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10 Stunning Crown Moulding Ideas

March 20, 2012

Looking to add a little magic to your rooms? Call in the magician — crown moulding can make rooms seem taller, shorter, and fancier. It’ll disappear the seam where walls meet ceilings, put an exclamation point on cabinets and built-ins, and camouflage your remodeling secrets. Check out these 10 great crown moulding tricks and ideas.

The Crowning Touch

Crown moulding is a visual treat that adds a touch of elegance. Crown mouldings made of wood come in hundreds of profiles and can be stained, painted, or left natural. Because wood tends to expand and contract with changes in humidity, use flexible caulk at joints and seams. Cost: $1.50 to $45 per foot.

Coolest Crown

Not all crown mouldings look like they came from ancient Greece; these jazzed-up plaster mouldings are completely contemporary. In rooms with ceilings 8 feet high or less, the upper portion of your crown moulding (along the ceiling) should be longer than the bottom (along the wall). Custom plaster mouldings and trims cost $25-$50 per running foot; installation requires experience.

The Triple Crown

The three-piece crown moulding on this upper kitchen cabinet matches the classic Shaker-style motif of the door casing. It’s an easy DIY project featuring a slim piece of simple trim and a plain flat board topped with a 2-inch-wide piece of fluted crown. You’ll spend about $15 per cabinet.

The Light Fantastic

Lighted crown mouldings add a soft, ambient glow and are sure-fire conversation starters. The two-piece system has lights in the lower moulding that project upward, illuminating the upper piece. Cost for a 12-by-12-foot room is about $800, installed.

A Turn for the Better

Got a room with a curve? That’s no problem for flexible polyurethane crown moulding that’ll conform to just about any shape. It’s lightweight, and accepts paints and stains. An 8-foot-long piece is $15-$30.

Not-So-Heavy Metal

Made for use with stamped metal ceiling panels, crown moulding made of tin or aluminum is lightweight and easy to cut. Pre-formed corners eliminate the need for complex miters, so a handy DIYer can tackle installation. Metal crown moulding comes pre-finished, or can be primed and painted to match your decor. Cost: $1-$5 per lineal foot.

Not Just Another Pretty Facade

Want to run new wiring in your house but balk at the thought of ripping out drywall? Let crown moulding come to the rescue. Hollow PVC crown moulding is an inexpensive way to hide cable, audio, and communication wires in any room. An 8-foot-section with a 4-inch profile is $10-$20.

The Power of Poly

Lightweight polyurethane crown mouldings are easy to install. You can cut and nail them like wood, but they won’t split or crack. Most come with a factory-applied primer finish and are ready to paint. A 4-inch-wide piece of polyurethane crown moulding that’s 12 feet long is $60-$90.

Crown Moulding Goes Green

If you like making eco-conscious choices for your home, try crown moulding made from reclaimed timbers. Using salvaged materials means no new timber is harvested, and keeps old building products out of landfills. Beautiful heart pine molding with 5.5-inch profile is about $8.75 per lineal foot.

More Uses for Duct Tape

White duct tape covers the line where the blue ceiling paint meets the beige wall color, creating an inexpensive multi-layered crown moulding effect. Bringing ceiling paint color down along the walls helps make tall walls look shorter.

Which one are you going to try?

What Would MacGyver Do? In an Emergency, Reach for the Duct Tape

November 21, 2011

Get yourself out of a home repair jam with this common household item famously used by our favorite handy hero: MacGyver.

We’ve all had them: the clogged drain, the ripped vacuum hose, the unsightly hole in the wall. Home repair emergencies like these are the last thing you need when you’re running out the door, running after the kids, or fielding other household chores. Channel your inner MacGyver by taking advantage of one common household item the classic action hero made famous: a roll of duct tape.

What MacGyver did:
Used duct tape to seal a hole in a hot air balloon, allowing him to escape his pursuers.

What you can do:

Fix a slow-running toilet. Clear the clogged flush passage with wire, then empty the water tank and seal the passage hole with duct tape. Fill the tank with a quart of vinegar and leave overnight.

Weatherproof windows. Use strips of duct tape to make windows air tight until you can fix or replace them.

Make a temporary roof shingle. Wrap strips of duct tape across a ¼ inch thick piece of plywood cut to size.

Tie off loose wires. Wrap small, thin strips of duct tape around exposed ends.

Patch holes and tears in duct work, dryer vents, and a torn vacuum hose to temporarily seal leaks.

Who doesn’t love a good MacGyver episode??