Sherry is officially halfway through Clara’s canopy wall update, and we’re grateful to the 900+ readers who left votes and suggestions. We shared many mockups with Clara and she chose to combine a few ideas. She’s got a great eye, and we can’t wait to show the finished photos. We might even let her pick design details for every room from now on.
Before Sherry dove fully into the canopy, I wanted to finish a project that had been sitting on my to-do list for weeks: installing extra-chunky, double-wide crown molding in Clara’s room.
Yes, I cut the line and got the crown up before Sherry could fully start on her canopy details, which is why she’s only halfway finished right now. She did sneak in an early morning session to make progress and should have the canopy ready to shoot and share soon.
When we painted Clara’s walls and ceiling a month and a half ago, we intentionally left a thin yellowed edge where the white wall met the pink ceiling because I planned to add crown molding right afterward. “Right afterward” turned out to be a little delayed, but the crown is finally installed.
We’ve installed crown before, but this time I wanted to bulk it up to match the heavier molding already present in other rooms of the house—like the dining room, living room, bedroom, office, and foyer. To achieve that robust look, the builder’s approach of adding a piece of baseboard under the crown inspired me: it adds noticeable thickness and presence without looking out of place.
I bought 3.25″ tall baseboard for the underlying piece, then planned to float it slightly below the ceiling so the finished profile looked proportionate. Using spacers helped keep a consistent gap between the ceiling and the top of the baseboard all around the room. I nailed the pieces in with a nail gun and used a level to confirm everything stayed straight—ceilings can be uneven, and spacers alone can allow a wavy installation. I also used a stud finder and marked studs so the nails could be driven into solid framing for a strong hold.
With the baseboard in place I held up crown pieces to make sure the combined profile had the look we wanted. Up close the baseboard can read a bit substantial, so we checked other rooms to confirm the appearance. We liked the result and continued installing the baseboard around the room. Simple 45° miter cuts at the corners and scarf joints where boards were too short handled the baseboard joins and warmed me up for the more complex crown cuts to follow.
For the crown cuts I used a crown cutting jig to hold the molding at the correct angle on the miter saw. Because crown molding sits against the ceiling at an angle, precise angled cuts are essential for tight-fitting corners. That tool makes it much easier to get matching cuts so the corners come together neatly.
This stage took longer than the baseboard; I had a midday meeting and didn’t finish hanging all of the crown until later that evening. The next day I caulked all the seams—corners, scarf joints, the joint where the baseboard meets the wall, where the crown meets the ceiling, and where the baseboard meets the crown. Caulking those transitions helps the two pieces read as one seamless, chunkier molding instead of two separate layers.
After the caulking came touch-up paint. Painting over nail holes and caulked gaps seals everything and gives a uniform, slightly glossy finish. Caulk tends to look matte and can collect dust, so a topcoat helps everything blend and appear finished.
We’re very pleased with the final detail. Even in a room with white trim and a pink ceiling, the larger crown adds architectural interest and draws the eye upward toward the ceiling—a nice complement to the room’s playful color. It makes the space feel more polished without being overly dramatic.
As for reactions: Clara calls them the “wood things we hung up there,” and Sherry is thrilled since she can now move forward with the canopy design. The canopy wall is coming together quickly.
Budget-wise, the crown trim cost $76 and the baseboard cost $61, totaling $137. The boards were pre-primed and we used leftover semi-gloss white trim paint from previous projects. If you need paint and caulk, add roughly $25 for a quart of paint and the caulk. I sprayed the trim back in early September when I had the sprayer set up for another job, so installing pre-painted pieces saved time on site.
The one downside is that the project has me itching to add matching, beefed-up crown to the rest of the upstairs. We already have it in the bedroom, so that leaves two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a long hallway with odd angles to consider. For whatever reason, I’m excited about that—probably because I like using the nail gun and the miter saw. Either way, it feels good to check this one off the list.