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Are Wood Molds Right for Your House?

Wood molding is a cheap and easy way to add beauty and value to your home. Molds typically come in wooden varieties hardwood lumber to softwood like pine, but you can also get them in synthetic materials like plastic. In years past, moldings were made from marble. You can either make moldings yourself, or buy them at your local home improvement store. To make moldings, you must have specialized woodcutting machinery, but if you are an expert craftsman, you can make unique designs.

Why do people put wood molding in their homes? Molding adds textured light and shadow to a space in an inexpensive way. It is easier to cover up transitions in surfaces or to even out imperfections with wood molding than it is to do with plaster or paint. Crown molding, for example, covers the area between the top of the wall and the ceiling. It can also cap cabinets. Crown molding creates a smooth, finished look at the top edge of your project. It also adds definition to the uppermost surface of your wall. The molding can be concave or convex, infusing your wall with interesting light and shadow.

Wood molding can go in many different places besides the top of your wall. Wood molding is ideal for the trim around windows and casements. When you install a window, there is often space between the window surface and the wall. Wood molding can cover this up in a faultless way. The same holds true for doorways, even wide entrance ways in the interior of your home. Wood molding can border these empty spaces, making them look finished, elegant, and complete. Wood molding can also be placed as handrails on stairways. This is an attractive design as well as an important safety feature.

Wood molding also makes an ideal baseboard. Without molding at the base of your wall, the transition between wall and floor can seem abrupt and awkward. A good wood molding at the base of your wall also protects your wall from feet, chair legs, table legs, and more objects that are prone to accidents. Wood molding can be painted the same color as the wall, or painted a contrasting color to stand out even more. Even if the molding is painted in the same color as the wall however, it will still catch the light differently and add texture to your space.

Fireplace mantels are wonderful showcases for wood moldings. On mantels, you can really get ornate. It is hard for molding to look too ostentatious around a fireplace. Wood stands up surprisingly well to hot areas, and it looks great while it's doing it. Next Christmas you can hang your stockings on a beautiful, hand-crafted wooden molding instead of the same old, plain mantel.

Wood molding comes in many different styles and shapes. The market is full of choices that might be perfect for you. You can find moldings in magazines or in stores, or you can find a molding plan that you can make at home out of wood in your workshop.

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Greg Hansward writes articles at large for www.insidewoodworking.com , a website covering information on lumber types . His comments on hardwood lumber are published on www.insidewoodworking.com/inlin/hardwoodlumber1.html. You can get a unique content version of this article.

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