When it comes to choosing trim colors, it can quickly become confusing for non-interior designers. There is a lot to consider when it comes to room design. You not only have to choose colors for the walls, but also think about baseboards and mouldings. Is there a rule for this? Will it destroy the design universe if the trim is white and the baseboards are stained with wood grain?
As a general rule of thumb, the baseboards and trim of a room and the house as a whole should work together, even if they don’t directly match. The trim can stand out on its own, as it is typically more decorative, while the baseboards can contrast or complement the walls or floors.
Once you have this understanding of additions and contrasts, you can play with this formula to give rooms a more personal feel. From classic styling with simple staples to fun colors that catch the eye and even interesting illusions, there are many ways to transform the corners of your room into more than just hard lines.
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What color should crown molding be?
It’s a little strange that people don’t notice how much style is set by the small details added to a room. For most people, the walls are the biggest focus in a room because they are the largest visible surfaces. That makes sense and is mostly true. The walls provide the background for your furniture and wall hangings.
Practically, the moldings and baseboards serve as the finishing touch; they are not something that people notice. They are really just there to cover up gaps and unevenness where walls meet floors or ceilings.
But that doesn’t mean they have to be an afterthought! Often, the trim of a room is a key element in bringing a home together. Elaborate moldings with simple trim can make a house look elegant and classic, while functional moldings and a striking baseboard can make it look elegant and modern. The two elements work together to make the rest of the house look good, so they should go together like cheese and wine.
If you set this style in the small elements of the room, you can more easily identify the larger ones or get inspired if you get stuck. That’s why there are accent colors: to shift the focus from a large empty space to the room as a whole. Take the time to consider what you expect from the trim.
Better Homes and Gardens recommends using white trim to complement bolder colors and to match the underlying tones (warm or cool) to the color it balances out. White is not your only option, although it is the most classic. SFGate suggests choosing a more vibrant color if you’re trying to give the room a brighter, more fun feeling.
As long as you follow a single trend or idea throughout the house, you will end up with a good look with details that always yield.
Staying within the color family
Maintaining trends from one room throughout the entire house sounds simple, right? Doesn’t that just mean using the same boards and moldings everywhere, and you’re good to go?
Well, it can definitely work. If having the same eggshell shape under each differently colored wall is your jam, then go for it! It can look beautiful and bring the house together as a whole. But if you’re craving variety or stuck between two particularly nice colors, you have some freedom here too.
While you can definitely use exactly the same trims, you can also have fun mixing trends from the same color or style family. You can add brighter accents in darker rooms and switch to a less vibrant shade of the same color to complement your lighter walls. You can keep the same trim design but paint it differently in each room to truly match that particular aesthetic. You can let similarities run wild while enjoying the unique aspects of each room.
Here you can give your selection your own taste. It’s a good idea to keep things consistent if you go for a simpler overall home trend, but if it feels too restrictive, you don’t have to stick to it. Changing the saturation and hue of your chosen color doesn’t make things look too much like twins if you don’t like that, but rather like siblings. They go well together, but are also good on their own.
Painting versus Coloring
If you don’t want to make a beautiful, intricately carved wood (which is an amazing choice), painting will be your first choice for the molding of your room’s ornaments, but you have a bit more freedom when it comes to the baseboards. Sometimes staining can be just as fun as painting. It can also give you more control over how vibrant it is and how natural it looks. Both are good options and can even be used together.
If you are planning to paint, you can narrow down which exact shade will create the desired mood and find your perfect color match. Take swatches of different colors that you like and hold them together in different lighting to see every aspect of it before actually painting the entire room. It makes sense that the best way to find your favorite combination is to actually see it in action, and it means a lot less hassle if the color looks different when dry than it does in the can.
However, when you stain, you can customize your stain to match or darken your chosen flooring to balance out your light molding. Stain preserves the texture and beauty of the wood you choose, which works wonders for a rustic atmosphere or a gothic theme. Again, the wood molding will draw a lot of attention, so customizing this stain on the baseboard will make the room look like a big painting, and again, you can vary the depth of the stain from room to room to match the rest of the colors without straying too far from the original shade. It’s a different kind of effect, but still a lot of fun.
You can perform the same pattern tests with stains as you do with paint, but it is important to make sure you use the same type of wood for your sample and with the exact method you will use later. It is slightly more challenging to get a stain right because it penetrates the wood rather than just sitting on top of it.