You're correct. Hosing, rubbing, and still some is tightly stuck. So keep after the critters producing the honeydew.

The answer has been found... Now this can sink away from the top of forum in peace... ;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Forum Answer

I think that a good hefty crown molding partway up in the atrium area (say to the base of the second floor) might be a good idea to give the eye a break as it goes up the walls. It would also help you however you when you are differentiating one area from another. Especially if you paint above the crown molding in another color, perhaps to match the upstairs hallway area. Rather then molding to differentiate areas you might want to consider paint. different colors for different 'rooms' to break the visual space up. Keeping it all the same color makes it *look* all connected. Say a very light yellow tint in a dimmer 'room', maybe a blue shade or tint in a room that should be more relaxed, etcetera. You could also use your furniture to provide separations so that one area dosen't blend into the next. Rugs (they can be rather inexpensive too) can define a space very well also. As an example: In your living area you could swap the hard wooden chairs for the sofa, put the softer chairs where the sofa was with the round glass top table between them, slide the small table with the glass bowl deeper into the bay window, and place the hard wooden chairs facing the soft chairs and tucked back against that curved staircase. (my thinking being you'll play up the bay window and have a nice backdrop for the bowl, the curved stairs will set off the curve in the wood chairs, and the couch will provide a visual break from the next room.) You could pick out a color you especially like in the couch or rug and paint the walls there that color or a similar shade. From everything I've been reading molding is excellent for setting a sense of formality. I don't know that it would have enough weight to really set one area as different then another though. Hope this helps. I know it isn't quite what you were asking for.

The cabinets to the right are installed correctly. The ones on the left aren't staggered enough to accommodate the crown molding returns. I guess I would ask the contractor to change the crown molding. Instead of having crown molding that projects forward, I would have crown molding that runs straight up and down (flush with the fronts of the cabinets-no projection). I think that would solve the problem.