Crown Molding: Is It Right for Your Home?

jcanost says:

This is a terrific ideabook! Crown moldings are one of my favorite features and can make such a difference in the appearance of a home. Thank you for the great tips on how to achieve the look but save money too :)

David McNeely says:

Crown can look both richer and more elegant when understated by painting it the same color as the wall (or ceiling), but in semi-gloss and perhaps one or two tones lighter (or darker). For example, the crown in the photo, "Can you have moldings if you don't have high ceilings?" looks like a mismatched stripe that stops the eye; however, if it was in the same tone as the wall it would make wall and ceiling more integrated and rich.

Hull Historical says:

Hull Historical recently published a Classical Molding Catalog, featuring historic moldings based on careful research from pattern books and trade catalogs, with a wealth of information about how to find the right moldings for your home. You can view it online here: http://brenthullcompanies.com/molding-catalog/

phiwwy says:

I have used a fairly large profile crown molding throughout my first floor and am about to renovate the kitchen. The crown is really too large to top my kitchen cabinets with, but I am wondering how I can use a smaller crown in the kitchen and blend it into the adjoining rooms/halls, which will have the larger crown. Also, over the island I would like to use some type of molding flat on the ceiling to create some definition. What type of molding would be used there?

patscats2 says:

Crown and baseboards are the least expensive ways to add great architectural detail to any home. Don't be afraid of it, as it can only make your space better.

Sheryl Olson says:

I love crown molding, but have a one story home with only 8' ceilings - worry it will make the rooms appear smaller!

suejl says:

What is a good "white" to use for trim..crown moulding?

canadianchika says:

santa fe/traditional interior...crown moldings would look wierd in my house...and a lot of those remind me of sterile hotels....is it just me or does crown modling really look best in OLD homes...not so much in new homes trying to look old?

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR says:

Canadianchika -- Yes, it's just you -- sorry, you left yourself wide open for that one :0) Anyway, all kidding aside, every home was new when it was first built, so it's the style of the home rather than the actual years it has been around that make crown molding work or not. You're right that crown molding would look out of place in a Santa Fe traditional home -- just as it would in a mid-century modern ranch. But I don't think a home has to be traditional with a capital "T" to have crown molding work. Traditional homes aren't the only ones who get to do cool stuff at the line between wall & ceiling. I think the 10th & 11th photos prove that.

Audrey Thiesen says:

I have a cathedral ceiling in the main floor of my house. I've been contemplating crown molding for a very long time, but I'm still not sure if it will look right or not. It comes up to a peek down the center of my ceiling, and it's not super steep... any thoughts?

alex22 says:

To Suejl, 'Cloud White' is the perfect white for trim/crown moulding. :)

alex22 says:

I had crown moulding done in my house years ago and I LOVE it, installed by Crown Cornice and I highly reccommend them

www.crowncornice.com

mom23girls says:

Perfect timing. Our contractor is making us choose our crown molding by this week! I'm having a hard time visualizing all the choices. Ours is a single story home w/ 10' ceilings. Traditional w/ modern elements (transitional). There's choices of 8", 8 1/2" or 11 1/4". Big spread there. Also, need to choose baseboards. Thanks for the color advice alex22, but what brand?

alex22 says:

mom23girls, Benjamin Moore. If you are not a fan of Benjamin Moore you can however grab the paint chip and bring it any other favorite paint store of yours and they can match it of course. Good luck with your project. I wouldn't go more than 8" but I wish I saw a picture... if you have some you should post it. I would love to see what you are working on.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR says:

Well, my computer was down yesterday, but now that I'm back online I'm afraid I'm going to have to chime in here regarding the whole trim color discussion.

First of all -- Cloud White by Benjamin Moore is a very nice trim color -- however, someone who has never seen your home cannot exactly tell you which color you should use. You need to take into consideration any other things in your home which are already white -- cabinetry or white tile are two good examples. Choose the white that exactly matches your cabinetry or tile. Cloud White might not be the one, so check before you buy a 5 gallon can of the stuff.

Second -- alex22, I'm sorry, but color matching across brands is a bad, bad, BAD idea! I hear people give this advice all the time, but I'm absolutely adamant about this. If you saw a color you like in Benjamin Moore, but you love Sherwin Williams paint, then find a Sherwin Williams color instead. If you want a Benjamin Moore color then buy Benjamin Moore paint. If you want a Sherwin Williams color then buy Sherwin Williams paint. Color matching is not reliable no matter which brands you are talking about. It might look like a dead-on match on the tiny smear they do in the store, but paint a wall or cabinet and once it's up there, the difference can (and almost always will) be disaster. If you tell your paint contractor you want Divine Impala, then you had better specify that he or she not show up with some other brand color matched. You'll be disappointed 99.9% of the time.

There are two times when you should color-match.
---1. You have something that's already painted you need to match and absolutely no way to identify the paint brand or color. Then you have no choice.
---2. You are trying to match something other than paint, like your quilt or an upholstery fabric. Then go ahead and color match in any brand you like.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR says:

Hull Historical -- Thank you! Excellent info on that link. I bookmarked it!

phiwwy -- Frame out the top of your doorways in the larger molding and then go to the smaller on the kitchen ceiling. Above the island, you could create a slightly lowered soffit and suspend pendants from it. You would trim it out in the same crown molding as the rest of the ceiling. If you can't do the soffit thing, then use flat backed molding and create something along the line of what you see in the 12th photo.

David McNeely -- I have to disagree here. In that photo, having the white molding creates a nice frame around the metallic ceiling and gives definition between the beige and metallic color. They would not have looked as good right next to each other without the white between them.

Audrey Thiesen -- can't really say without seeing it. You might want to post photos of your room in the design dilemma section and see what people think there. Or bring a designer in to help you. It's what we do, and a designer can help you based on the look you want to create throughout your entire home.

Kathleen Cochrun says:

Staying with the same paint line/sheen throughout a project is optimal, but I've successfully matched paint/sheen across different paint companies many times. Again, it's not ideal, but it can be done with good results if you have to switch paint lines for some reason. Most paint companies have the formulas for other major paint companies and can accurately produce the same color. Even without the formula, a mass spectrometer and someone good at matching (**key), produces good results.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR says:

Kathleen, I hear you. Color matching can work out, but I still stand by my original advice. COLOR MATCHING IS A LAST RESORT. Sorry for the screaming all-caps, but we don't have the option for bold typeface in the comments. :0)

Most people don't realize that the base paints that each brand uses are different formulas to begin with, so just adding the same pigment formulas to two different paint brand bases will not produce identical color. It's like saying that just because you and I use the same chocolate chips, our cookies will turn out the same. Won't be the case when our basic recipes are different. I think people should know this because there are paint contractors out there who routinely ignore the specs given to them by their clients for color and brand and they just color match every time because they are used to working with one paint brand or they get a cheaper deal on one brand. Many people don't realize this and then end up unhappy with the final result, wondering why it doesn't look the same on the wall as it did on the chip or the little smear on the top of the can.

Having a paint color turn out differently than one expects is probably the number one problem for people decorating their homes. Avoiding color matching can save most people big headaches and lots of tears.

arttile1 says:

I own a 1967 split ranch -- clamshell moldings everywhere. We have generally stuck with transitional furnishings. But my bedroom set is an inherited 1940 Queen Anne revival. I have a brass bed and traditional lamps plus a victorian rocking chair and stained glass lamp in the room as well. The floors are oak. We are planning to repaint and I was wondering if I should add cove molding to complete the look. It would essentially be a fantasy room ensconced in a modern home. What do you think? I certainly would not replace my inherited furniture.