Trim work – or the mouldings around your doors, windows, ceilings and floors are what define your rooms and give your home a ‘finished’ look.
By adding trim work or a ‘moulding package’ to your home, you can create interesting detail, define spaces and increase the value of your home, with very little investment. Many homes, depending on the era they were built, have lots of trim work and others have very little. There is middle ground.
Without question, a door is always trimmed out. This piece of moulding hides the area between the door jam and the wall material, giving it a nice finished look.
If this is the only trim work you have in your home, then you are really missing out.
If you have nothing other than door trim, at least consider adding baseboard moulding. The addition of this moulding creates a clean break between your wall colour and the floor. Without this moulding, your room will look unfinished. Baseboards come in a variety of sizes and profiles. Consider the overall ‘look’ of your home when choosing a profile (style).
Next, trim out the windows. Believe it or not, by adding this simple trim you will make your windows appear larger. Before adding the trim, the window jamb (the vertical area around the window) was probably painted the same colour as the wall. This area now becomes part of the trim and should be painted the same colour as the trim.
If you really want to define your space, add crown moulding. You can add crown moulding to all areas of your home, but some people choose to use it to define the more formal spaces in their home, like the entry, living room and dining room. In the case of crown moulding, don’t be afraid to go big. (Go big or go home as they say).
Mouldings and trim work should be painted in a satin or semi gloss paint. These sheens are more durable than the standard eggshell used on walls. Although high gloss paints are the most durable they tend to be a bit too shiny for this application and can end up looking like plastic.
Give your home the attention it deserves. It will reward you in many ways.
