We’ve always joked in our kitchen photos that we still needed to add crown molding — and today that’s finally done. The unfinished edge where the tile meets the ceiling used to stand out, but no more.
Here’s a closer look at the finished edge.
And another view up close.
Before I walk through how we fixed it, a quick note about that dark line above the pantry some readers had noticed: it wasn’t a sagging beam or a hole — it was simply a spot missing crown molding. We had original cabinets that went to the ceiling on that side (one even wrapped around a beam), and when we removed those cabinets last November we were left with a few crownless areas that looked shadowed and unfinished.
Before installing crown, I had to address a quick ventilation fix. I’d used regular duct tape as a temporary seal on the hood vent — a rookie move. After advice from commenters, I pulled off the tape and replaced it with proper metal foil HVAC tape to ensure a reliable seal.
I removed the old tape and wrapped the vent with foil tape so everything would be airtight.
Now, on to the crown molding. Our kitchen oddly has three different crown profiles. There’s the traditional crown around most of the room, a slightly smaller version on the fireplace side, thin cove molding on the beams, and one beam with an unusually thick crown. Because of that mix, we couldn’t simply buy standard trim to fill the gaps.
We’d saved all the crown we removed with the cabinets, which turned out to be a lifesaver. After priming with a stain-blocking primer (we used Zinsser Smart Prime) and top-coating with a white paint-and-primer product from Behr to match the rest of the trim, the pieces were ready to go back up. We chose the same paint color used when we finished the paneling so everything blends with our Corian counters.
However, I was short a few lengths of the larger crown. The fortunate break was discovering that the mismatched thick trim on that one beam matched what I needed. By swapping that large section and replacing it with a smaller, store-bought cove molding, we avoided redoing trim around the entire room.
Installing the pieces made the kitchen look worse for a while — lots of cuts, coping, and fitting to get corners to sit flush.
Cutting crown is tricky because the molding must be cut at the same angle it will sit against the ceiling. I tried a few techniques, including a guide block idea from tutorials, but ultimately ended up holding pieces by hand and finishing joints with a coping saw. Marking the cut line with a darker marker helped me stay accurate while coping excess material away.
After making and coping the cuts, the pieces went up. My cuts weren’t perfect and the ceiling isn’t perfectly flat, but a little caulk and paint made everything look seamless.
The trimming process beat up some of the painted pieces, so we touched up nail holes and nicked areas after installation.
One challenge: the cove molding from the store didn’t exactly match our non-standard existing profile. To keep the difference from being noticeable, we replaced one full side of the beam instead of trying to piece in a small non-matching segment — a small compromise that saved us a lot more work elsewhere.
Luck was on our side for one small missing section of crown: I found a matching piece in a basement trash bucket. That saved us from replacing a larger run of crown on that half of the room.
Once installed, we ran white, paintable caulk along seams and smoothed it with a finger, let it dry, and then painted everything to blend the joins. That final step made the differences disappear and left a neat, finished appearance.
Here are some after photos. It’s a subtle change but it dramatically improves the room’s polish. With the exception of a missing light fixture above the sink and a mismatched dishwasher, the space now reads as much more finished. The real finishing touch will be the planned cork floors, which we’re eager to install so the kitchen finally feels complete.
When the trim went up we removed items from the shelves, and Sherry took the opportunity to rearrange. She added two frames, removed things we rarely use, and generally played around until the arrangement felt right. For a few frames we used 3M removable picture hanging strips to avoid drilling into tile.
One view shows the balanced “breathing room” on each side of the window now that the crown is installed. We’re considering a pendant light over the sink and possibly a roman shade or blind for the window, but we’ll wait to see how the cork flooring changes the overall look before deciding.
Here are a few more shots showing how the thinner beam molding meets the thicker perimeter crown. The caulk and paint blended the joins so they read as intentional and cohesive.
Next on the list: choosing and hanging a pendant over the sink, finishing the peninsula with decorative molding, installing the dishwasher, and putting in the cork floors so we can wrap up this months-long project. We’re also considering tweaks to the side of the pantry and possibly changing the stools, but we’ll wait until the floors are in before making those calls.
What about you — did you do any trim cutting or hanging this weekend? Or rearrange open shelving? Or finally switch to metal-foil tape for your vents?