Your Moulding Just Better!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Remodeling on a budget, are those contradictory terms? Some people may believe so, although with 20 plus years of experience in the design field I have come up with a few ideas that don’t break the bank!
I have continually told clients over the years to pay attention to the details. Just as a real estate agent preaches ‘location, location, location’ I advocate ‘detail, detail, detail’. One major design element that is overlooked continually is architectural mouldings. Before you dismiss mouldings as an expensive labor intensive project read on to find out how I have save clients big dollars and created the illusion of character and history! In many homes built from the 1960’s on trim details were an aspect of the interiors that were minimized.
So how do we build character? First remember it is a work in progress, it will evolve as you move through each space…….. instant character won’t happen! I don’t know about you but I am not prepared to push the hands of time ahead anytime soon!
· Take those small 2.5”-3.5” door and window casings and beef them up. Add a 1.5” of flat stock and top it on the outside edge with a picture moulding. Caulk and paint ……. Presto! Enhanced bold mouldings without ripping out the original and paying top dollar for new 5” moulding. You will need to use an undercut saw to cut back the baseboard moulding
· Don’t ignore your baseboards! Once you have enhanced the casings the baseboards will look out of scale. This is an easy upgrade run a picture frame moulding ¾ ” to 1” above your baseboard and paint the picture frame moulding, baseboard itself and the wall space left between them your trim color. The baseboard will appear taller without replacing it with the costly taller baseboards.
· The same idea can be applied to crown mouldings. First I must say if you don’t have crown mouldings do install them! Crown mouldings create definition between the wall and the ceiling, a must for those wavy ceiling lines…it also is much easier to cut in when painting. If already have crown, consider adding an additional layer. Very much like the application with the baseboard, a picture frame moulding can be added just below the bottom of the crown on the wall again leave a reveal of ¾” or so and paint the wall, new moulding and crown all the trim color. If your ceilings are low add the picture moulidng to the ceiling and give the illusion the crown is wrapping onto the ceiling
· Can’t afford a new kitchen backsplash? Consider MDF Beadboard……if you are daring you can bring the beadboard around the entire kitchen. Again adding character and a really easy surface to clean!
· Kick your dining room up a notch, install a chair rail and use picture frame moulding to create a panel detail under the chair rail…….this is much more cost effective than true raised panels & great look for little monies. The same idea can be applied to the foyer….remember this is the first room your guests will enter. You only have 3 seconds to make a first impression…….wow them!
