Baseboards & casings
Adding a Backband Without Overloading a Doorway
An outer molding can deepen existing casing, provided the added layer has space to finish.
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The guide shelf
Browse by the detail you want to change, the material you have, or the problem you need to solve.
Wall paneling
Draw Every Outlet Into Your Paneling Layout
Electrical plates are fixed parts of the wall layout until a qualified electrician changes them.
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Materials & tools
Build a useful molding sample kit before ordering
A handful of labeled offcuts can answer proportion and compatibility questions that a catalog cannot.
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Installation & repair
Keep a casing reveal consistent around a doorway
The narrow strip of visible jamb beside casing is small, but its rhythm can make an entire doorway look orderly.
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Paint & finish
A durable repaint starts beneath the old gloss
A new finish depends on a sound, compatible base. Gloss is only one part of that assessment.
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Room planning
Judge trim samples in the light where they will live
A molding profile is partly a shape and partly the shadow it casts. A sample on the kitchen table shows only half the story.
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Baseboards & casings
Window Stools and Aprons: Getting the Layers in Order
Understand the horizontal ledge and the trim beneath it before adjusting a window surround.
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Wall paneling
How Panel Layouts Turn an Inside Corner
Decide whether the pattern continues around the corner or begins a new composition on each wall.
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Materials & tools
Measure molding thickness at the points that matter
The thickest point, the edge thickness and the back shape can all affect whether two moldings meet neatly.
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Installation & repair
When the door jamb and wall are not flush
When the jamb and finished wall sit in different planes, casing cannot always bridge the difference neatly on its own.
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Paint & finish
Choose a brush for the edge you need to paint
Choose the brush around the surface you need to reach. Size, angle and filament affect control in different ways.
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Room planning
Deciding which original trim is worth keeping
An uneven paint edge is a different problem from decayed material. Look at condition and continuity before deciding to replace a room's woodwork.
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