Our Foray Into Crown Moulding Territory

Notice anything different? Why yes! We invested in an invisible bed! It’s amazing. Oh, and some crown moulding too.

Sunday was all about moulding. And yes, I’m spelling it moulding, not molding, because 1) I don’t know what’s actually proper and 2) molding is something old food and delicious cheese does.

Our guest room is 10′ x 9.5′, so we bought four 12′ pieces from Lowe’s. These are 3 5/8″ pieces – not the biggest, but not the smallest. I love chunky moulding, but I thought it might overwhelm a small room. The four stretches were about $55. We let them sit in our living room for a week to acclimate before doing any work.

To prep, we measured the length of each wall and the angle of all four corners. Then, I labeled each crown piece with the angle and length. We were pleasantly surprised to find all of our corners were 90 degrees, making the math simple.

To make it even easier, we coughed up $30 for the Kreg Crown Pro. It came with an angle finder and simple instructions for cutting each piece. This thing sits on the saw, holding the moulding at the perfect angle while you cut. Plus, it’s labels tell you exactly which way to position the saw!

And, super necessary: a decent saw blade. We got this one when we did the trim in our bedroom. I think it has 80 teeth? It’s specifically for fine cuts so you don’t have tattered edges.

Cutting and installation was zippy! We had a scrap piece with both left and right inside corner cuts, so when we put up a long piece, we could use the small piece as a template to guide the spring angle of the long piece.

As easy as the Crown Pro made cutting, it wasn’t flawless. There’s quite a big gap in that corner. We have no idea how it happened. Maybe the moulding wasn’t perfectly flush when we cut it? Maybe the wood was just slightly warped? Maybe our ceiling is crooked? Who knows. Luckily, not a deal breaker.

A little wood filler and paint goes a loooong way.

Of course, I used our Ryobi AirStrike cordless nailer for this. Using 2″ 18 gauge nails, the moulding went in easily and securely. I love this tool. I couldn’t imagine dragging around an air compressor. For patching holes and corners, I used basic wood filler. When it dried, I lightly sanded it and primed it with Kilz Premium (water-based, VOC-free and a stain blocker).

The last pre-painting step was caulking. I bought one of those caulk spreading tools thinking it would help, but it was a bust. I definitely preferred using my finger to smooth the caulk.

Now I just need to paint. A couple of coats of semi-gloss white should do it. It’s hard convincing my 26 week pregnant self to get up on the step stool again. Oh, and I need to paint the ceiling. (Don’t hold your breath for that one!)

Here’s the room pre-moulding.

And now, with moulding. Not quite perfect (especially with the wood filler showing through the primer in the corner), but it’s pretty great how much cozier it makes the room feel.

While the bed was out of the room…I painted it! Yay. And I snagged some clearance curtains at Target this weekend, but they *might* be too short. I wasn’t super paying attention to the length because the orange clearance tag blinded me! Once I get the room back into order, I’ll update our to-do checklist.

Have you ever installed moulding? Share some tips!