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Thread: Wood Trim

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Rogersville, Al
    Posts
    441

    Wood Trim

    hey ya'll,

    long time no see. i plan to post some pics this week of the last projects i've been working on (mom and dads house and cabinets), but in the mean time i need some advice.
    we're about a week away from starting OUR house and i'm trying to figure out our trim details a little. we know we want our windows (jambs and casings) to be wood, and we'll defintely have hardwood floors over most of the house, but i'm stumped a little regarding crown and base boards. is it too much wood to have wood crown and base and hardwood floors? i've got a picture in my head of hardwood floor, painted base, painted crown and wood window trim, but i'm not sure how it would look.

    what has been ya'lls experience with wood trim. how much do you trim out in wood and how much do you paint?
    the design or style of the whole house is kinda shaker. loml keeps leaning toward shaker style furniture and she has a definite plan for shaker cabinets.
    i'm confused.
    thanx
    brad
    The Country Toad Workshop Rogersville, Al

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Posts
    9
    Here is my experience completing trimming out my house and new addition. The exterior is a cottage style (modified cape cod). Simple painted interior trim seemed to fit with the cottage idea. I used a combination of pine, poplar and mdf for the base, window and door casings, and picture mold. For the wall-ceiling joint, I used gypsum cove with picture mold at the bottom. Doors are pine and fir. The window seat and fireplace surrounds are shop grade maple plywood with pine and mdf moldings. Built-in bookcases and the entertainment center are the only stained wood. These I made with white maple plywood and solid maple moldings. The painted wood is white; the stained wood, mahogany.
    From all this I learned that elevation drawings are not sufficient to make final design decisions (if you are "picky" about proportions). I made full size mock ups of the casings and moldings. Based on the mock ups, I made some changes to the design.
    I see no problem with the general ideas you have mentioned. You might want to test them with elevation drawings and full size mock ups.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Rogersville, Al
    Posts
    441
    thanx alot jim!!
    The Country Toad Workshop Rogersville, Al

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,685
    Brad, you'll probably want to end up with something in between the relatively sparse Shaker interior and the formal. The cottage motif mentioned above as well as some of the cross-over Shaker/Mission would likely work well since these decorative styles work great with "American" furnishings. I like "tall" baseboards for this as well as millwork that stays pretty basic around the windows and doors...maybe a little beading, but no major coves, ogees, etc. Staying basic means you can totally change the look of a room by varying the contents. All IMHO, of course...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    You might also want to be guided by the height of your walls. If they are standard height, you can use shorter baseboard trim. However, if the rooms are 9' or higher, probably want a baseboard trim at least 6" high.

    I also think that the color of the wood would make some difference. In my kitchen, I have hickory floors stained to a golden brown. I also have oak trim 6" high stained somewhat the same color. I think it looks pretty good. However, I have black granite counter tops and maple/cherry cabinets. So there is a variety of colors in the same room - not all golden brown in color.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Posts
    9

    Design Inspiration

    You might want to look at some sources of inspiration for a design theme. I have a pile of books addressing the "how" of trim and cabinets, but one author is especially good at discussing design as well. Mario Rodriguez has examples in Traditional Woodwork and Building Fireplace Mantels. He offers interpretations of traditional styles and describes exactly how to build them. I found these books midway through my addition/remodelling project. Under Mr. Rodriquez's influence, my trim work has developed some complexity. I will be casing windows tonight. If time permits, I will take some photos and post.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Posts
    9

    Window seat example

    Here is an example of trim work I mentioned in a previous post.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Rogersville, Al
    Posts
    441
    yeah...........that's what i'm looking for..............simple and clean

    thanx all
    The Country Toad Workshop Rogersville, Al

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