Thoughts / Opinions on Crown Molding

[George Bokros]

We have a two story colonial house and are in process of redecorating. We have crown molding in the dining room, the first floor study, foyer / upstairs hall combo, and will be added to the great room. The trim is all stained oak as is the crown molding.

Here is my question, will crown molding look good / be appropriate in the second floor bedrooms or will it be too much? This is only 3 1/2" crown nothing massive.This is also planned to be stained to match the existing trim. The eat in kitchen is also planned to eventually have crown.

Thanks


George

[Mike Henderson]

I put in crown in all the rooms of my house and never felt it was too much. Depending on the rooms, painted crown molding may be appropriate instead of stained.

Mike

[Mel Fulks]

Correct me if I'm wrong ,but didnt you mention in an earlier post that you had to get used to the oak trim? Historically the private rooms have nothing to do with the public rooms. With the possible of some modern experimental architecture that
is still a good rule. If you put up more crown it should be smaller ,and ,or,plainer than what is downstairs and painted. I have worked with customers who wanted to put up traditional cornice (crown,fascia,soffit,bed mould )in small asymmetrical places like bathrooms. I talked them out of it and they thanked me.More is only more when it improves ,and does not cheapen and diminish.

[Kevin Bourque]

Have you considered going with a smaller crown molding profile? I have found it often looks more appropriate in a bedroom.

[Dave Zellers]

Ceiling height is certainly a consideration. Also if you want the look of the crown in the bedrooms but are concerned about it being dominating, consider painting it like Mike said.

[Jeff Monson]

I'll 3rd the comment on painting it. I feel stained crown can get a bit overbearing. Painted crown IMO is gives the room a nice touch without standing out too much. I have a lot of crown in my home, its a mixture of stained and painted, really depends on the room.

[Mike Nguyen]

I have 2 stories house with 9' ceiling and have 3 levels crown moulding in every room even closets and bathrooms and I don't think it's too much. I chose to paint the crown white to match the existing windows, doors, and baseboard trims because it just cost too much and did not make sense to rip out the existing trims on a brand new house.

[Don Morris]

I installed painted crown in all the rooms except the full bathrooms of a 4 bedroom, 3 full bath, two story colonial home, and have been happy with the esthetic appearance. We did put crown in the main floor powder room. And I've done it twice. Why, because LOML after 25 years decided she wanted a little bigger crown molding. And what LOML wants, she gets.

[Robert LaPlaca]

First one thing to consider is crown typically gives the illusion of less ceiling height, the second floor ceiling height is usually less than the first floor, so you may want to consider this.. Also the trim on the second floor can be less expensive than the trim on the first, this means painted trim would be ok, it would be in keeping with the thriftiness of the colonial forbears...

FWIW Our first home was the colonial of colonials, I installed Cherry trim on the first floor and painted Poplar trim on the second floor. The casings on the second floor was of a similar profile, but was also much narrower (5 1/2 vs. 3 1/2)..

[Jim Galvin]

Look at this gives insight into the proportations of trim

http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2012/11/23/the-magical-entablature/#more-14598

[Mel Fulks]

Jim,thanks for that link ,its a good start for op and others. It does not mention the many interpretations,which were argued in the renaissance, in 18th century reconfigured for colder climates , called totally wrong for the INTERIOR of houses by the Adam brothers. In a world where skinny pipes with no entasis are sold by the foot to be used for columns any reading of sensible basics is good.