Dos And Don'ts You May Have Overlooked When Using Mouldings In Your Kitchen Remodel

Using mouldings can be an attractive and economical way to take a boring builder's kitchen from drab to fab. But do you know the best ways to use mouldings to add the most punch to your home when doing a kitchen remodel? Here are some tips about how you can use mouldings to your best advantage, along with a few cautions you might not have thought about.

Don't create an awkward space above your cabinets.

Whether you're putting in new cabinets or adding mouldings to frame the existing ones, you want to make sure the space above them is just the right size. If it's too small, you'll have an awkward, dust-collecting space above your cabinets, but if you do it right, you'll have the perfect place to display your favorite collections or place plants for a bit of extra greenery.

Furthermore, creating a space of the right size can make your kitchen look taller too. If you want to elongate the appearance of your kitchen, go for either a larger space above your cabinets, or frame them all the way to the ceiling, with custom mouldings to fill in any gaps.

Consider lighting first.

Before you build, decide where your lighting is going to go if you are adding fixtures. You may want to place uplighting above your cabinets or baseboard lighting at foot level. It will be a huge pain to add these elements later, once your mouldings are in place.

Layer mouldings for a rich look.

Don't feel obliged to go with just one moulding, especially at the ceiling level. You can either layer several pre-fabricated mouldings or have custom mouldings made to create a richer look.

You'll get a more dramatic and unique moulding if you add a cap and base shoe, for example, to a baseboard moulding than if you simply use a plain rectangular moulding along the floor. And you can use upside-down baseboard mouldings on the ceiling to supplement a crown moulding for more visual impact.

Can't find the moulding or moulding combination you want at the builder's supply store (common when remodeling older homes)? Talk to a custom moulding manufacturer about milling mouldings especially for your kitchen.

Don't be afraid to get creative.

High visibility mouldings are sometimes the right way to go if you have an historic home that is fairly ornate in other ways. The main thing is to match the aesthetic integrity of your house.

You can use other techniques to be more creative too:

• Add mouldings to freestanding furniture to make it appear built in.
• Conversely, add mouldings, feet, or other accents to built-in pieces to make them look like furniture.
• Use different paint colors on your mouldings besides plain white or off-white. Gold leaf can be stunning in a formal setting, for example.
• Distress mouldings to give a look of authenticity to older or rustic homes.
• Consider curved moldings above arches or rounded windows. (Don't forget about your windows, in addition to your baseboards and ceilings!)

Use your materials wisely.

You want to get the most from your construction budget, so use your materials to their utmost. Leftover drywall? Use it to make wainscoting, and finish it off with a strip of moulding for a beautiful wall. Use any leftover moulding to build frames for mirrors and artwork to perfectly match the rest of your new kitchen. For additional reading on this topic, follow the link in this sentence.