Insider Tips: Crown Molding

Architectural moldings are something a lot of us love, but know little about.  Selecting the right style for your home can sometimes be an intimidating task.  There are tons of profiles to choose from and looking through supply catalogs is like trying to understand a foreign language.  There are lots of pieces that even I, as an experienced designer, can't quite figure out how to use.  It takes years of practice to be well versed in the language of architectural moldings and oftentimes, being able to image how pieces will fit together is like trying to solve a puzzle.

I recently did a house with a 5-piece crown assembly.  That was a first for me!  Most homes don't call for that degree of complexity, but this particular design was for a formal, two-story foyer with 20 ft ceilings and full-height wainscoting.  If I had used a single piece of crown to cap off the top of the wainscot, it would have been lost to the eye.  Instead, I had to build up several pieces to get the proper visual weight.

Millwork nearly complete...prepping for paint.

Most of us are not blessed with ceilings that high.  Depending on the year your house was built, your ceiling is probably in the 8-10 ft range.  In these cases, a single piece crown will usually do the trick. All you have to do is select the proper profile, size and wood type.  Sounds easy enough, right?  :-) Well, here are few criteria you might use in trying to make your selection: 

1) How high are my ceilings?

2) What is the overall style of my home? (formal, casual, or of a particular style period?)

3) Do I intend to paint or stain the crown?

4) Is moisture sometimes present in the room, i.e. in a bathroom?

5) Are all the walls straight or will I need the crown molding to follow a curve?

6) Will the crown molding need to intersect with a different material and/or profile, say where a wall crown meets up with a cabinetry crown?

Breaking it down:

1) If your ceilings are 8 ft, I would usually recommend a crown that is in the 4-1/2" to 5-1/2" range. For each extra foot of ceiling height, add an additional 1"of crown height.  (There are always exceptions, but this is a good rule of thumb.)

2A) If your style is contemporary, you usually don't require crown molding.  See below--lovely and simple, right?

( www.desiretoinspire.net)

 2B) There are a lot of variations on Craftsman style molding, but the example shown below illustrates some common trademarks:
a) A two-part crown, separated by several inches of wall space--seen here painted in a uniform color to appear as a single unit.

b) A three-part door and window cap assembly made up of a parting bead, a horizontal piece of flatstock and small crown-cap.

c) A two or three-piece window sill/apron assembly.

d) Tall, flatstock base moldings (5-6"high), often with a small piece of shoe-mold added at the bottom.  

Images found on www.WindsorONE.com.  

2C) A Shingle-style home or beach-style traditional will look lovely with simple cove molding.  This is my personal favorite.  I never get tired of it--it's elegant but doesn't feel overly fussy.  

Sample Cove Profile

Looks gorgeous in Transitional style rooms too!

2D) If your home is Traditional or one of the many Revival styles, look online for selection tips.  There are oodles to choose from.  Here are just a few:

One of the most common profiles--works well with most traditional architectural styles.

Art Deco Style

Egg and Dart--one of the Greek Revival Styles




I don't know what this style is called, but I can picture it in a Pre-War apartment in NYC or Paris.

3) Crown moldings come in both paint and stain grades, depending on your desired finish.  Paint grades are often made out of MDF (medium density fiberboard), which is cheap and easy to work with.  Stain-grade moldings come in many different wood species and are primarily used when a natural or stained wood look is desired. (Solid wood molding can be painted too--it just costs more.)  If you look back at the "pre-paint" photo of the foyer I did, you'll notice many different types of molding used in conjunction: solid wood, MDF and Flex Mold (see topic #5 below).  We choose the molding that best fit the application/location and then painted it all for a uniform look.

Here's what it looked like after paint--quite a transformation.  (sorry, crown not visible)

4) If moisture is sometimes present in the room, as in a bathroom, it's usually preferable to go with a solid wood product vs MDF, which can swell and fall apart if it comes in contact with water.  (MDF is basically made up of compressed sawdust and glue.)

5) If you have curved walls, there are also "Flex Moldings" available.  These are molded, solid-filled polyester resins and are available in several different formulas for various needs and applications.  These resin-based moldings always need to be painted.  It is also possible to special order solid-wood crown moldings that have been carved to follow a radius, but be warned: these don't come cheap!

6) The tricky part comes when you have a beautiful painted crown molding on your walls, but need to figure out how it's going to intersect with a wood crown cap on a wall-hung cabinet, or vice versa.  Sometimes, if the two crowns are of the same profile and the same size, you can neatly transition from painted to stained at an inside corner.  If not (which is most of the time!), you may need to employ the use of a wood block in the corner which is larger than both of the intersecting crowns. Then decide if the wood block should be stained or painted.  It's a judgement call.

Example of a corner block.  Here the 2 crowns match, but a block can help you transition between two style/finishes.

So enough technical stuff, let's seem some pretty molding!  These are a handful of unique images that inspire me.  (all images taken from Pinterest)

While painted molding is dear to my heart, this limed wood finish makes me drool.

Light, airy and oh-so-pretty!  This just goes to show that trim doesn't need to be white.

Classic and beautiful.  Why mess with perfection?

Just because a space is rustic and simple, doesn't mean it won't benefit from a little crown molding.  Here it nicely finishes off the shiplap wall paneling.

While this room isn't necessarily "my style", I appreciate that they used a bold color for the trim work, and I especially like how they carried that color through on the walls in the little window nook.  Very clever.

Dark and rich--this really makes a statement, in what appears to be a butler's pantry.  I love how the cabinets, the walls and all the moldings are the same color.  Way to commit! 
(Image from www.deringhall.com)

I will cut the post short here.  There's SOOO much I left out, but that will have to wait for another day.  I hope you enjoyed the overview and feel inspired!

...and a HUGE thanks to the talented folks that helped create that gorgeous foyer I shared: 

Glenn Carter of Advanced Building Consultants, Inc., 

Paul and the talented crew at PVD Remodel and Construction (wall paneling and moldings),

Medina Painting,

Loren Dugan of Beautiful Custom Stairs,

Walton Custom Tile,
and last but not least, Roger McElroy w/ BMC--you patiently calculated all our millwork quantities and kept the orders straight!

It's such a privilege to work with these guys!  You make perfection look easy.

-Sheila