Interior Trim Details for “Farmhouse”
SJDoug
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Hi-
I’ve been asked to help with the finish on a home which the owner describes as a farmhouse style. He is interested in some sort of “interesting but simple” trim (doors and baseboard) which fits in the farmhouse genre. The windows will have a tile sill and drywall wrap. Any suggestions?
Also, the owner has purchased oak stair treads (home depot?), but hadn’t given any thought to risers other than wanting to paint them. I like the look of beadboard risers, but there isn’t any other beadboard in the home. Again, any suggestions?Thanks!
Doug
Replies
Flat board trim might look farmhouse-like. 1x4 casings for the doors, butted to 5/4 x 4 heads that project maybe 1/4" past casing edges. Use a sander or slickplane to give a little roundover to the edges.
Can't imagine a farmhouse with tile windowsills and rounded self-return drywall at heads and jambs of windows, though.
And as for beadboard for risers, that's not my taste at all. Too busy for me. Beadboard is for soffits, ceilings, wainscot. Use plain flat boards, and paint them.
............ which fits in the farmhouse genre. The windows will have a tile sill and drywall wrap.
What "farmhouse genre" has modernistic tile sills, and cheap looking drywall wrapped windows?
Sounds to me like the friend has already decided that he doesn't want any trim. If the windows are already done in that manner, then my suggestion is to learn how to bury a wood baseboard in the bottom few inches of the drywall. Smooth level it's surface with the drywall, and paint it to match the walls.
It will look just like the "trim" on the windows.
Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.
My house is in a small city, but was built by a farmer in late 20's. The trim is flat 1x6 with wood "angles" (outside corner protectors--don't know what they're called) on the outside edges. But, does owner want to keep the drywall wrapped window "trim"?
If the windows are set deep, the drywall returns would work. I'd rather see a quarter sawn pine stool though. The tile is very contemporary. For trim, I'd use quartersawn 1x4 with a extra piece of trim. I can't recall the profile name right now, but it fits over the outside corner of the 1x4. Backband? The base should also be simple. A quarter sawn 1x6 with a cove on top of it will work nicely. Check your profiles, because the cove may be slightly larger than the 1x6. It really should be a little smaller.
Backband is the term. I have it on all my 1920s window and door casing. I think it looks best if you go to a local millwork outfit and get the stuff that is 3/4 by 1" with a roundover on the outside corner. The stuff you can get at HD etc. looks to wimpy.
Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I've been a little skeptical about his conception of "farmhouse." This is the first home he has built and details are just not his forte. There really isn't a coherent design concept to the whole place. It feels a little like farmhouse meets Southwestern contemporary cul-du-sac in the Pacific Northwest by finding what's on sale at Home Depot.
My involvement has come in at the very last as the jack of all trades finish guy wasn't living up to his expectations. I tried to talk him into wood sills, but the condo they are renting has the tile ones and so..... I had suggested the 5/4 x 3 1/2 head with 3/4 legs as well. He was thinking more along the lines of old colonial casing with mitered corners. Errrr.... Also, his preference is MDF for trim. Nothing like the classic look of medium density fiberboard to really set off that farmhouse style.
I'll make up some samples with and with out the backboard trim. Thanks again for the suggestions!
Doug