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shan9800

Kitchen cabinet trim help requested

6 years ago

We have a 60’s home and recently remodeled the kitchen. I could use input on two cabinet trim items.


1. There are two outside corners that look unfinished. A 1” plat piece of trim was added at the side, but I don’t care for the way the corner looks. Can you suggest a different size/style that could carry around the corner And fits the mid century style? The wall base is short 60’s trim.




2. The cabinets are installed 1-1/2” down from the ceiling. Flat flush fill pieces were cut and installed in that gap, but its not perfect and there are visible gaps where the trim meets the ceiling and the cabinets. Plus the grain runs the opposite direction. .Would it be better to take the trim pieces out and just have space at the top? Or is there a type of trim we could add to cover the gap that would look decent?




Thanks!

Comments (3)

  • 6 years ago

    The major problem with re-doing your trim outside of what your cabinetry installer or cabinet company offers you is matching the finish. Were you to go to a millwork or hardwoods shop that offers all different types of trim, you could certainly find something to suit your preference better, but getting the finish to match could ultimately be a deal-breaker.

    On the base cabinetry, I don't see that trim on the base being a huge problem. You could install something a little larger, but then it still wouldn't match the height of your toe kick molding, so it's going to be mismatched in height on one side or the other. What you probably really needed there was something called a scribe molding. It is a super tiny piece that just covers the little gap at the floor. This stuff is incredibly small. If the cabinetry wasn't damaged by the larger piece, I would look for some scribe molding and try to make that area a lot smaller on the trim.

    As to the ceiling, it's not the trim that is uneven, it's your ceiling. That's why companies usually recommend a 2-piece molding at the ceiling so that the variances can be taken up within the trim itself instead of at the ceiling. Also, you could have had that trim stepped forward to match the level of the door fronts, and it might have looked nicer that way. What you have now appears to be what is called a "shadow line" which can be dangerous actually in terms of grease and dust collecting without your being able to clean up there. However, shadow lines are done on purpose in some installations.

    Neither photo looks all that bad to me, and you'd be risking some damage removing those trims and re-doing them at this point, not to mention the issue of getting the finish to match. I might leave them 6 months or so and see if you grow into it?

  • 6 years ago

    Thank.you for the suggestions! I can order additional pieces to match as the cabinets are RTA, so the color shouldn’t be an issue.


    i wondered about adding a piece the thickness of the doors, but would you have it stick out only on the fronts and not on the sides?

    The cabinets have been in for about 6 months and these are the two issues that I really still want to resolve.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    On the crown molding, it is usually consistent in depth around all sides of the cabinetry, however, there is also usually an applied panel to the exposed sides that would match the depth of the doors more or less, and you look like you don't have that. It would be a judgment call for you if you could make it look good either way. Another option is to keep what you have there, and just add a second piece on top of it to make a 2-piece crown molding. In fact, that might actually completely solve your problem. There are a lot of posts here in the Houzz forums archives on 2-piece crown molding. If you have time to search the topics, you'll probably find a few examples that would be helpful. Your second piece can be flat like the first, just placed on top with a bit of the lower one showing for a bi-level look if you like. There are also some modern-looking crown moldings with a bit of an angle if you don't mind that.