My family is full of snobs, literally. If you are adding crown molding
 to your home they say, than you absolutely must use wood.
  Yeah in a perfect world where I hit the lottery and could afford to 
crown out every room in wood maybe I would. But after looking at pricing
 of wood molding, and polyurethane molding, I figured heck with them, I 
can not only save a ton of money, but I can also pick molding with truly
 beautiful and unique designs. Designs that I simply could not find 
carved into wood, let alone with prices I could afford.
  After extensive research on exactly how to install this type of 
molding, I went ahead and took the plunge. I ordered 63 linear feet of 
poly crown molding, and hoped for the best. Heck for just $155.00, how 
could I go wrong?
  The poly molding came shipped in a few days, and I had it cut and up 
in about an hour in my 33 linear foot bathroom. I also ordered corner 
blocks to virtually eliminate the need to do 45 degree miter cuts on the
 ends. Yes, I saved myself a ton of time!
  Next was to paint them. According to the site where I ordered my poly 
molding, they were ready to be painted, so all I had to do was pick my 
colors.
  Seeing that my walls were freshly painted brown, I figured a beautiful
 bronze antique paint job on my crown molding would really snap it to 
life.
  
  Surprisingly the finish came out 100 times better than I had ever imagined it would, and here is how I did it.
  You want to paint the molding after you install it, because any small 
cuts in the molding where one end meets the other will need Spackle in 
order to hide the seam. So, before painting, just install the molding. 
After it is up, allow it to dry and then add your Spackle to hide seams.
Next you can paint!
  Here is how to get a beautiful metallic looking antique bronze finish on polyurethane crown molding
 
  I used black high gloss interior paint. I brushed it onto the molding 
in one quick swoop. This part of the paint job does not have to be 
perfect, but be sure to cover all white that may show through for a 
deeper coloring for when you apply your metallic top coat.
  Anyhow, after painting the crown molding black, it will likely look 
awful. You will want to cry and wonder why you ever did it in the first 
place. Fear not, this is just part of the process, and it will give your
 molding depth, especially if you have any dips/grooves for a design in 
the molding.
  You will want to allow this paint to dry. It does not take long for it
 to dry, but let it sit for at least 2 hours or so that way any areas 
that have paint pooled can dry better.
  
  Next you need your metallic bronze overcoat. I used a beautiful and 
unique color called Penny Copper, which is sold in small containers by 
Martha Stewart.
  
  I shook the container and began swiping this penny copper paint on top
 of the black. I was astonished when I finished at just how stunning the
 crown molding looked using this technique to paint it.
  
  Basically in order to get this sort of deep rich shade of copper you 
will need to use a black base coat. The high gloss black paint allowed 
the color of the bronze to come out darker and more rich, hence only 
needing a small amount of metallic paint to bring it to life. Without 
using the black base color, the metallic paint would not have shown so 
brightly and vividly, and would have required tons of coats. When you 
use a black base you literally only need one thin coat of the metallic 
paint, saving you time and money!
  Tip-
You do not need to use a copper color, you can get a rich 
metallic silver, or any color you choose that is metallic to finish your
 molding. Just always remember to use a black undercoat to bring out the
 shine!
  Have fun, and enjoy your new room!
  
  
  
  
 
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