I am a woodworker and I realize this question is one going more to room rather than furniture design, still I hope you’ll give me your thoughts.
I just bought a house with typical California ranch low ceilings. I like crown molding but wonder if it’s not recommended for low ceilings. In other words, will it draw attention to the low ceilings or will it give an illusion of greater height.
Many thanks. Hope I have not strayed too far afield. Paul
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We run interior millwork for both residential and commercial projects and here in the Atlanta area, we run thousands of feet of all sizes of crown in 8 foot ceiling heights. In addition, we "augment" the crown by running say, a simple WM623 base profile with the profiled edge down, under the lower edge of the crown which makes it look even larger. You can run that same augmentation on the ceiling and the wall to give it a 3 piece crown. We then often add WM163 base cap positioned about 2inches below the profile edge of the crown and augmented base making a 5 piece crown. The 4 and 5 piece simple crowns look best on 9 foot and 10 foot ceilings. Crown is run in almost every price range of home here.
I wouldn't recommend on an 8 foot height, running more than at most, 3 5/8 crown with a single augmentation below and maybe the base cap. Or up to 5 1/2 inch crown without augmentation. In a very small room, such as a powder room, the 5 piece crown looks great and makes the room grand. In a larger room, the scale is way to large and it looks over done.
When we watch the realestate shows showing what houses sell for in other parts of the country, I am always stunned at how little millwork is used. At a minimun, we usually run crown in all of the common areas of the house, Foyer, Den, Kitchens, Halls etc, and the master Bed room.. Crown and say 5 1/4 or 7 1/4 speed base costs so little money , I don't know why it is not seen in the houses picked for those national home improvement shows.
I would say, go for it, and enjoy the beauty.
I'm in complete agreement, but let me paraphrase to simplify...
Scale the crown to match the size and height of the room.
Yes, but don't be afraid of the scale. Large multiple piece crown in a small room is a great look. It makes the room special but the same thing in a mid sized den could be hard to take. I would suggest, making a 3 foot corner up and nailing it in place to see how the scale works. It is all in the eye of the viewer. It probably depends some on what you are used to seeing in your geographic region. Have a great day.
I agree with others that the use of a "normal" width crown molding will not make the ceilings feel lower.
And another treatment that I've used is a combination of two trim pieces, and a paint scheme.
Run a narrow (2-1/4 or less -- 1-3/4 is good) molding against the ceiling. Leave a space below that molding, and run a very narrow molding (like screen molding 3/16 X 9/16) parallel to the first.
So now you have the ceiling, then the narrow molding, then a couple of inches of bare wall, then the very narrow molding, then the rest of the wall height. Think of it as three horizontal stripes at the top of the wall.
Now, paint all three of those stripes with trim paint. (Leave the ceiling painted with ceiling paint, and the walls below with wall paint.
The final look is that of a built-up cornice, but one which occupies almost no space. It works very well in small rooms, and with 8 foot ceilings.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Crown can add a bit of elegance to any room and it's finish is what makes it either stand out - or just become an unobtrusive detail.
Stain or vividly colored paint will make the crown much more noticable while complimentary colored paint just gives a nice detail that doesn't yell "See me!!" - lol
Also, don't be afraid to use larger crown on an eight foot ceiling. I was recently talking to a prospective customer who had used 6-1/2" crown in a townhouse half-bath. When she told me about it, I expected it to overwhelm the room, but it actually looked really good.
I install crown molding in normal ceiling height homes all the time. People are hesitant to use larger crowns, I talk them into it and they don't regret it. If you want a traditional crown molding look, don't be afraid to use larger moldings. There isn't much difference with small ones. For some reason, I can't get these pictures to download as JPGs, hope you can see them.
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