Hire a contractor or carpenter.

With careful removal why not use existing molding?

Home Depot has polystyrene crown molding which is a great money saver if you plan on painting the crown; and crown molding is marked on the bin. A sales rep should be able to help......2-3 inches should work for a room with 8 foot ceiling height.....taller ceiling then wider crown molding.

Comes in I think 12 and 16 foot length and can be pieced and caulked on longer walls....you would be wise to hire a contractor or finish carpenter.

I hired a person who does building projects. Not sure if he is a general contractor. He has done work around our house in the last two years, though not structural changes, but installation etc. He told me to pick and then he will install. However, now we have engaged an actual architect ( we had a lot previously for which he designed a beautiful modern house 10 years ago)

so I stopped looking myself and now waiting for his proposal.

I agree w/Susan. It looks like perfectly fine crown molding. I assume you're repainting the walls?
Remove the crown,fill nail holes in wall,repaint and reinstall crown.

You hired an architect for crown molding?

No not just for crown moulding. We have a few things around the house that are on our wish list, and usually he doesn’t take on small projects like ours, but he said he has a few thoughts about lighting and ceiling designs, some other elements etc so we are waiting to hear back from him.

the interior designer I had over last week was more expensive than I thought. I needed 3 rooms And a foyer for accessorizing And her fee was $19,000. So can’t do that.

i don’t like my current crown moulding.. it looks kind of strange to me. It also has lights behind so the guy said may be hard to remove it without damaging

"i don’t like my current crown moulding.. it looks kind of strange to me. It also has lights behind so the guy said may be hard to remove it without damaging"

I think the moulding with RGB dimmable tape lights that shone upwards towards the ceiling could look pretty cool though I'd probably paint the walls above the moulding and ceiling white to better reflect the tape light color.

-- amateur

I got the crown moulding removed and the ceiling from previous electric work is patched and ready to be painted. The lights behind the crown moulding are also removed . I will have the main wire capped in case in future we would like lights again.

My question now is: The room is looking bigger without any crown moulding. I am liking it this way. Can I go without it? Or would a formal dining look strange with just plain ceiling without any kind of ceiling design? Here’s a photo. There was white paint behind the crown moulding so that’s what that white strip is.

this is how the room looks after I got it painted in windsbreath recommended by Jacob Owens, color consultant. I don’t like it as it’s doesn’t seem to go with the marble table. it’s much whiter than the sample I had tried.

In the picture it’s looking like it matches but it looks so grey and not picking up on the marble taupe at all. i will have to redo the paint again. Going to try his other options now.

does the ceiling look ok without crown moulding ?

In picture it looks ok but it’s not picking up the creams and taupes of the table. Somehow looking odd, that’s why I’m surprised, this happened even after I picked the top choice of color consultant.

I think the room would benefit from crown mounding, which brings interest to a room with limited furnishings (as compared with a living room). I can’t tell how the paint color goes with your table but on my monitor it doesn’t go with your drapes at all. Are you going to leave the bay window alcove the old color?

Crown moulding an a wider more detailed baseboard will make the room more elegant...without it will be more sleek and contemporary...the window is where i would spend my money..it looks dated and undersized...don’t know if you have a view..but adding two side windows or replacing with a picture window would add to more sleek and modern feel

This. may be premature but whatever you do ...adding some sizable ,sculptural,evergreen plantings....in front of the big brick wall...perhaps in big decorative pots...will create another pretty focal point..

The drapes will not stay. I am having two smoky RH rococco 33 inches chandeliers On the ceiling and probably complementary drapes ( but the RH designer recommended leaving the bay window bare and putting drapes on the walls flanking the bay window to add fabric to the room . I had never heard about putting drapes on a wall , but she told me they do it all the time. She recommended a dark grey silver velvet color .

redoing the windows is not in our current plan. Because then we would have to do the whole house windows and we Are not planning that for Now.

after deliberating over whether to keep the crown moulding off or replace it, and leaning heavily towards not doing it, now we are liking this kind.

what do you all think?

If you decide to DIY here's a great youtube (4-1/2 min) that makes cutting crown molding a breeze with a miter saw (no jig needed). I used this technique to do my whole house...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1MIi6v34_o&list=LL&index=88&t=109s

Thank you for the information. But we r not DIYers. My husband can, but then projects take so long I don’t bother to ask him.

my wall guy is asking for $200 for dining installation so I will just go with him. But thanks again for sharing the video