Removing Outdated Window Cornices and Installing New Window Treatments

We have been very busy all winter, so busy that I have not been able to post about all the work we have done.  This project was an easy one, and can be done in half a day.  A window "cornice" is a wooden valence that goes over the window for decorative purposes.  It sits like a three sided box and hides the top part of the window frame.  You can also install curtain rods right into the wooden sides of the box instead of the wall.  Also, as was the case in our house, the cornice can have lights inside to light up the window area at night.  I suppose that would be necessary because the cornice makes the area look very dark.

Although these window designs were popular at one time many years ago, today it is very uncommon.  Modern day window designs vary, but I think we all agree that curtains and curtain rods are now both functional and decorative, and leave the potential of letting a lot of light into the room. However, I did do some research online and found some modern day cornice designs, as can be seen here:
Modern Cornices

Some of those are nice, but it does not go with the over all design we want for the house.

Here is a picture of several cornices in the living room with the curtains that came with the house:

The theme of the cornices continued throughout the first floor of the house, and even on one wall where there was no window, there was a cornice with a florescent light under the over hang:

To take them down we pried them off with a screw driver, hammer and crow bar.  Removal was a bit difficult because they are all heavy, huge thick pieces of wood, and you are right near a glass window...  Luckily no windows were broken:

To finish this project we had a couple of loose ends to tie up.  First, what to do with all these extra wires from the lights we removed?  Second, we need to compound and paint over the areas were the cornices used to be.  Finally, we need new window treatments.

We decided to only keep the wiring above the wall with no window, and the other lights that were in the windows will not be replaced.  When do you ever see lights above a window?  So here is the track lighting we installed above the wall:

Much better!  The track lighting goes perfect with our decorative bookcase.

Here is what it looked like before so you can easily compare:

 Here is a picture of all the cornices removed:

And finally a picture of the new window treatments after some compounding and one coat of base paint:

One coat of paint does not finish the job, but there are several other projects that we will be doing in this room.  We will not paint the room with a final color until we have finished those other projects.  That includes our next projects of installing insulation in the walls and replacing old windows.