It’s isn’t often we have funny moulding stories but two in one day is too much to ask. After driving an hour, I pulled up to this rather large home situated not far from one of the local golf courses.  Once inside, it was easy to see that this home had lots of moulding – some of which looked pretty good.

The master of the house leads me into the kitchen so I can drop off my sales materials.  He then walks me to a large family room with 18 foot ceilings and says, “I want crown put in here.” 

I look up and see a two piece crown already in place and point it out to him. Wow, was he embarrassed!! I guess he never looked up and that was probably a good thing… The moulding was in poor shape, sagging down a bit, cracked caulk lines, plus there was a very poor joint between two pieces on the long wall. 

After looking around a bit, I determined his moulding looked “off” but it took me a moment to see why.  While the crowns were one, two, and three piece, the casings around the passages and doors were way too thin and narrow.  This was proved by holding a sample up to the dining room passageway. 

In extreme cases like this one, we call in not one of our design consultants but a licensed interior decorator/designer to work with the client.  A decorator in this instance will do more than just concentrate on trim.

On his side, Kevin went out to see a client in a town house.  The reason the wife called was that her husband had installed the moulding so poorly it was an embarrassment to her.  Kevin took pictures.  The gaps were a half inch in the middle of the room and the moulding was nailed flat against the wall.  It seems the husband watched a DIY video about installing crown.  Well, I could watch a video of brain surgery, but that doesn’t mean I have the skills to really do it.  And brain surgery is just like moulding, only easier.

You’ll find their article on this website: http://marylandremodelingcontractors.com/

“Creative Places for Moulding

The growth in popularity of moulding in interior design has generated some new thinking about possible moulding arrangements and locations. Moulding is no longer confined to crown moulding or baseboard. Innovations in materials and an increased desire by homeowners to enhance the appearance of their spaces without spending exorbitant amounts of money have created a market for creative moulding designs. Moulding is highly customizable and can be used in individual pieces or as a group to create unique effects. Incorporating color into a moulding set up has also become a popular and cost-efficient way of adding richness and sophistication to an interior space. Read the rest of this entry »

This article appeared in the Washington Post on Saturday June 12th

By Maryann Haggerty
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, June 12, 2010

Look up toward the ceiling. You may notice that it’s ringed by a strip of crown molding along the top of the walls. This sometimes simple, sometimes ornate strip of architectural embellishment represents a mix of classical Greek aesthetics, Victorian sensibilities and modern ingenuity.

While molding has some utility — it can disguise a careless paint job or less-than-plumb surface — its main purpose is decorative. It’s available in a range of natural and man-made materials, and a zillion designs. Whether a house is built with it is a matter of style and cost. Adding it can be an inexpensive weekend project for a do-it-yourselfer, or a costly operation for a team of master craftsmen.

“It’s pretty magical when the moldings are done right,” said Brent Hull, who, as the author of “Traditional American Rooms: Celebrating Style, Craftsmanship, and Historic Woodwork,” is understandably enthusiastic. His Fort Worth company, Hull Historical, provides custom millwork for homes new and old, including Winterthur, the mansion-museum near Wilmington, Del. The size and placement of molding determines how a room’s size and shape are perceived, he argues. Read the rest of this entry »