I love the high baseboards, thick crown molding, beautiful door casings and hidden treasures (like pocket doors and built-ins) that old homes provide. Historic homes were built with a personality that is often lacking in newer builds. When we started looking at the Thomaston Street house, we instantly fell in love with all of the woodwork and character.
However, as we looked closer, we noticed that it was not consistent throughout the house. Over the years, room and walls had changed and along with that, so did the woodwork. We were left with original trim in only a few rooms.
Trim, also known as molding, is one of the easiest ways to add character and beauty to any room. Our house had a lot of the original charm, but one goal was to elevate that appeal with cohesive baseboards, casings, crown molding, window and door trim and wainscoting. Trim comes in a wide variety of sizes and styles. We wanted to keep all of the styles consistent and stay with the original beauty of the house.
Our focus began with:
- Base
- Crown / Picture Rail
- Window / Door
- Paneled Walls
We decided to customize our base boards to match what was in the dining room.
Picture rails or picture molding became common in households during the mid-1800s. The purpose was to use a movable hook to display pictures, tapestries, shelves, mirrors and even plates without damaging the surface of the wall. Most homes during that era had plaster walls, making a picture rail as much practical as decorative. Our house had picture rails in most of the rooms throughout the house, running about the height of window heads.
We knew we wanted to add crown molding throughout most the house, but we weren’t quite sure how to incorporate the picture rail. The solution: We would add crown molding and paint the picture rail, space between and molding all the same color, resulting in the crown looking thicker.
We have been able to piece together window and door trim that we found in the carriage house when cleaning. What we lacked, our amazing contractors have duplicated. All of the doors and windows now have matching trim.
The house layout is divided upstairs and downstairs by a wide hallway, with tongue and groove bead board wainscoting. Although decorative, wainscot paneling was initially installed for function—used to protect walls and provide additional insulation.
When we bought the house, the downstairs bathroom was completely collapsed into the crawspace. Water had come through the ceiling and everything was rotten. We expanded this space by combining it with the utility closet on the hallway side. When deciding on a design, we chose to add vertical shiplap paneling that will be painted in a rich mossy green color. These beautiful walls will be paired with a stained quarter sawn white oak vanity and linen cabinet and stone basketweave tile floors.
Whether you live in a historic home like ours or are building a brand-new home, molding can provide eloquent character to your interior. Thank you for following along and we look forward to sharing more photos as we progress!
-Kathryn