I have four little tasks remaining to have it 100% completed, but we're currently sitting at 99%, and I'll take it.
So: facing eastward, looking at the partition wall. That squarish, ragged hole above the outlets is not mine. I'm going to make it proper size and put the cable/network drop in there:
I am probably more proud of the beading on that corner than I ought to be.
Here's looking westward:
Kitchen is a mess because I've been painting. It's usually cleaner than that.
And here's something I've not seen before: the front hall without the railing:
Now, that's the north side of the partition wall. Because the railing curves around just this side of the wall, that side of the wall has never been painted. The partition, as I said, went in at least 20 years after the house was built, and the railing was never taken out so that side could be primed and painted.
In that picture, it looks like there's a carbon shadow of the railing on that wall (from a nuclear bomb blast) because, when I was painting the front hall, I had a little paint left over in the roller tray, so I used a brush and slapped it on there around the railing.
Now, however, that wall is buttercream, the same as the rest of the front hall. And it looks fantastic. It all looks fantastic.
So, the four remaining tasks:
1) Have a place on the wall where I gouged it while putting the railing back in. Once the paint's dried overnight, I'll spackle and touch it up. It is not a big gouge, but it's annoying.
2) Have a place on the opposite wall where a chunk got knocked out, at the corner; not sure how or when it happened. Spackled today; will sand and touch up with paint tomorrow.
3) Reinstall all the trim so it sits flush. I pulled it away from the wall so I could install corner bead behind it, but that's completed, so back it goes.
4) Install the cable and network drop box.
Anyway, the transformation is amazing to me, even though I did all the work. My efforts with mudding the wall were less successful than I'd hoped, but while it's not perfect it's acceptable...and the most visible part of it, the half-wall by the railing, looks great.
Next spring, I might just take the railing outside and spray it with a fresh coat of Rustoleum. It has a patina now, however, that I may just leave intact.
Man, I'm beat.