After finally pulling the trigger on crown molding last summer, I felt like my living room could use just a little bit more oomph so I decided to add some decorative molding. Architectural details like this are commonly seen in Parisian apartments, Georgian homes or structures of other European origins and provide a space with visual interest, drawing the eye up and are just really the icing on the cake! I absolutely love how it turned out! It looks like it’s always been there and compliments the crown molding and fireplace detailing well. Below is a list of everything you need + step by step instructions, and here’s a video of us installing ours!

Installing it makes for a fairly straight forward DIY project and is significantly easier than installing crown molding. For reference, it took us half a day to install, vs. crown molding which took 3 days per room. It’s not the easiest project in the world, but if you have the right tools and a helper you can totally do it. Bonus: you can install it permanently or make it removable so it’s renter friendly!

Everything you need:

Steps:

• First and foremost, making sure you have a way to get things perfectly straight is the most important part of this project. If one piece is even a little bit off, your corners will not line up and it will look sloppy. The laser level came with a bit of a learning curve, but I highly recommend using one, it will ultimately make everything much easier.

• Find the your center and figure out your measurements. I wanted to keep things simple and not make any cuts, so I used 4 panel pieces of molding at their full length (almost 8′) and centered them around the chandelier. If you need yours to be different lengths, you will need to cut them using a mitre saw or a hand saw
• Determine how far away your pieces will be from the wall, then mark where you’ll be placing the first straight panel on the ceiling with a measuring tape and pencil, then line the laser up with that mark, making a straight line.
• with two people, bring the first panel to the ceiling and carefully line it up with the laser. One person will hold it steady on one end, while the other will attach it into place with the brad nailer. How many nails you put will depend on how flat your ceilings are and how long the panels are, but I’d say at least 7 for an 8′ panel. Don’t worry about nail holes, you’ll fill those later.
• This is exactly where the laser level comes in most handy, as it maps out right angles perfectly- align your first corner piece and secure with nails.

• Pretty simple here, instead of using nails, use velcro command strips. I didn’t do this so I’m not 100% sure on how many you need, but I would advise the more the merrier on this one. Follow directions on package for both attaching and removing.
• Skip the caulk!

Tag me on instagram if you try this! Can’t wait to see