Adding Crown Molding in our Kitchen and Family Room

Adding Crown Molding in our Kitchen and Family Room

contributed by HOUSEography

When we renovated our house last year, we had initially planned to do quite a lot of the finish work ourselves, but as time wore on, we decided to have our builder do most of it.  We did leave a few projects such as our family room fireplace mantle and the crown molding in the kitchen and family room (both part of the new addition).  

After Jim finished the new built-in bookcase in the family room, it was time to move onto the crown molding which would help tie it into the rest of the room.  The crown would also help unite the kitchen and family room with a more cohesive feeling.

When our kitchen cabinets were installed, I realized that the space above them was larger than I wanted it to be.  I wanted the cabinets to go to the ceiling (or close) and just have enough room for crown.  They were about 3 or for 4 inches further down than I thought.  We decided to fill the space with crown molding instead of leaving a space between the crown molding and the ceiling.

WARNING - Crown molding could be one of the most frustrating DIY projects you may encounter.  There were definitely some touch and go moments when Jim was installing our crown molding.  My best advice is to stand back and not offer too much in the way of "help" as this may be hazardous to your health and possibly your marriage!

Fortunately, my dad had given Jim a nifty crown molding jig for Christmas (check it out here) so that helped out a lot.  Once we figured out the correct angle for mounting the molding against the wall and ceiling, cutting the miter joints with the jig went fairly quickly.  The pneumatic nailer is also a lifesaver for this project.  This was definitely a multi-day project with several evenings thrown in but the result was worth it!

Above the kitchen cabinets, Jim mounted a filler strip around the top of each cabinet flush with the front.

Then, the crown molding piece was mounted to the filler strip and ceiling.  Unfortunately for Jim, there were more than 15 cuts in the kitchen alone!  He powered through and I was able to help on filling nails with putty.

Then we painted the molding and the filler strip the same white as the cabinets.  Remember, there are as many shades of white as there are shades of blue so just picking off the color wheel is going to be a real guessing game.  I brought one of the doors to my local Benjamin Moore store and they matched it with their computer.  The color is very close and not noticeably different.

Here are some pictures of the adjoining family room with the molding up.

I am so pleased with the result and think it was well worth the heartburn (well, Jim's heartburn!).  Please feel free to share/vent about your own crown molding hardships!