We're finishing some of the moulding in our house with quarter round and thresholds on the floors. I've heard my cousin (Gideon, the architecture writer) talk a bit about the ways in which architecture can purposely conceal things and even misrepresent aspects of a space and its construction. In this project, it's pretty clear that the primary purpose of the quarter round is not decorative—it's actually to cover up the rough-looking spaces between the floor boards and the wall, creating an illusion of neatness, exactitude, and clean angles and borders where no such things exist.
Ugly gaps between floor boards and wall:
Gaps hidden with new quarter round:
Nasty gap between tile floor and wood floor:
Gap concealed by new threshold:
Air compressor nail gun (Thanks Neil & Sarah!):
wow, these are classic examples in what one writer called, "the function of ornament." Or at least one such function appears to be concealing shit that don't look right. The pics are great. So this is why minimalism (not illustrated here), when done well, is difficult. But meanwhile I am learning all these new names from your project, such as quarter-round and threshold. That nail gun looks pretty dope.
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