Tricks of Trim

Basic Information About Molding

Aug 3, 2007 Kristin Abraham

A brief introduction to the basics of trim/molding.

One way to really dress up your home is by installing custom trim or molding. Unless your home was custom made your trim is probably a very inexpensive and bland variety. This is typical and sufficient, but who wants sufficient? In a weekend you can easily change the trim in one (or more) room and totally transform the look and feel of that room.

There are a huge variety of molding profiles or styles available and what you see at your local lumber store is probably just a small sample of what's available. If you can't find the profile that best suits your personal style then do a little research with the Wood Molding and Millwork Producers Association as they publish a very thorough catalogue of molding styles.

Once you've selected your molding or trim style you need to decide where you’re going to apply the trim and then learn the proper interior decorating lingo. Often the pieces are exactly the same, it’s just their placement in the room that gives them their proper names.

Cornice is what trim is called when it runs along the ceiling at the top of the wall. It's also often referred to as crown molding. Not every home has cornice molding but adding it can give your home a much more formal and finished look.

Baseboards are the pieces that run along the floor at the bottom of the walls. Most homes come with very cheap, standard base. If you decide to dress up the baseboards a bit you might want to add a base shoe, sometimes called quarter round because it resembles a quarter slice of a circle. Another way to add spice to baseboards is to place a decorative base cap on top.

Around your doorways the trim is called casing but inside the doorframe it's called side jamb when placed on the sides and head jamb when placed overhead.

Trim around a window is also referred to as casing and the inside pieces are called jambs as well. On a window you also have a sash, which is the bar that goes across the middle of the window. If you have a more elaborate bottom on your window it is called an apron and if there is a ledge or shelf type piece on top of the apron it’s referred to as the stool.

An old trend that's becoming popular again is Wainscot, which is basically paneling applied to the lower portion of a wall. This used to be done to disguise poor quality building material that was easily affected by moisture. Today it’s just a decorative touch. The top of your Wainscoting is generally capped off with a chair rail or dado rail.

Now that you know what the proper terminology is you're ready to purchase your trim and begin the process of dressing up your home with new trim.

The copyright of the article Tricks of Trim in Interior Decorating is owned by Kristin Abraham. Permission to republish Tricks of Trim in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.