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Crown molding - do you continue on 2nd floor?

11 years ago

We are doing a simple 7" cove molding on the first floor in every room except closets. Look is similar to the bottom link, though all painted white.

Is there any reason to continue it on the second floor? These are the rooms up there:
-small loft area 10' ceiling
-kid bedroom suite #1 (partial vault 9' to 10' on two sides - making molding next to impossible, I think)
-Kid bedroom suite #2 (mirrors kid room #1)
-Guest suite (normal 9' ceiling)
-Exercise room, will be possible bonus room one day (normal 9' ceiling)
-Laundry room (normal 9' ceiling)

The two rooms I would consider are the loft area & guest suite. Would it be weird to only do those rooms?

Here is a link that might be useful: Cove molding

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Comments (7)

nini804
11 years ago
We did crown upstairs...it is a little bit smaller due to the fact that the ceilings are 9' up there instead of the 10' we have down, the fatter crown would have been too much. To me, it would have looked odd and unfinished to not have crown upstairs.
User
11 years ago
Yes, crown belongs in all areas of the home if it's appropriate to the home at all. Not putting it in is one of those horrible builder grade-itis practices of cheaping out on details and it really makes a home show badly. Like only doing brick on the front face. Now nothing says that the crown has to be the same in all areas. It can be less elaborate. It just needs to be there.

And don't skip trimming out the windows and doors either like some recent home's that I've seen. That style only truly belongs in a modern concrete and steel box type home.
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36+18+42= 96 inches. That is at 8 feet. What crown are you putting that closes the gap on a 9 foot ceiling? Or just "helps" to close the gap. The standards regarding crown vary quite a bit regionally and at different price points. It was not even a discussion on my last 2 builds - it was assumed to be in every room. But budget matters and region and style. Unfortunately, we don't know any of yours. Ok, you mention "modern" but I can tell you that what that word means to you isn't the same that it means to me. Nothing personal - it just may not be as descriptive as we hope. To me, a modern does not have crown or baseboard for that matter. But - easy to add later. In my market, you would pay a trim guy and then a painter behind him whereas during a build, the painter is there already (not extra trips). Your trim guy will charge about twice as much as the builder pays and the painter about 5 times as much. Your builder charges 150% markup perhaps. So it is basically a wash. You get to spend the money and make the decision later. But then there is the mess and noise in your house. Are your ceilings 8 feet upstairs? That would make a difference.
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wishiwasinoz
Original Author
11 years ago
Doors & windows are all trimmed out & that is staying put.

How do we do the kids rooms? They vault up from 9'-10' on two walls. The molding will not work in there. Also, in the laundry?
nini804
11 years ago
We did crown in the laundry. As far as the vaults...the only room in our house where there is a vault is our downstairs Master bedroom (it is in a wing on the rear, so nothing above it.) I agree, crown is awkward with a vaulted ceiling. We used beams to trim it out, again, IMO, it would have looked unfinished without some sort of treatment.
Annie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
We did crown in the private spaces as well...but with one less piece of molding so it's still nice, but not as beefy as in the public spaces...
wishiwasinoz
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you kindly, ladies!
lazy_gardens
11 years ago
If you want to emphasize the importance of a room, give it the "important" detailing, the bigger moldings, the fancier carving.

Contrary to what hollysprings said, it was traditional to use different moldings for different parts of the house, with the area accessible to guests getting the fancy-schmancy stuff, the master and mistress getting less fancy stuff, and the children's rooms getting even less.

Servants' quarters and stairs had very simple finishes.

We're planning a Craftsman-influenced house and have decided that the doors will be coded by their finishes. Doors leading to real rooms will be more elaborate than doors leading to baths and closets.

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