How to Install Custom Molding in Your Home
Add style to your home!
One of our favorite ways to add dimension, depth, and interest to a space is to install crown molding details to the walls so that the room takes on a life of its own! You've probably seen lots of beautiful images on Pinterest and other inspirational sites where the traditional element of crown molding, chair rails, wainscoting, picture rails, and other molding profiles are installed to a wall and ceiling to enhance it and to even create a feature wall in the space.
But how do you take this idea and bring it into your own space?
Here are three steps to elevate your space with custom molding details.
The first thing that you want to do when thinking about installing crown molding detail to your wall or ceiling is to look for inspiration so you can identify the style of crown molding that you want for your space.
Step #1: Identify Your Style
You might lean toward traditional crown molding which has more of the framed, rectangular, outside corner shown in the room featured here, or you might have a contemporary-leaning interpretation of this idea by creating geometric shapes, crowns, and motives on a flat wall using molding and trim pieces.
Whichever way you decide to lean, it's best to gather several photos of spaces that have the look that you're going for so that you can make sure that you identified the style of crown molding that is right for your installation.
Step #2: Measure Your Surface Area
Once you’ve figured out the style of crown molding that you want, then you need to identify the wall or ceiling in the room where you want to install this detail.
With this project, these homeowners took the living room and dining room from an outdated, bland, Tuscan-inspired space to a super sleek, dramatic, and more contemporary-leaning gentlemen’s lounge. They took the frame crown molding detail around the outside corner and inside corner of the joint spaces to create symmetry and balance.
You can take a similar approach to install harmony and flow between joined spaces, or you might simply choose one “feature” wall to install your crown molding detail on.
As you look at the wall or ceiling that you want to add the crown molding to, you need to make sure that you sketch out the walls or ceiling and then measure the height and width of each. Pay special attention to where the crown molding ends and where the baseboards begin. This is the surface area that you'll need to consider as you think about how to design and install crown molding that is balanced and well thought out.
The last step in adding crown molding to your space is to choose a crown molding profile that is in alignment with the style you're going for.
There are a lot of different molding profiles to choose from, and the more traditional-leaning profiles have beveled or rounded edges, while the more contemporary-leaning profiles have straight edges.
It is advisable to choose a profile that works for the style of your home and is available in the quantity needed to fill in the wall space. It is also important to note the molding detail profile and the size of each piece before you design and install the layout of the crown molding detail.
How much space the molding takes up on the wall absolutely affects the placement and spacing between pieces, so having the dimensions of the molding along with the dimensions of the wall allows you to do some very simple math.
For example, in this project the homeowner knew they didn't want the molding to start at the very edge of the wall space, so they drew the install layout to allow the first inside corner of the molding frame to start 8 inches from the edge of the wall.
It's important to point out that you need to draw out a rough sketch to identify the shapes and the general placement of your wall molding detail before installing. That way you can do your math on paper, erasing and making adjustments as you go. It is absolutely critical to get this down and work it through on paper before installing pieces onto the wall.
Pro tip: Use your smartphone, tablet, or camera to take a picture of a straight-on view of the wall.
Once you have that photo, you can print it out and use trace paper over the picture to begin to sketch out different inside corners, outside corners, shapes and arrangements to get a feel of how it looks on the actual wall space.
This is especially beneficial for people who struggle with visualizing, because on blank paper it might be hard to understand how your design is going to translate to the actual wall you'll be applying it to.
Pro tip: If you can, hire a really competent and experienced installer to add these pieces to your wall.
If you're handy, you like these types of projects, and you have a lot of patience, you might do this on your own, However, don't be fooled! Installing molding, caulk, and using a miter saw and ensuring equal spacing that is level and precise is an actual art and science, so it might not be the greatest or the best idea for a beginner DIYer to take this on.
Hiring a handyperson, carpenter, or someone who has done projects like this and has handled a miter saw, caulk, molding, inside corers, and outside corners before will ensure that you will get the clean, well-executed look that you're going for in less time than it would take if you did it yourself.
Award-winning, Baton Rouge-based interior designer and content creator Arianne Bellizaire has been named a High Point Market Authority Style Spotter (2015), Perlick Ambassador of Cool (2017), Villeroy & Boch Color Challenge Winner (2017), Modenus Blog Tour invitee (2016 & 2019), and Modenus DesignHound (Spain and London 2016, Surfaces 2018). She was also selected as an Ambassador for NYDC 2020 What's New What's Next. Her work and expertise have been featured in Forbes, Rue Daily, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Business Of Home, and USA Today.
