work at vinyl/carpet transitions because there's not enough height on the vinyl side of the transition to tuck the carpet edge in, which is why transition pieces are almost always indicated at vinyl/carpet boundaries. But carpet/tile boundaries can be finished looking and durable without transition pieces or binding the carpet edge. This post was edited by GauchoGordo1993 on Wed, Dec 4, 13 at 19:48