thin or thick

13 years ago

Think or Thick TRIM that is :)

I'm new to this decorating forum, have been too busy getting kitchen ideas from the nice people over on the Kitchen forum.

Since we are very soon redoing our kitchen , which is open and central to the rest of the rooms on the first floor , we are now finding ourselves adressing what to do with each of those rooms.

We have done some updating over the years and always tried to keep the window and floor trim consistent throughout. We're updating from warm beige brown oak to light and bright whites. No matter what we'll be painting the trim to match the cabinets , dove whitish. Noticed wider trim is more trendy. It would fit great in our new home style too. However it seems like a big job/expense if it isn't going to make a big difference. Then what about the rest of the house, like the entire upstairs.

So how important do you think it is to widen up the door and floor mouldings and trim ? If we modernize the rooms will we be OK without changing out the narrower trim to a thicker trim? Have you done it?

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

yayagal
13 years ago
Sure you'll be okay, most people never notice an extra width of trim. I'd put the money in wall art or something you love.
chibimimi
13 years ago
I think the money to upgrade the trim would be well spent. Not because wider trim is trendy, but because it is a mark of quality. It gives a house good bones. It implies that someone thought carefully about the house and it wasn't just slapped up.

I hate to disagree with yaya, but I DO think people will notice; they just might not notice that they noticed. But they will think more highly of your home because of it.

If a house doesn't have good architectural elements, like trim, the nicest decor is just lipstick on a pig.
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chispa
13 years ago
How thin or thick are you considering? What size do you have now? How high are the ceilings? Style of house?

I like chunky trim, but you have to get some samples to see what will look best in the space. My GC brought several samples in different styles/profiles and sizes. Are you happy with composite/mdf trim or do you want solid wood? I went with solid wood even though it was being painted, but it did cost quite a bit more.

Some photos of the space would get you more opinions!
EngineerChic
13 years ago
When we did our upstairs I had them match the trim on the first floor (simple colonial casing on doors and windows, and 2.5" cove mold baseboards). We have 8' ceilings on the first floor.

I have debated that decision a hundred times. Wider trim WOULD look nicer with the new style doors we went with upstairs. But I think it would look funny downstairs even once we update the doors. The ceilings just aren't high enough to make it look right (upstairs we went with 8.5' and those extra 6" really count).

If you have the ceiling height to support it, I would do it. And don't worry about matching from upstairs to downstairs. But if you have shortish ceilings (like us) then look at the doors and windows now and think, "would it look right to me if the trim was thicker and the wall space in between trim and ceiling was thinner?"

You could even mock it up by taping strips of white paper on your current trim to make it thicker and white.

Good luck, tough call!
nini804
13 years ago
When we custom built our home last year, I went with the biggest, fattest trim I could find. Not only did I fatten up the crown and baseboards, but I even went an extra inch fatter than our custom builder usually does for the casings. I agree with Chibimimi...it really makes a home look and feel substantial. It our area, this type of detail really separates custom homes from production. The trim and built-ins were one area that I would absolutely not compromise on our build.

Now, if your ceilings are 8', I probably wouldn't do 8" baseboards...but 5" would look good, and you could still do beefy fat casings. Check to see which crown profile looks best, you can get samples and try them out. Good luck and ave fun!