How to minimize decorative mouldings/trim
theclose
8 years ago
Hello,
A friend recently purchased a home some rooms, the living room especially, has ornate mouldings that she would like to minimize. She spoke of taking them out but I am convinced that if she paints it the same color as the walls, she won't notice them as much (and I secretly hope she grows to love them!). It is a very large room, currently empty and they will eventually have to furnish, but painting comes first. Her previous living room was a sagey green. I think this grand room lends itself to white or cream, but any other suggestions? I know whites are tricky. The room faces south and does get a substantial amount of light. I am going to attach pics from the listing, so try and picture it empty! I will try and take pics I am hoping for some ideas/encouragement re: the trim. I believe it is plaster and original to the home but not 100% sure. The current paint is almost a pale lavender wall with a green on the relief (pics aren't truly representative of the colors). Definitely hard to envision something else!
Thank you!
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Comments (20)
theclose
8 years agoRelated Discussions
how to install crown moulding???
Comments (8)First, buy one of the books available at home improvement stores that covers crown molding installation. That book will answer most of your questions. Second, there is a big difference between installing stained and painted molding. Mistakes can be covered when painted. Not so with stained. third, coping is done to eliminate the necessity to fill an open or ill fitting joint. Coping also minimized the gaps from seasonal wood movement due to humidity and moisture. That means if you have a gap in a coped joint, it is done improperly. The joint you described about joining two pieces in a run is called a 'scarf' joint. To hide that joint, there are a few tricks. First, there are definitions. Open and Closed sections of the scarf. Open is when you can see the material of the crown and the angle. Closed is where only the profile of the crown is visible. To help hide the scarf, always create the joint so the closed end is overlapping the open end as the eye sees the joint. That allows the eye to look past the line of the joint instead of looking into the joint. Now, the problem with your miter saw and the scarf joints. To minimize that problem, simply plan the cuts. Set the saw for a cut. To make the matching miter, simply set the stock on the side opposite the first cut---do not change the saw. You can make those cuts with the stock flat on the table(tilting the saw to 45 degrees) or standing up(if the saw is a 12" blade model with the saw swiveled to 45 degrees)....See MoreHow do I minimize the look of sofit?
Comments (14)I just looked at your pictures. With a little creativity, you may be able to still get it to work with a little different look. Here is what you can do. Add crown to the ceiling. Add thinner crown from cab to sofit ceiling. Add thinner crown to the bottom edge of the sofit. You can with cover the whole sofit with wood and have it stained or have a faux painter paint the entire soffit in the same wood color as the cabinets. Or you can have door fronts put on the the soffit also staying with the crown moldling on the ceiling and on the ceiling of the soffit from cab to soffit. Have the sofit ceiling painted the same color as cabinets. I hope I am making sense to you and you get the general idea. I think it will look like it is still part of the overall cabinetry. Are you planning on keeping the lighting in the sofit?...See MoreHow to Minimize Large Area of Plaster on Home Exterior?
Comments (12)My concerns are several simple items: Garage door looks to be rather wide for a single car garage. I am assuming 12ft wide? If budget were in structure I would make the door slightly less wide to add just a little wall to either side to help with curb appeal. If not then the color or type of door should be contrasting color and/or texture. The porthole windows of the garage suggest it is a single panel flip up door so not a roll up. This changes the dynamics and looks. If a new door and wanting windows consider a 6 panel that has one panel of lites built in. A stained wood garage door, with new bold paint on the whole stucco, would be a good blend. Consider the color of the dark brick as a red /brown, the driveway is a tan brown (your neighbours are both grey) so I suggest a bold chocolate brown, perhaps adding in some black trim around the doors and windows. Match new front door with garage (panel door w/wo peephole windows) Perhaps somefaux shutters to the window over the garage and to the basement window would help with the wide sidewalls (although the brick interferes here). Perhaps a fascia trim to separate the upper from lower level on the right side after painting to break up the surface area. The front door and windows are all out of balance due to the renovations done which clearly are visible in the stucco. Is the Stucco a textured or smooth finish can't tell from the photo size? Sand down the texture if it is bold to help transition the new stucco areas. Helps in blending the new paint. This is the a good example of driveway color to walls to doors being more in balance. The octo window has to go it just has no continuity here. (Especial if the porch cover goes in) Porch cover - are you considering a gable or a sloped roof here? I recommend a simple sloped one with perhaps a single wrought iron post to match the railing perhaps a decorative climbing trestle as a support (6in wide). Good for some climbing rose or morning glories in a pot to frame the door. You would be best in a perennial or rose tree here though. The other garden aspect would be the short retaining wall at the front of the yard. Suggest cutting out a 12 inch strip of grass and putting in some short 12in high perennial shrubs or plants like mint or such (good for deterring ants) across the front as this can add some much needed color, not too big, and adds simple curb appeal, that is not too strenuous for future upkeep (new or existing owner). I agree with some of the comments from: #Renee 👍- It is poor Feng Shui to have a tree blocking your entry door. I find most buyers consider this a big no-no at least in my part of the country. You could move the tree which could be pruned to a nice height in the future to corral that black space. #Denita - "BTW, the best return on sales price is landscaping and paint. All the other changes you are making cost more than will return. You would be lucky to get 50% of the cost to make those other changes. The garage door is an exception."...See MoreExterior Historic Paint Colors for Decorative Shingles and accent trim
Comments (61)Well that is good there aren't any windows there. However the usual rail height is about 25 inches. That is a huge difference. Having windows will make the height look that much higher. First check the height of the square part of the porch post. I believe it may be higher than 36". I would use a post with the square portion no higher than 36". For the rail height it is unfortunate that the code is such but the only way you can get around that is to follow the design from my website. You can add an additional hand rail that can be removed later. The temporary hand rail does not have to look good but just be stable for it will later be removed. Another option is the following. This is done in black so it will not really show as white. It can be removed or remain permanent. See the photo attached. The full article is here: https://www.oldhouseguy.com/ocean-grove/ A last option that is not really good is to use a design that is permanent. The design will be the same as in the diagram on my website but have a more finished look. You will see vertical balusters at the correct height but then you will have the "addition" on top to increase the height. What would I do? I would go for the removable option. My 2nd choice would be the black metal bar in the image above. Porch steps railing. You would be surprised that homes with very very high steps seldom had hand rails historically. Therefore a black iron handrail on the steps is acceptable for it will not be noticed much. One more thing. Your porch skirt looks very nice but the porch posts do not line up correctly. See here https://www.oldhouseguy.com/porch-skirting/...See More
deegw
8 years ago
robo (z6a)
8 years agorobo (z6a)
8 years agoOrnate mouldings painted white or off white and modern furniture...a decorating dream
theclose thanked robo (z6a)theclose
8 years ago
emmarene9
8 years agotheclose
8 years agotheclose
8 years ago
Laura Liu
8 years ago
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robo (z6a)