That’s what John thought this gift represented when he unwrapped it on Christmas morning.
But by around his third guess he’d cracked the code: crown molding. And his gift finally came to fruition this week when our crafty installer returned to hang beautiful 3 inch molding in our living/dining room and three bedrooms. The finished product is polished and purty. And best of all, John didn’t have to lift a finger. He works hard enough around here as it is, so I was glad to let him sit this one out.
Here are some detail shots:
And here’s the whole living / dining room in all of its crowning glory:
It looks just as dapper in the bedrooms, so stay tuned for some more pics. In the meantime you can find John not complaining about a sore back or a nail gun injury. Life is good.
Jennifer says
Looks good! I love the way crown molding looks. And what a good present… no backaches!
Aimee says
That’s really cute!! Once you said what it was, it really made me laugh.
It looks great too, I love crown molding. Can’t wait to put some in our home too!
Karen says
I like your idea of hiring this job out. It looks great all the better that there are no personal injuries or aches. Can’t wait to see the bedrooms.
Karen says
PS – are your ceilings white?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Karen,
Yup, white ceilings. Although in that detail pic they look a little off white. We went for pure white molding and pure white ceilings to make our 8 feet tall ceilings seem a whole lot taller. And you know what, I think the molding really draws your eye up and makes things seem loftier. Mission accomplished!
xo
Sherry
homeandgardeninsights says
That looks great. I recently went to a DirectBuy showroom and I’m redoing my home now. It’s proven to be lots of fun.
priscilla says
can i ask you how much the crown molding cost for materials/labor?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Priscilla,
Good question. It was a while back, but we recall that when it was all said and done it came out to about $150 for materials (straight from Home Depot, he provided the receipt so I could be sure there was no funny business going on) and around $250 for two days of hanging labor (making our total spent about $400 for four rooms). Of course we suggest getting multiple estimates to score the best deal. And I’m sure these days there are great deals to be had! Hope it helps.
xoxo,
Sherry
Landry says
Sorry my question doesn’t relate to this particular post, but I am moving into my new house in a few weeks and our entire basement has that push board ceiling (I don’t know the proper name for it!). From your pictures it looks like you were dealing with something similar in your den room. Did you replace it or hang dry wall instead? I’m just wondering if you know an easy way to make it look nice! (you can see some pictures if you go to my blog but be prepared – there is A LOT of work to be done!)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Landry,
We actually didn’t have a drop ceiling in the den, but we had foam ceiling squares that were complicated to remove so we just painted them with a bunch of layers of white paint until they looked bright instead of dingy. If we were dealing with a drop ceiling like you though, we probably would have had it removed and redone, since you’ll gain more height in your space and you’ll also get a much more polished and finished look. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rebecca says
Hey, unrelated to the crown moldings… but where did you find that print that looks like a shadowbox hanging in the dining area? It’s beautiful!
YoungHouseLove says
We discovered it for cheap on http://www.allposters.com. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jen says
Hi!
Love your website and inspiration! My husband and I are planning on putting crown molding in our house, but can’t quite decide on the proper width. 5″ or larger is usually standard. Our main room is average size, but the bedrooms aren’t that large. We want to go with the same size throughout the house. How did you guys decide to go with the 3″ wide stuff? Also, did you put any molding in the hallways or bathroom?
Thanks so much for your help!
~ Jen
YoungHouseLove says
We just looked at our baseboard (which is smaller than the standard height stuff) so since we didn’t want the room to feel top-heavy, we used that as a guide when choosing our crown size. And as for the hallways and the bathroom, nope we opted not to add any molding there. We kept it relegated to the bigger rooms where it would be more regularly appreciated. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Nina says
Hi! Just found your site the other day and I’ve been on here ever since! Any thoughts on crow molding with vaulted ceilings?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, good question. It’s all about personal preference, so we’d suggest hunting down some rooms with it (online and in magazines) and some without it. Then just see whether you prefer the spaces with it or without.
xo,
s
Krista says
Love your website!! You have lots of wonderful ideas. Thanks for sharing. We have the same issue with vaulted ceilings (in our Master Bedroom) that “Nina” has, and I just found some great ideas online. I hope you don’t mind me sharing that it was on HGTV.com’s Divine Design show under bedrooms.
Krista
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for chiming in with info for Nina!
xo,
s
Amber says
I love the idea of crown molding in my living room, but I have a bit of a problem. We bought a bi-level house and so the lower half of our downstairs is below ground level. Because of that the windows are higher up on the walls than in a typical house and are only six inches from the ceiling. Would crown molding (a smaller size like 3-inches) even work or would it just make everything look too crowded up there?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s really a personal preference thing. Some people say that ceilings should be a standard 8 feet or taller to accommodate crown molding while others use it to add architecture and dimension- even when the ceilings are lower. Why not grab a small three foot section of molding for a few bucks and hold it up and see what you think? Good luck!
xo,
s
Jenn(ifer) says
Hello!
I found your blog 5 days agao and I love it (kind of hard to focous on work ever since…)
I was just wondering: is the molding made out of styrofoam or something else?
Thanks
Jenn(ifer)
from Germany (so unfortunately no shopping at all the places you go to)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jenn(ifer),
It’s actually wood, but it’s “primed” when you get it, so it just needs to be painted once it’s up and in place. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Callie says
I just searched your site for “crown molding” for a how-to and was just shocked to learn that yall farmed this one out! (insert mock shocked face here) Seriously, I’m glad to know that y’all don’t do it ALL and that you get to treat yourselves and each other occasionally with having a professional come in to do projects. But that leaves me still with a question as to how hard crown molding is to install…. I just painted my bathroom in horizontal stripes a la your bathroom from your first house and was thinking of really taking a big step and trying my hand at installing crown molding (I thought by starting in the bathroom, I could see just how hard it was before I committed to doing the whole house)…. oh, well, off to Google! Just thought I’d let you know that you guys were my first step. Yep, yall were my PRE-Google step!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks! We plan to DIY some in this house (in Clara’s room, the playroom, and the guest room) so we’ll definitely fill you in on all the details when we get there!
xo,
s
Callie says
I think that I’ll take that then as the go-ahead to sit it out and wait until I can copy your steps exactly from whenever you guys get around to installing it in Clara’s room, the playroom, and the guestroom.
Callie says
p.s. I just reread that last reply comment I made and uhm, obviously, that was not meant to at all come across as hurry-up pressure! So uhm yeah, sorry if it did.
xo,
the world’s-slowest-home-improver-ever
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, no worries! We’re probably a ways off but we hope to tackle it someday for ya!
xoxo,
s
Mandy says
Do you remember who you hired to do your crown molding? And in the rare occasion when you do hire a contractor, how do you go about finding them? Craigslist? Yellow Pages? Angie’s List? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
He doesn’t live in the area anymore, but we found him through friend recommendations. We also do the yellow pages thing too (just call a few people, get them out for estimates and pick the folks we like best). Good luck!
xo,
s
JoAnne says
Hey guys! I’m considering adding crown molding to my living room and I have a very similar fire place. The top of the fire place isn’t shown in the picture, but what did you do about the crown molding when it reached the fire place?
Thanks for being so awesome! <3
YoungHouseLove says
It just went right around it (a piece for the side met a piece across the top front and another piece on the other side to frame it out). Hope it helps!
xo
s
Jacqueline says
Hi!! I know you haven’t lived in this house for a few years, but do you happen to remember the paint color used in your living room? It’s gorgeous!
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! It’s Sand White by Glidden. I don’t think they have chips of it anymore but they can look up the formula on the computer for you.
xo
s