Miracle Cornices

When we first moved into this house, there were no cornices on top of the two large windows in the main living area. The traverse rods were exposed for all to see!

That first summer (2005) I made myself a promise: I would find something to hide those traverse rods by fall....

Then one day, mid-summer, I left for work a little early so I could go to a yard sale. The yard sale was being held about 5 miles from our home, near a small town southwest of us. I figured I would have just enough time to check it out and still make it to work on time. As I got out of my car, then, and walked up the driveway, I spotted a very long cornice laying on the ground. It noticed it was birch - the same wood our kitchen cupboards are made from - and I noticed there was a white piece of paper taped to that long cornice. I also noticed another, shorter cornice laying on the ground, too, near the long cornice.

I figured the white paper was a price tag, and I figured, further, that even if the cornice was the right size for our largest window, the cost would be prohibitive. When I got close enough, though, what I saw astounded me: The taped-on price tag said FREE. I got out my tape measure, and discovered that the long cornice would just fit above the large window in our living room area. I looked askance at the smaller cornice; I knew it was nowhere near long enough for our other large window. But I told the lady, 'I'll take both cornices!' Of course I did! Now I had a problem: How would I get them home? I was running out of time, and didn't want someone else to grab those cornices before I could return with a truck to get them. So I called my husband. I have to add here that I had NO idea when I made that call where Bill was. He'd left the house that morning without telling me his plans for the day. 

Long story shortened: When I called Bill and asked him if he could help me get some cornices home, he told me he was in the neighborhood. That was part of the miracle, folks: I was at a yard sale in an area of the county where we seldom roam, and yet my husband was only a mile away from the yard sale when I called him to elicit his help. He soon pulled up to the yard sale in his truck and we hastily loaded the cornices into the back of it and I jumped in my car and raced off to work; I made it just in time. The next day, we attached the longest cornice above the window in our living room. Some days later, I tackled the task of lengthening the other, too-short cornice. I added 68" to it, with some plywood we had laying around, and then I 'stained' the plywood to match the other, birch cornice. 'Stained' is in quotes because, in the end, the only thing that would match the birch cornice was orange and yellow paint! If you look closely, you might be able to tell that the cornice in the dining area is not birch, and you might notice the seams I made in the lengthening process. But when I look at those cornices, I see miracle after miracle: The largest cornice fit with no adjustments needed; the cornices are made with the same wood as our kitchen cupboards; the wave detail along the edge mimics the trim on the board above our kitchen window; the cornices were FREE; and Bill was in the neighborhood so we could get our new cornices home. Oh, all this and I made it to work on time!