Whenever homeowners are presented with the challenge of updating their homes, they usually focus on paint colors, furniture, and décor, while the benefits of crown molding (an underdog in home design) are often overlooked. While giving the rooms in your house a long overdue fresh coat of paint is never a bad idea, crown molding is an even more impactful way to update those rooms, as it can give any room a designer look — more so than an expensive leather sofa or new dining room table.
If you’ve briefly considered implementing crown molding in your home’s design, but then quickly tossed the idea aside, thinking that it wouldn’t make much of a difference, consider these top three reasons why crown molding is the “dark horse” of interior home design.
1. Crown Molding Frames the Room
Homeowners often feel like they need to wallpaper or paint a bold color to make the room stand out, but crown molding can do the job just as well, if not better. In fact, it can help frame that beautiful mauve-gray paint color or that gorgeous mahogany sofa so that those aspects take center stage in a way that they never could on their own. Think of it this way: You wouldn’t hang a family photo on your wall by sticking a piece of tape to the back of the photo and calling it a day. You would place it in a classy-looking frame so that the picture stands out against the clean, symmetrical lines of the frame.
That’s how crown molding works: Your furniture, décor, and even paint colors are akin to a painting or a photograph, and the crown molding is the elegant picture frame that plays a vital supporting role in drawing attention to those design elements. Even though this dining room has neutral beige walls, the crown molding exquisitely frames the ornate area rug and dining room table, as well as the buffet and chandelier. It also complements the clean, straight lines in the wainscoting to give this room a finished look.
2. Crown Molding Adds Visual Interest
Crown molding is an architectural structure that takes any room from bland to breathtaking with its clean lines and multidimensional design. It’s a subtle statement piece in the way that it’s ornate without looking gaudy or distracting, and that unique element gives any dining room, kitchen, or master bedroom a distinguished look.
For example, crown molding in a recessed ceiling creates a unique structure that adds a stunning look without taking center stage. The role of crown molding in this master bedroom is to highlight the fireplace and the bed (which are the main focal points of the room), and it does exactly that.
Crown molding doesn’t have to be limited to the perimeter of the ceiling. It can also add an elegant touch below the fireplace mantle and on top of kitchen cabinets to give your home a cohesive look. Even though it plays a supporting role, don’t underestimate the power of its presence!
3. Crown Molding Enhances the Resale Value of Your Home
The benefits of crown molding aren’t just limited to giving the main rooms in your home a finished look, but it also gives it a sophisticated, upscale appearance, which plays an important role when prospective buyers are looking at your home. It complements well-made baseboards and sends a message that the home is well cared for — because the proof is in the small details, and they make a big impact on visitors and potential home buyers.
A breakfast nook where there’s not a whole lot of room for décor can be transformed into an artistic masterpiece with well-crafted crown molding, and it creates a stunning visual when it continues throughout the entire kitchen. You can even add crown molding on top of your cabinetry that matches the wooden tones so that it adds a distinguished look without competing with the white crown molding around the ceiling. With a streamlined look like this one, let’s just say that potential house hunters won’t be able to stop talking about it on their way home.
The benefits of crown molding are many, and these three reasons alone are enough to inspire a home renovation that places this beautiful structural design at the top of the priority list. While you may have thought that a coat of paint would put your house on the must-see list, the decorative structure that sits where your walls and ceiling meet has become the new superhero.
What are your favorite rooms or places to incorporate crown molding? Are there other unique areas of the home that you feel would benefit from this decorative gem? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
