I thought my crown moulding job was pretty good...

[FS7]

...until I put LED light bars over the cabinets. At 10' up, you don't see much of anything wrong with the moulding, but with the lights on every nail hole not perfectly filled sticks out like a sore thumb.

I can fix it, but man that's annoying.

[Stwood_]

Painted or stained crown?

[FS7]

Painted or stained crown?

Painted.

Thinking about it, I don't think there would be any issue with stained crown. You don't necessarily have to fill those holes depending on the color of the stain (I have never seen them filled) and the nature of wood means you would see them less regardless.

The uniform semi-gloss white paint means any imperfection in the surface (a nail hole) reflects light awkwardly if it's not flush.

[Stwood_]

We gotta have some pictures.
 

[FS7]

We gotta have some pictures.
 

Well I fixed it today.

[tomsteve]

Well I fixed it today.

got rid of the lights?

[FS7]

got rid of the lights?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Homax-Nail-Ho...gKfOPD_BwE

I hate this stuff, but it seems to be the right thing for jobs like this.

[joe1086]

The Timbermate brand filler works great too. Paintable, staintable, never goes bad. The 'never goes bad' is really true...well at least for several years.

[aquaticjim]

As for stained being easier to conceal nail holes, you have it backwards.  Prime the crown molding install it with nails and fill the holes.  Top coat last and the nail marks go away.  If you use stained molding, you have to stain it first then install.  You never get the filler to match the stained wood.  The light is what shows the imperfections.