How to Add Architectural Details to a Room

Adding Architectural Bones: It's the structural details that help to add weight, interest, and scale to a room.

Every room could use architectural weight. Of course it is easier to attend to architecture when the room is under construction; that way, columns, moldings, niches, ceiling beams and chair rails or whatever, can be planned for along with the walls. But these types of architectural bones can be added at any time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Catalog/home store
• Moldings, cornice, columns, brackets, medallions
• Supplies for cutting and installation whether that be miter boxes and saws, or knives and glue
• Measuring implements

1. 
    
   Distinct molding

   Even a plain box room speaks. (You often buy a house on that very premise!) The room subtly announces whether it is traditional or contemporary. You know how much it shines, for example, if it is light and airy, somber and serious, or filled with natural rays from sky-lites or overly-large windows. Its angles and dimensions give you a clue to its scale. Will it be able to accommodate large pieces of furniture or will one large-sized area rug fill the space? Can the ceilings hold beams or be coffered (sunken and raised panels on the ceiling), or is the height of the room prohibitive? Now you know how to listen to a bare room.

2. 
    
   Ornate molding

   To figure out what type of architectural feeling you want to convey, stimulate your imagination by looking at rooms that have the type of ambiance you want to deliver. For ideas on correct backgrounds, it helps to study model rooms in department stores, showhouses, or magazine photographs.

3. 
    
   Beamed ceilings

   Once you have an idea of your options, shopping is the fun part. First, you must take oodles of measurements. If it is for ceiling moldings, always add yardage because a lot is lost in the mitering of corners. If you are wanting columns, talk to the salesperson and let them tell you how to proceed.

4. 
    
   Paneled doors

   Don't be fenced in by wood. There are other options as far as materials. Decorative moldings, cornices, pediments, brackets and most any other decorative items you can think of come in these types of materials: fiberglass, resin, molded urethane, polystyrene, and even foam. And most of these materials are lightweight, easy to install and take decorative finishes and paints like a dream. You might even think about a spray finish that will simulate stone, concrete or even weathered iron.

5. 
    
   Dining room screen

   In addition to the architectural moldings and decor that is fixed, don't forget about paneled doors, and French doors (doors with glass or even mirrors as panes can open up many rooms by the light and refraction they present.)
   
   And finally, what about free-standing screens, room dividers or other Oriental-type screens that can be folded away from the wall to create dimension? They can add height and drama to corners and divide areas for more useful or private purposes.

Resources

• Architectural wholesaler/retailer
• Architectural wholesaler/retailer