Sherry is officially halfway through Clara’s canopy wall update, so thanks to the 900+ readers who voted and shared ideas! We showed Clara several photo mockups and she picked a few favorites to combine. The result is whimsical and clever—she might get to choose the design in every room from now on.
I, however, decided to tackle one of my own lingering tasks before Sherry finished the canopy: installing chunky, double-wide crown molding in Clara’s room.
Full disclosure: I cut the line and got this done before Sherry could fully start her canopy project, which explains why she’s only half-finished at the moment. She did wake up early the next day to keep things moving and hopes to shoot and share the canopy by Monday.
Back to the crown. When we painted Clara’s walls and ceiling about six weeks ago we intentionally left a thin yellowed line where the white walls met the pink ceiling because I planned to add crown molding right after. “Right after” turned into a bit of a delay, but the plan stayed the same.
We’ve installed standard crown molding before, but this time I wanted something beefier to match the more substantial crown already present in many rooms of the house—like the dining room, living room, bedroom, office, and foyer. The builder had added what looked like a piece of baseboard under the crown in several spaces, which makes the molding read thicker and more architectural.
From a distance the combined baseboard-and-crown approach looks properly proportioned alongside other woodwork in the house—chair rail, panel doors, and window mullions—so I decided to replicate that treatment in Clara’s room.
I bought 3.25″ tall baseboard for the lower layer. That height meant I needed to float it slightly away from the ceiling to get the visual balance I wanted, so I cut spacers to keep a consistent reveal around the room. I held each board in place, double-checked alignment with a level (ceilings aren’t always perfectly straight), and used a stud finder to mark stud locations so I could drive nails into solid backing for a strong hold.
After installing the first baseboard piece I held up a crown sample to verify the look. Up close the baseboard felt chunky, so we checked how similar treatments looked elsewhere in the house. We liked it, so I continued.
Installing all the baseboard around the room went quickly. The cuts were straightforward 45° miters for corners and some 45° scarf joints where my stock lengths didn’t span the full walls. This was good practice before tackling the more precise work required for the crown.
For the crown cuts I used a Kreg Crown Pro to set the correct angles on the miter saw, which makes cutting crown that sits at an angle much easier and more accurate. That tool helped me get tight-fitting corner joints. If you’re new to crown, using a jig like this reduces guesswork and improves results.
Cutting and hanging the crown took longer than the baseboard—especially with a mid-day meeting that delayed progress—but I finished hanging all the crown late that evening.
The following day I caulked all seams: corners, scarf joints, where the baseboard meets the wall, where the crown meets the ceiling, and especially where the baseboard meets the crown. Filling that gap was crucial to making the two pieces read as one cohesive, chunkier molding rather than separate layers.
After caulking, I touched up the paint. Painting seals the caulked seams and nail holes, gives a uniform sheen, and helps hide the slightly matte finish caulk can have compared to glossy trim paint.
Here’s a close-up of the finished detail. We’re really pleased with how it turned out. At first I wondered whether the chunky molding would feel too bold in a room with white trim, but the effect is elegant rather than overwhelming. The pink ceiling becomes a focal point and the wider crown visually directs your eye upward, adding architectural interest.
The molding definitely makes the room look more polished. It wasn’t the flashiest makeover, but it felt great to finally cross it off the list. Clara likes “the wood things we hung up there,” and Sherry is excited because she now has a finished canvas to complete the canopy wall—so things are happening.
Cost-wise, we spent $76 on crown and $61 on baseboard, totaling $137. The boards were pre-primed and we used Simply White semi-gloss trim paint we already had on hand; if you need paint and caulk, add around $25 for those supplies. I’d pre-sprayed the trim months earlier when I had my spray setup out for another project, which saved time during installation.
The only downside is now I’m tempted to add similarly beefed-up crown throughout the rest of the upstairs. We already have it in the bedroom, so that leaves two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a long hallway with tricky angles. For some reason, that sounds like a fun challenge—maybe because I’m a little too fond of my nail gun and miter saw.