Hi Dirtymartini. I don't know, "awful" is such a harsh word. I'd probably go with "interesting", as in "That was very interesting, Marty", Lorraine's wonderfully tactful comment in Back to the Future. You ask if you should even add crown molding at all? Good question, and to answer, let's stop & look at history. In traditional houses--Colonial, Victorian, Craftsman, even up to postwar Cape Cods, crown molding was expected. Fancy houses had elaborate designs in molded plaster or carved wood, but regular middle class houses had crown molding, too, the only difference being that the stuff in those houses was cheaper & smaller. But it was still there. Even no-frills Victorian-era workers' cottages had it, although it was pretty meager. But houses--respectable houses-had crown modling for the same reason that women wore gloves when they left the house. It was expected. It was proper. The Modern movement came along and banished fussy crown moldings along with the trim around doors & windows, on the theory that unneccessary applied ornament harbored vermin & dirt, and if you've ever popped off the trim from around a door in an old house & seen the black soot streaks underneath, you know how right they were. But that aspect--health & cleanliness--wasn't the real reason the Modernists banned trimwork. No, it was all about aesthetics. And at first, the clean, stripped-down Modern look was very expensive. Actually, it still is, if you do it right. One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons has a designer explaing into a potential client, "Yes, of course we can do Minimal--but not on your budget." But once plasterers & drywall installers got with the program & learned to do neater work--no more gaping, drafty holes between walls & ceilings, or around doorways--they didn't have to rely on the trim carpenter to come along & hide their crummy workmanship. And once they got that skill-set mastered, it was just a matter of time before budget-driven developers (who cared nothing about aesthetics) eliminated all the trim they could eliminate in new houses, leaving only the baseboards & some vestigial ranch-profile trim around doorways that had actual doors, which, with the rise of open plan houses, were getting fewer & fewer in number. It was Modernism by default, not choice. That was then, but this is now, so let's look around. Today, with the resurgence of interest in traditional design, most new houses again have crown molding. Unfortunately, a lot of it is often way out of proportion for the rooms where it's used--either too big in small-studded rooms like yours, or woefully undernourished in double height rooms--and lots of people living in otherwise handsome, clean-lined Mid-century houses & later open-plan houses are sticking it up in places, where, stylistically, it doesn't belong. Just because a thing, in itself--or in one particular context--looks good doesn't mean that that same thing will look equally good in another place. The demure white gloves that look so natural on Grace Kelly & Betty Draper would look out of character on Carmela Soprano. How about broad horizontal stripes? Great on some people, but disaster on others. But here's what's weird: people understand that concept of appropriateness when it comes to their clothes, but they don't realize it applies to their homes, too. Will adding crown molding work at your house? It's hard to say. Maybe yes, maybe no. So, instead of deciding one way or the other based on what you saw at the neighbor's house--or based on what we, who don't know your house, say--why don't you ask your house what it wants. It will tell you: all you have to do is learn to listen. The mix-'n'-match look? That question's easier. No. Sure a lot of people do it, but a lot of people use their cell phones while driving, too, and a lot of other people jaywalk. Doesn't make it right. Magnaverde Rule No. 5: Stop, Look & Listen.

My baseboards are 7.5 inches and my crown moldings are built up, so that doesn’t help you. The only stock baseboards I’m familiar with in that size are either a colonial style or ranch. I haven’t seen much style difference within those types. In a traditional home the taller the baseboard the better IMO. Is there a particular style you are looking for? Something custom?

Those pictures are of farmhouse style? Really? They look kind of froufrou to me, and in my book, farmhouses are simple, modest, utilitarian structures. But maybe now that traditional farms are pretty much dead, "farmhouse" is just another label for whatever some highly-paid interior designer thinks looks "traditional." I'm with the rest of the crew here. With 8' ceilings, that's no mansion you have there. Trying to make it look like one with fancy crown molding will just make it look like a parody of one. I say let your house be what its architect meant it to be. But that's just my opinion. It's your house, and if crown molding makes you happy, why not? I'd suggest the narrowest, simplest molding you can find. If the the next person who buys your house doesn't like it, they can always pry it off and patch the holes.

Charles Ross Homes- Thanks so much for the extra info on the need for tempered glass. I was originally going to do a semi circle type arch at the top, which was nearly $4,000 for that window section...so the 3 rectangles will be much cheaper overall. I am still debating if I want to do the full picture window from 7.5 inches from floor to my 96inch header...or do the awning window at the bottom. If I do the picture windows, the door directly to the left will have a retractable screen. We are building in woods, so there won't really be airflow, we just want to hear nature. ILOVERED-good point. My kiddos are older..and we would definitely babyproof for grandbabies...but there are so many other hazards that a locked window at that stage. Thanks to everyone for the calculations...I started with Google..but big difference between 5 and 8 inches!!! CP-Thanks for the photos. I'm thinking 1*8 for baseboard, 1*6 for above doors/windows and maybe 1*4 for the sides of my doors. I don't want anything too fancy. JuneKnow-Interesting. I pulled out all my crown molding and put 1*4 baseboard trim in my 8ft ceiling flip house. I like the nice look of the trim, but the cleaner look on the ceiling. I use to love crown molding...but I'm getting a little simpler in my tastes as I age. Still like nice and expensive...just a lot more things in my house to focus on than some crown molding 10 ft high.