# Door casing style help



## jackie treehorn

I swear I can't make a decision if my life depended on it. I'm re-doing the casings and base moulding for my house, we have the standard 2 1/4" colonial which looks out of place in a house with an 18ft ceiling (in my opinion) Anyway, I'm more of a modern/contemporary type of person and cannot find any examples of what modern trim is supposed to look like so I started experimenting. I also searched the forum with no luck. I mainly don't want anything too ornate, but at the same time i don't want something that looks like it required no skill to put up.

I started to play around with a few different ideas, Help me decide
Keep in mind most of the trim is just barely hangin on so the reveals and everything might not be exact

Option #1 Bullnose top and bottom.

















Option #2 Square stock top and bottom

















Option #3 bullnose in middle ( I'm leaning more towards this one)

















Option #4 simple capital up top










Thoughts??


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## 12penny

jackie...dont take it personnally but I dont like any of them. Especially with a traditional 6 panel door.

I do like the bullnosed bottom one, maybe just a little thinner like 3/8, but on the top I'd rather see a simple crown like a bed molding.


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## jackie treehorn

I do want to swap out the doors eventually, probably to a two panel like so:


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## 12penny

Doesnt help. Still dont like any of them. Maybe someone else can narrow it down for you.


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## bob22

Usually (I think usually) the door casing and the baseboards bear some stylistic relationship. What baseboard is being used?


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## jackie treehorn

I'm doing something like this for the base, standard flat, with an 1/8 roundover:









I may router a groove down it later as well, dunno yet though


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## skymaster

dont know if you like the "old" style but you can go with sanitary casing, backband it, maybe use rosettes, then solid crown at the top. Use Plinth blocks with the base.
Somehow all the choices you have,appear like something is missing.


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## jackie treehorn

skymaster said:


> dont know if you like the "old" style but you can go with sanitary casing, backband it, maybe use rosettes, then solid crown at the top. Use Plinth blocks with the base.
> Somehow all the choices you have,appear like something is missing.


Yeah, none of my choices have come across to me as "this is what I want", I may go through and tour some open houses to see what kinda styles I can gather.


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## Mop in Hand

My two cents, I like the one in 12 penny's post.


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## rahfiki

A simple one that is used often up here and takes really no skill to put up is...not sure of the name, but it is not in any of the above pics.

Basically you dont have to do mitres with it. Each corner piece is actually a block with a design in it sometimes a circle or something. You run your trim up...run it across the frame...and join the two corners with the block design. very DIY and looks allright also.

You will find it in your hunting I assume. It comes cheap in MDF as well. Something to look at.


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## jackie treehorn

rahfiki said:


> A simple one that is used often up here and takes really no skill to put up is...not sure of the name, but it is not in any of the above pics.
> 
> Basically you dont have to do mitres with it. Each corner piece is actually a block with a design in it sometimes a circle or something. You run your trim up...run it across the frame...and join the two corners with the block design. very DIY and looks allright also.
> 
> You will find it in your hunting I assume. It comes cheap in MDF as well. Something to look at.


 
Ah, I think they're called rosettes, not my style, although at this point I can't even define my style. I'm not concerned with the difficulty in putting together something, I just don't want to put up something too plain or too ornate, probably a fine line there.

As for searching last night, I think the problem it the bullnose piece is too big, I found a picture of a setup that I like using the bullnose on top as the capital, and a smaller bullnose/bead on the bottom, pic here:









I also dug up a picture of one at a friends house that I liked:









Then I stumbled on this type of base moulding, makes me want to rethink what i was planning for base:


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## 12penny

I like the first one. And you're right, its a proportion thing.


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## ARI001

Capital is the term for the cap on a column. What you are referring to is called a pediment. I would go with the first one (post #11).


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## Maintenance 6

Actually the small squares at the corners of a cased opening are called "plinth blocks". The circular design inside them is a rosette. A Pediment is triangular with a peak. Yes, the uppermost element of a column is a capital.


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## ARI001

Maintenance 6 said:


> Actually the small squares at the corners of a cased opening are called "plinth blocks". The circular design inside them is a rosette. A Pediment is triangular with a peak. Yes, the uppermost element of a column is a capital.


I am aware of what a rosette and plinth blocks are and the applicable uses of both, however I was not referring to either in my post. Neither are any present in any of the pictures presented by the OP. A pediment is: An ornamental accent found above entry ways and windows. It is not necessarily triangular with a peak, however you are partially correct as in traditional architectural design that was a common application.


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## jackie treehorn

I did some more test runs:
1)









2)









The wife likes this one best, looks the least "busy", I kind of agree
3)









Here's one I found online, looks a bit art deco style though
4)










and here's the base for upstairs, debating on using a plinth block or not










I think the one problem we're running into is the upstairs isn't really a hallway, more like a place for doors, thats why we kind of like the simple casing for upstairs since there is seven doors all within a few feet of each other, I'm gonna try a run to a specialty trim place i know of and see if I can't throw another style to decide on into the mix.


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## 12penny

jackie...if I had to pick it would be #1. What style house do you have?


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## jackie treehorn

That's a good question, I would think it's more of a contemporary craftsman style. It's on a flag lot but here's a pic from long ago:









I think the whole casing thing is my style is more contemporary and modern, but knowing that we won't be in this house forever I don't want to make anything too modern, but again the upstairs is just a cluster of doors so anything overly big may be a drawback as well:









And lastly everything screams builder grade, so I want to make it a bit nicer than builder grade but not over the top fancy either. I'm sure most people would've either left it alone or painted it


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