Crown Moulding in Greatroom

Newer homes often have boxy rooms devoid of interesting details as seen in older homes.   These types of details include wainscotting, deep baseboards and trim.  They are easy, relatively low cost upgrades that can be selling features later.  Ever since moving into our home in 2011, we have been customizing to give the house more character.  As a result we have done a fair amount of custom finishing work.  Today, our friend was out to install deep crown moulding in the greatroom, hallway and entrance. 

Originally there was a plain border painted a slightly darker colour than the walls bordering the ceiling of the greatroom, hallway and entrance.  I really didn't like it but felt that simply painting this strip white would not give the areas that extra detail I was looking for.  Finally, I decided that a deep crown molding would give me the look I wanted.

Crown moulding is available in a wide range of finishes, depths and contours.  It can be plain, elaborate or combined with other trim for a completely custom look.  Our friend chose a primed white MDF deep enough to cover the painted strip on the ceiling.  The depth from ceiling to bottom of the crown moulding is six inches.

Crown moulding can be tedious to install simply due to the necessary miter joints.  Once the moulding is installed, the joints and nail holes are filled with Dap (a paintable filling compound).  At the end of the day, the greatroom and hallway had a brand new look.  The trim on door to the attic (top picture) was replaced with a thin white MDF trim.  Once the rest of the door is painted, it will blend in with the ceiling better.  I am very pleased with the results!  The crown moulding reinforces my plans to replace the slab doors, door trim and baseboards so this really is just the start of the make-over.  I'm thinking a pale dove grey for the walls, white trim and doors, and glass knobs on the new doors.  There is still a lot to do!