Decorative Wood Trim Finishing Projects

Shutters

• If the exterior of your home seems worn and drab, take a look at your windows. Older homes may be in desperate need of repainting or replacing old wooden shutters. Examine the wood to see if it is salvageable. Shutters with too many cracks or broken louvers should be replaced. When repainting shutters, remove them from the walls and use a high-pressure or sand washer to remove the old paint. Repaint them and seal them with a weather seal to help them retain the new paint.

  Homes that have a simple exterior design can get a facelift by installing decorative shutters. Take a picture of your home and measure the window sizes. Install shutters that fit the frame of the house. Attach decorative shutters with cement adhesive to create a moisture seal and nail them in place for a truly secure trim finish.

Crown Molding

• Crown molding helps focus your eyes to one specific level on a wall. If you have a room with excessively high ceilings, crown molding can help soften angles and transition walls to the ceiling. This adds warmth and coziness to large rooms. The trick with crown molding is to not have the molding be too large, otherwise it becomes the centerpiece, not the accent. With so many crown molding options on the market, you can make any room or exterior unique. Crown molding is easy to install using small finishing nails once you have measured the area correctly.

Floor and Door Trims

• Similar to crown molding, baseboard molding creates a line where the wall meets the floor. A baseboard should complement the wall's colors and tones. Don't confuse the baseboard molding with casings that trim doorways, windows and archways. Casings are usually thicker than baseboard molding. Use baseboard molding with casings and wainscoting to define a room in a completely new way. Instead of straight lines and flat walls, the room develops its own personality filled with soft focal points. Install baseboard, casing and wainscoting with cement adhesive and finishing nails once you have properly measured and marked where everything goes.