Layered/Tiered Trim

You can of course do most types of crown in a craftsman style home, but lets face it, Crown is hard!!! It is one of the most frustrating things we have done and it truly is a talent if you are good at installing it.


I love this stacked crown look because it is by far the easiest to do and you can hide mistakes easier. It is a great alternative to Crown. You simply place a 1" x 4" along the entire perimeter of the ceiling you want to trim. Then you do the same thing by stacking a 1" x 3" just below it. Then follow it up with a 1" x 2". 

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Simple Door Trim

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This door trim is clean and simple. put the upright sticks of trim up first, and remember to leave a 3/8" reveal of the door casing. This makes it easier to caulk and looks better. The top piece should be a total of 2" longer than the uprights. When you put it on, it should stick out 1" on each side. I use either 1" x 3" or 1" x 4" for this trim.

Take it one step further

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You start by doing the simple door trim to the left but then you add a couple more pieces of trim for dimension. After you have the "Simple Door Trim" up, add a 1" x 2" above it and lay it flat. This should be 1" longer on each side than the one below it. The last piece is a 1" x 3" also laying flat and extends another 1" on each side past the one below it.

Craftsman Window Trim

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This simple trim give a big impact. You start by using a 1"x6" (usually, depending on the depth of the window sill) for the sill plate. The length of that will be the width of the window + the width of both pieces of upright trim + 2 inches (1" overhang on each side). You will notch it out on each side based on the width and depth of the window sill it will sit into. Once you have the sill plate on, you can do the upright peices based on the directions in the "Simple Door Trim" to the left. Then the last step will be to add an apron. The apron should be the same length as the width of the window + both pieces of upright trim.


There are a lot of tutorials on this and I plan do do one that will go into more depth.