How to Layer Crown Moulding for Victorian Effect

Measure your room's dimensions to determine how much molding to buy. When you're at the home improvement store, hold different pieces of molding against each other to find a profile that appeals to you and fits your home's Victorian style. Purchase your moldings once you've found the right combination.

Use a stud finder to locate the joists in your wall. Mark their locations with easily visible dots.

Cut the moldings to match your room's length and width. Use a miter saw to produce 45-degree angles for the corners. Divide the moldings into groups, placing them along the walls where you'll install them.

Create "scarf joints" where you'll join two pieces if your moldings aren't long enough to go along the entire wall. Scarf joints meet at overlapping 45-degree angles. The trim pieces must overlap and interlock in this way so you can nail them together while you nail them to the wall.

First install your crown molding by nailing it to the wall at your joist marks. Install your decorative moldings directly beneath the crown molding, using the pattern you conceived at the beginning of the process and, again, nailing the molding directly to joists beneath the wall.

Fill your nail holes with caulk. After the caulk has dried, cover everything with paint to achieve a unified, one-piece appearance.