Molding Types
5. Hide those scuff marks. There can be a practical reason for painting or staining your trim dark. If you’ve got kids and pets in the house, there’s probably no end to baseboard nicks and scuffs. Darker colors tend to be a little more forgiving. But keep in mind, while black can certainly hide scuff marks better than white, darker colors tend to show dust more than lighter colors.
3. Hide imperfections. If you’re restoring an old home or even updating a new one, and you’ve replaced wood trim in a way that the new grains don’t exactly match up with the old, then painting the trim dark can help hide those subtle imperfections. That’s what Martin did for this Toronto home. “We wanted to respect the house’s existing woodwork, restoring where possible and replicating where new was required,” he says. “While the existing wood trim had a slight reddish tinge, we had it darkened to reduce the red for a more neutral palette.” For this approach both Martin and Helgerson recommend a dark stain over painting because it holds up better. “There’s nothing like an ebonized stain to hide all sorts of lack of beauty,” she says. “It really neutralizes it.” Another thing to keep in mind, Martin notes, is that it’s easier to paint a dark color over a lighter one than it is to paint a light color over a dark one.
2. Push over-the-top wallpaper. Designer Shelly Amoroso loves using black trim to outline a focal point, like the wall covered in graphic wallpaper shown here. “It really makes it pop out,” she says. For this project she used Benjamin Moore’s Black in a high-gloss finish. “It’s a true black — no purple, nothing else,” she says.
1. Energize a space. Designer Jessica Helgerson says the high contrast between white walls and black or dark trim creates an eye-opening environment that can raise blood pressure. She used an ebony stain in this Portland, Oregon, foursquare home to do just that. “It’s a nice tool for creating a fresh, ‘pop’-y, bold environment,” she says. “If you want something more soothing or mellow, go with softer tones on the walls, ceiling and trim.”
Stephani Buchman Photography SaveEmail Choose white if: You want to highlight the subtle undertone of neutral walls You want to break up bold walls with a breath of fresh air You have simple moldings you don’t want to highlight You want to leave all the attention on dramatic furnishings You aren’t sure which other color to pick. It’s hard to go wrong with white trim!
You can also cheat the look further with a slight off-white that almost blends into the wall but stands out just enough to catch your eye when you look at the trim, without the trim’s fighting other more attention-grabbing features. Trim is often more likely to be touched or leaned on than the walls themselves, so using an easy-to-clean paint finish is practical too.
Toronto Interior Design Group | Yanic Simard SaveEmail Gloss Treating trim with a slight gloss finish is a great way to subtly highlight beautiful moldings while maintaining a clean palette for effortless-looking designer appeal. I often use a consistent paint color for walls, ceiling and trim, using a matte finish for walls and a satin finish for trim, so a hint of light bounces off the trim’s curves to subconsciously draw the eye.
Carson Poetzl, Inc. SaveEmail Alternately, painting just the crown molding black frames the ceiling, highlighting details like beautiful lighting, medallions and other features. This tactic works well with dark wood doors, as both have a deep richness, making the doors less stark to keep the look balanced instead of ultramodern.
Bottom molding. Molding at the bottom of the base cabinet doors and above the toe kick is known as a bottom molding. As you can see here, it helps make an island look more like furniture than kitchen cabinetry, especially when it's used in conjunction with some of the other molding elements mentioned previously.
8. Applied molding. Molding on walls or built-in cabinetry is called applied molding, because the molding is adhered or applied to the surface. The most common area in the kitchen for applied molding is the surround for the range hood. This area is often a focal point, so it demands attention to detail. Molding is usually added to coordinate or match with the door style or surrounding motifs. Although it seems like a small detail, applied molding creates balance and cohesion.
. Emphasize height. Black has a tendency to draw eyes to it, so using darker colors in high-ceilinged spaces can have a dramatic affect. Amoroso cautions that this method doesn’t work to give the appearance of high ceilings, so it’s not recommended for rooms with low ceiling height. “That can look a little cartoonish, like a little kid’s drawing of a house,” she says.
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