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Interior Decor Mouldings

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No house is complete without moulding, and as a professional your clients look to you to help them make sense of all the options. With resale housing markets everywhere still crazy, renovations are in higher demand than ever as people make the most of what they have. Here’s How to help your clients navigate the world of trim and decor and to win more of this kind of premium work.​
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Moulding Materials

When it comes to trim and moulding installations, there are two main categories: paint-grade and stain-grade. Explain to your clients that primed paint-grade is the most common and economical because it uses less expensive materials such as MDF or finger-jointed pine. Installation of pre-primed paint-grade is also easier and faster because filler can be used on less-than-perfect joints before paint goes on to hide everything.

Stain-grade moulding, by contrast, is more expensive and demands more installation skill. Solid, natural wood trim such as oak, cherry and clear pine are required and all joints must be tight and accurate without filler because everything will remain visible under a transparent, stained finish.  The nice thing about moulding work is that it automatically leads to other opportunities such as doors, panelling, bead board and more. Always be prepared to help clients with more work when they need it.​
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Key Interior Décor & Moulding Concepts

If you’ve only got a few minutes to explain the basics of moulding to a client, the points below are some of the most important:

MDF: These letters stand for medium density fiberboard, referring to the fine-grained wood fibers that are bonded together to make MDF trim and moulding. Factory-primed MDF is the most common type of moulding, it’s ideal for painting and is the least expensive option for all kinds of situations. The main drawback with MDF is that it’s softer and more easily damaged than options such as finger-jointed pine or poplar.

Natural wood: Stain-grade mouldings are always made with natural woods and though there’s still a solid market for this kind of high end work, the modern trend now is to use natural wood as accents rather than the main focus of a space.

Architraves:  Traditionally this referred to all types of trim that surround doors and window frames, but in modern times architrave refers to a fancy, horizontal trim that sits on top of and spans vertical pieces of door and window trim.  Architraves are easy to install and instantly add a lot of eye appeal to any room.​
Boards: Once again, this term has a specific, modern meaning when it comes to decor and moulding. Boards are flat pieces of wood that can be used as simple casing and baseboard, but can also be used to create interesting wall surfaces that mimic wainscotting or other frame-and-panel elements.

Wainscoting: Boards or panels and frames applied to the lower part of a wall create what’s called wainscoting and it can dramatically improve the look of any room. The main thing to tell your clients about wainscoting is that it can cost a little or a lot depending on the approach. Simulated wainscoting created by applying a framework of horizontal and vertical pieces of wood directly to a wall is the simplest option. Traditional, natural wood frame-and-panel wainscoting is the complicated, lavish and beautiful other end of the spectrum.

Do you really want to impress clients and win more work? Create samples of the different moulding and decor combinations to show during your consultation work and estimating. Clearly explain how the various moulding options work, including the fun of stacking different trim elements to create larger effects, and you’ll win the confidence of your clients while making homes more beautiful.​
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HH_Images_5x8_Callouts (marked moulding)

Inspiration is always handy

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