skip to main content

Home Decorating

door and window moldings and baseboards - correct type for house

16 years ago

Hi,

We built our house 22 years ago - a cedar contemporary in the woods. At that time the builder told us we had two choices for trim - either colonial or ranch - and since we thought the colonial looked too traditional, we chose the ranch. Well, we are now going through a remodeling process of baths, kitchen, etc. and I want to change that ranch trim. My question is this: given the kind of house we have and furnishings (clean-lined furniture, neutral colors, some Southwest or Prairie touches in accessories), what kind of trim do you suggest? I still don't know about the traditional "grooved" molding - but what about the "block" trim I've seen in some homes or is that too Arts and Crafts? We're at a loss. By the way, our trim, etc. is stained.

We'd appreciate your opinions, or telling us what you have if you have a house that sounds like ours.

Thank you so much!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

tetrazzini
16 years ago
Can you post a couple of pictures? It's hard to say without seeing your rooms, but I'll take a stab at it. I don't know what ranch trim is, but I think a simple baseboard of 1x4, with no quarter round at the bottom or cap on top might work nicely. Possibly even a 1x6 which, without further moldings, might still look contemporary.

For the windows, consider a casing of 1x4s meeting in a butt joint at the top. I usually see natural or stained wood trim with houses in the woods. I don't think grooved or other ornamentation would be appropriate, but without seeing it I can't say.

I like these dimensions because they have enough heft to hold their own in the room, but are also simple and contemporary.
johnmari
16 years ago
Sorry, egganddart, but I think a 3.5" baseboard is just a wee bit chintzy. Baseboards with oomph really anchor a room! Our current house has 9" baseboards and it's wonderful. The ceilings are not outrageously high either, 8'6" downstairs and a tad less than 8' upstairs. Our last house had 7" baseboards in the master and 3" elsewhere, and the 3" looked really chintzy in comparison. The ceilings weren't high there either, 7'6".

Our casings are 5" (1x5s) on the sides and apron and 6.5" on top, simple flat boards with the top being just a hair (and I'm talking about 1/16th, 1/8th at the most, of an inch) thicker and about 1/4" wider than the uprights, which creates a great shadow line. In our previous house's master, we did a 1x4 backbanded with a true 1vs. 1
Related Discussions
rambling quesiton on correct location for door stops - baseboard
Q
Comments (10)
There are two potential problems with the door stops that attach to the hinges. 1) In our old house, we had hollow core doors and one time a teen-aged visitor tripped over his own feet and fell against the door pushing it hard up against the doorstop that was on the hinge. The hingepin doorstop actually punched a hole right thru one side of the door! The bottom several inches of hollow core doors have a solid interior which protects against regular door stops pushing thru but the edges (sides) are actually hollow. If you have solid core doors, this shouldn't be an issue for you. 2) Hingepin door stops don't work for doors that you want to have swing open nearly 180 degrees. You can set hingepin door stops to allow the door to swing open a maximum of maybe 135 degrees or so but, more than that, and they just don't work. They work best for doors that only swing open about 90 degrees or a little more. And, you have to make sure the hingepins stops will fit the hinges on your doors. Our exterior doors have extra large hinge pins and the doorstops we bought wouldn't fit. Have you considered using wall-mounted door "bumpers" instead of door stops. Door bumpers come in a variety of styles and colors (some can even be painted to match your wall) and they mount on the wall where the door handle would otherwise bump. Some screw in place, some are attached with adhesive. Some people think they look a bit "industrial" but at least there is nothing sticking out on the floor to trip over or catch a toe on or get in the way when your mopping or vaccuuming. We put up a couple like them a lot. Here is a link that might be useful: door bumpers
...See More
Want to replace baseboards, window & door casings
Q
Comments (8)
Honestly, if that were my house, I would leave it as is. It may look more disconnected IRL, but it looks fine to me. What I would focus on is replacing the caulking where needed, adding caulk where needed, fixing any dings or dints and do a really nice paint job. Your nice wainscotting adds a lot of interest in lieu of nice big hefty trim. I would hesitate to tear out and redo it to accomodate taller base. You really don't have room for wider door and window trim in some areas. Once the caulk and paint have cured, I would do a nice strait edge with tape and touch up the wall paint - it appears that the trim paint is running up on the walls.
...See More
Show me the baseboard / door casings in your house?
Q
Comments (1)
Our home is Victorian in style and by what you have now I'd say that isn't what you have. The style/age of the home has a lot to do with what mill work would look best in you home. Do you have photos of the room in question that you could share with us? That would really help.
...See More
Baseboards, doors and door frames, and windows
Q
Comments (4)
When I remodeled I got new more modern looking baseboards - probably the four or five inch kind and they are painted white. I had ugly wood molding and I didn't realize how much it enhanced the look of the place until they were gone. I don't understand the issue of having white door frames and wood stained doors. My door frames are painted white and my doors (which I installed when I remodeled are a wood stain) and they look great. I had the originally poor quality painted doors. Technically my doors aren't completely wood as they have a lamina insert with wood stiles and frame because I wanted less heavy looking interior doors.
...See More
tetrazzini
16 years ago
You're right, it is too narrow. I was thinking about it today and realized that! I also have pretty broad trim in my house, but it's traditional in design. I think I overcompensated when I wrote that last night!

Related Stories

GREAT HOME PROJECTS How to Bring Out Your Home’s Character With Trim

By Steven Corley Randel, Architect

New project for a new year: Add moldings and baseboards to enhance architectural style and create visual interest

REMODELING GUIDES How to Size Interior Trim for a Finished Look

By Bud Dietrich, AIA

There's an art to striking an appealing balance of sizes for baseboards, crown moldings and other millwork. An architect shares his secrets

REMODELING GUIDES Crown Molding: Is It Right for Your Home?

By Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR

See how to find the right trim for the height of your ceilings and style of your room

REMODELING GUIDES Frame Your Views With Great Moldings and Casings

By Scheer & Co. Interior Design

How to Work With Trim to Give Your Space Depth and Interest

KITCHEN DESIGN 9 Molding Types to Raise the Bar on Your Kitchen Cabinetry

By The Inman Company

Customize your kitchen cabinets the affordable way with crown, edge or other kinds of molding

REMODELING GUIDES Design Details: Moldings — or Not?

By Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR

16 new and unusual ways to trim your doors, floors and ceilings

STORAGE Bookcases and Floating Shelves That Break the Mold

By Laura Gaskill

Linear horizontal shelves have their place, but you can also get creative. Here are some ideas to spark inspiration

ART Expert Talk: Sculpture Helps Rooms Break the Mold

By Lawrence Karol

Pro designers explain how sculpture can bring interiors to a higher level of design

TRIM Interior Trim: 8 Must-Know Elements

By Bud Dietrich, AIA

Softening transitions and creating a finished look, interior trim for walls, windows and doors comes in many more options than you may know

HOUZZ TOURS Houzz Tour: A Texas Home Gets a Healthy, Fresh Start

By Mitchell Parker

Mold eradication was just the beginning for this Austin family's home on a creek bed — toxins of all kinds now don't make it past the door

Sponsored

DelCo Handyman & Remodeling LLC

Franklin County's Remodeling & Handyman Services

More Discussions

What to do with his wall

4

Hanging some Art in Dining area and misc

36

Help replace outdated light fixture!

3

From screen porch to 4 season room

11

Help with Studio Apt

11