Unpopular opinion: I was wrong about using a 2-inch crown for a 10-foot ceiling

I always thought a bigger crown looked better, so I put 2-inch stuff in my own living room last fall. It just felt heavy and wrong, like it was pushing the ceiling down. Has anyone else had a crown molding size just not work out the way you planned?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.troy3mo ago

Yeah, and it's funny you mention that because @linda_knight51 is right about the baseboards. My old place had these tiny little trim boards, and I tried to fix it all by putting up a huge, fancy crown in the dining room. It just looked like the room was wearing a costume that didn't fit. I ended up taking it down after a week because it made me feel like I was in a weird dollhouse. Do you ever get that feeling where you just have to change something right away?

avery_nelson2mo ago

Totally been there. That mismatch drives me crazy too. The trick I learned is to match the crown molding thickness to your baseboards. If the base is only an inch tall, your crown should be around the same. It creates a balanced line around the room instead of the top half shouting while the bottom half whispers. I actually keep a little measuring tape in my junk drawer just for this. Take a photo of your base with something for scale before you even look at crown samples, it saves you from buying the wrong size.

linda_knight513mo ago

Forget the ceiling height. Check your baseboards first. If they're skinny, a big crown just looks like a hat with no brim.