I wouldn't. You risk the racing stripe effect, and you probably don't want to draw the eye up to the intersection of the wall and ceiling, which is what that would do.

I think the best idea is to have your crown painted to match your trim, but designed to be the same profile as the crown on the fireplace, so that they meet correctly, and stop at the fireplace crown, which would be left cherry. It's as though you had a piece of furniture purpose-built for the space...which, in effect, you have.

My BFF had a similar dilemma and ended up matching the crown moulding to the rest of the trim except on the mantel. I think it looks great and cannot imagine cherry moulding on the ceiling when the rest of the trim is white. If you go with paint grade crown molding from the start it will also be substantially less expensive.

I never take the advice from contractors when it comes to design. They usually do not take the option that looks the best but rather either what is easiest for them or what will make them the most money. Sorry, been there, done that too many times.

Thank you Bronwynsmom & Susanelewis for your advice. The family room crown molding is already installed in cherry (and it is the same profile as the fireplace crown because it was made by the cabinet maker who made the fireplace unit). Originally the trim workers (rather than the cabinet maker) were going to install a two layer/piece (and slightly wider) paint grade crown molding, which was not the same profile as the cherry fireplace crown. The contractor suggested that we use the cabinet maker's crown (which is a one piece crown, but is pretty detailed) for the rest of the room so that it would be the same profile and meet up correctly. Then he suggested that we have the crown done in cherry so that we could decide whether to paint it after seeing it installed. My price was going to be the same either way, so we had the cherry crown installed. My inclination always was to paint the crown to match the window casings, but I am under pressure from friends and family who believe that it would be a shame to paint over the beautiful cherry crown. And I have curtains (valances & panels) and furniture which cover most of the window casings and sills (though the white window grids are visible if the shades are up). People have commented that once the curtains are hung again, that the window trim will not be noticeable. Given this information, do you still believe that I should paint over the cherry crown? Thanks.

I like the look of mixed crown and painted trim. My situation is reversed: In my office I painted the crown cream and left the window trim, baseboards and fireplace stained and I really like it. Come to think of it I did the same thing in my DR. I'd show a pic but my crown is so ridiculously small that it looks silly compared to the size of the rest of the trims.

I wold like to 'beef it up' more and if I do I will still keep the crown cream.

Of course you can paint the crown.
It's just a piece of wood, after all. And it's your piece of wood.

It is not a fine Louis-by-the-numbers console, or an 18th century Chippendale chair...it's crown molding, for heaven's sake, and new crown molding at that.
It's the right look for your room, and you want to do it, so paint away!!!

Our painters had a double duck fit when I called them to come paint my venerable dark knotty pine living room and take out the looming beams, but I just smiled and said, I know, just do it!
They did an aces job, too, and at the end agreed that it looked pretty wonderful.

It's hard to advise without pictures. And it depends on your ceiling height and your style of decorating. I have all stained woodwork in my house, but all my crown is painted except my dining room which will be intricate stained crowned molding but that ceiling is also 11'. I dont think i would like stained crown on a 8' ceiling.

Can you provide some pictures?

I agree that it's difficult to give specific advice without seeing a photo. I can not stand wood trim at the ceiling when it's just regular molding...definitely looks like a racing stripe (same for chair rail). However, if the molding is intricate and thick then it's a different story. If the rest of the room is executed well then the wood trim will only enhance the feel. Obviously you are the one who has to live with it and knows what it looks like and you will be the one to decide what makes you happy (the ultimate goal). Why don't you get the window treatments up and live with it as is for a few months and see how you feel? You can always paint later.

+1 for waiting and living with it for awhile after the room is done...good advice, bleigh.

I'll come back and post pics, but don't paint your molding. I have painted window trims in all of my rooms that are the same color throughout the house, but the crown varies in a few rooms (kitchen, master bath and my son's bath). It does not look like a racing stripe, it looks like gorgeous cherry molding.

Oh wait here's a quickie pic (I'll find better ones if I can)

That is one beautiful kitchen! I think the reason that the cherry molding looks awesome in there is that there is not a sharp distinction between the walls and the wood color and some of your cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. However, in a family room where you won't have that setup, I think it's a different story. Again, depends on the room and the style.

igloochic, that is a perfect example where painting the molding would be a sin. That is BEAUTIFUL...ALL of it. Especially love the dark molding around the windows.

Here is a photo of a room where the racing stripe effect is happening. The trim in this photo would be MUCH better off painted.

Here is a link that might be useful:

igloochick,
Gorgeous kitchen! I took some photos of the family room, but am unsure of how to post them. I copied and pasted them below, but they don't appear to show up. I have them saved as jpg files. How did you post your beautiful photos? Thanks.

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See this thread to help with posting images:

Here is a link that might be useful: Posting Images

Thank you susanelewis. I used the provided link, and attempted to post my photos in the test gallery-- but apparently my jpeg file is too large and I was unable to make it small enough to be accepted. I am happy to send the photos as an attachment via email to anyone who would like to see them. Just let me know. My email is am20992@gmail.com. And if any of you is able to post these photos on this thread, I would much appreciate it. Thanks again.

While in pics my molding appears to be similar to the walls, they're actually very different in person. The walls have a significant amount of texture and color in them and the wood is of course smooth and shiny and different in tone. I also have the opposite in my victorian where the crown molding is painted but the doors and trim are not. Again, no racing stripes.

Now in that last kitchen....we don't see the kitchen well. Personally it does get that racing thing visually from a computer because it appears that the chair rail, base board and crown are all the same, with no differentation in the wallcovering or color between, hence the stripe. Now closer up we might find that the lower area has a texture that defines it....which might make it work nicely in person, but on the computer, it does look terrible. But that's the chair rail. Remove it from the pic and you have no race stripes. Boring room maybe :P But no stripes ;) IMO Painting that molding would do nothing to effect the stripe issue. Painting the walls (lower) a different color to accentuate the molding would solve the issue immediately :) But it's again a different issue since the OP does not have a chair rail problem.

I have several rooms with different molding colors on the window verses the crown, as well as rooms where the crown and the toe don't match. They look lovely. No stripes :) just nice finishes designed to work within the room they're in. The reason the house flows well though is because I kept the main trim (windows) the same color.

In this case the OP can do either and either will look nice. Because the mantle build out is the same color as the molding it would flow well together, but given it's also a specific item (mantel) it can have that furniture look by painting the other molding and leaving it the wood tone on the actual mantel portion. Mantel? Mantle? Manaties? gad I'm a spelling idiot!

Didn't have cherry, but stained pine. I painted the molding around the windows because it was cheaper and easier than going through and match the stain etc. I installed the molding at a later point hence going the cheap/easy route. This was my old house. Base board and crown was stained.

{{!gwi}}