Category: Architectural Moulding and Millwork

The dining room is one place where you want everyone in your home to come together. It is likely the place that you invite your guests into, and spend much of your time as a family. The problem is that dining rooms are often crowded with large tables, plenty of chairs, and china cabinets or other sideboards for storage. With all of this furniture in the space, it’s important that the dining room is decorated and trimmed in such a way that makes the room appear larger than life. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

 

Break Up Blank Walls

 

One easy way to change up your dining room and add dimension is by splitting your walls into two separate sections. This creates the illusion of more space. You can do this with the addition of a simple chair rail, or you can go for something more sophisticated with panel moulding or wainscoting on the bottom half. By making the bottom half of the wall a light color and the top half an accent color, you expand your space visually.

 

Make Doors and Windows More Inviting

 

Another useful tip is adding door and window trim that makes your entryways look larger. White trim around your doors and windows is easy to install and it doesn’t have to be fancy to have the intended effect. However, you can really make your doors pop by adding a layered header that stretches a few inches up the wall above the opening. This makes the window or door look taller than it really is, and adds to the lightness of the room.

 

Dress Up the Ceiling

 

Many dining rooms feature a decorative lighting fixture of some kind, often a chandelier. You can improve upon this look by adding more depth to your ceiling with wooden beams or flexible moulding. Faux wood beams can be used to frame out a part of your ceiling, creating two different ceiling heights and adding visual interest that draws the eyes upward. When framing a chandelier, the finished look is quite extraordinary. These are just a few of the ways you can turn your bland dining room into a wonderful gathering place that speaks to your personal style. To learn more about faux wood beams and other trim products, visit Volterra online and check out our new online store where you can shop and have your next home improvement project underway in no time!

]]>

Your foyer plays an important part in welcoming guests to your home and creating a first impression, but it must also serve a functional purpose during your day to day life. Designing a beautiful foyer that makes your life simpler doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Less is More

You don’t want your foyer to look like a dumping ground for bags, shoes, and coats at the end of the day. Instead, adding some lowkey storage to your foyer can help keep things clean and presents an image of everything having a proper place. You can do this with a simple coat rack, a small shoe rack or even a miniature desk with a tray on top for keys and phones.

Proper Lighting

Another pitfall of many foyer designs is the lighting. Dark foyers without proper lighting make it hard for people to navigate the narrow space. Instead, stick to light colors and make sure that you have plenty of bright light so that everyone can see where they are going and where to put their things.

Add Drama

Even with light colored walls, you can add drama to your foyer with the right trim selections. Dark colored trim that leads visitors through your house is a great choice. Dark trim looks great against the light backdrop and you can even find matching partial trusses or accents to create a uniform look from top to bottom. In addition, using colored trim to frame pictures or artwork in your foyer makes a bold impression. Don’t let your foyer suffer from dingy lighting and cluttered furniture. Instead, open things up with light colors, and use your trim to effectively tie your foyer into the rest of your home’s decor. To see a gallery of brilliant foyer design ideas, visit Volterra online and check out our gallery.]]>

Kitchen remodels can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars if you are doing a complete overhaul. However, not every kitchen needs a complete remodel. In fact, there are many ways to save money on a kitchen remodel when you invest in a few small items that will make the biggest impact. Here are a few tips.

Save Your Cabinets

Cabinets are one of the most costly parts of a kitchen remodel. Not only are the cabinets themselves quite expensive, but paying for installation can run up your renovation costs very quickly. The good news is that you can probably save yourself a ton of money by simply reimagining your cabinets. Start by removing the cabinet doors, selecting a trim, and learning how to apply the trim to the doors to give them a more decorative look. Then all you have to do is repaint and remount the doors.

Change Up the Moulding

If your kitchen is lacking finesse, it may be time to add a little bit of moulding to create a more refined look. For instance, base mouldings and crown mouldings that introduce texture to the transition between walls, floors and ceilings can drastically change the look of a room. Moulding also gives you the chance to add a pop of contrasting color that draws the eye. With these two simple projects you can reimagine your kitchen without spending a fortune. Volterra offers a number of trim options from very simple to very intricate, which are perfect for updating your cabinets or finishing out a room with moulding. To learn more, visit our online catalog today.]]>

Achieving luxury design in your home does not mean you have to spend an arm and a leg. Luxury design is about more than what the raw materials cost. Instead, it’s about how you make the materials work together, side-by-side. The fact is: you can spend a fortune on luxury materials that don’t work together, and end up with a mess, or you can take a budget-conscious approach and end up with a beautiful luxury design that could trick the best designers in the business. Here are a few tips to get luxury design on a budget:

Less is More

Today’s design aesthetic features open concepts, light and airy rooms, and no more clutter. Simply subtracting excess furniture and junk from a room can put you closer to the luxury design you envision. Do away with busy, complex cabinets and fixtures, and go for something sleek and modern.

Update the Trim

Sometimes, the only difference between a standard design and a luxury design is the type of trim that was used. In many cases, this can be easily fixed by adding some crown moulding or panel moulding on your own. It costs a fraction of buying the luxury brand, and it’s easy to do in a weekend. Whatever you do, just remember that luxury design doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Here at Volterra Architectural Products, we specialize in beautiful trim work and other materials to give you the home of your dreams. Visit our gallery to see more today.]]>

Installing interior wood trim around your doors and windows can be a little bit tricky. There are many angles to measure and cuts to make, and if you’ve never done this before you might feel overwhelmed. The good news is that most beginners can complete this project with just a few days time and some practice with a saw.

In a Perfect World

In a perfect world, every corner of your windows and doors would form a perfect 90 degree angle. Unfortunately, due to settling, aging, and a variety of other factors, you will quickly discover that most of your doors and windows do not form perfect 90s. This is something you must be prepared for before you cut your first piece of interior wood trim. Instead, cut two test pieces at 45 degrees and hold them together to make a 90 degree angle. Now, go around your window or door and hold this test piece up to see whether or not it fits properly. If not, you will need to mark the pieces and take them back to your saw to re-cut them to the correct angle. Make small adjustments and keep testing before you start nailing things down. Of course, another great way to make your interior trim look perfect is to utilize flexible trim moulding like VolterraFlex™ around radius walls or arched doors.

Start at the Top

Once your cuts are made, start installing your interior wood trim at the top of your doors and windows first. Once the header piece is up, place both sides, and install the bottom piece last. This is because it will be easier to hide any odd cuts or weird angles if they are at the bottom, whereas they would stand out if they occurred at the top. Use a nail gun to attach your trim to the studs and the frame, and you’ll be done in no time. Interior wood trim is not difficult to work with, but you must be sure to measure and test each piece before you drive the first nail. For tips on how to make this process easier, contact Volterra today and ask about our trim options.]]>

Builders often choose base mouldings that are cheap and basic. We are all familiar with the small profile, gently slope-shouldered variety that comes standard on most homes today. For those who want to make a change, the baseboards are a natural place to start. So how big should you go?

Why Go Big?

Oversized base moulding makes a huge visual difference in your room, especially when painted bright white or another contrasting color. The easiest way to do this is by using flat 1x4s or 1x6s to build a big riser. While these boards do not feature any extra milling or design work, they look perfect in today’s ultra-modern spaces with their clean and simple lines. Even in a classically styled home, you can go big by using a plain board as above, and staking a piece of decorative trim above it.

When to Go Small

If you’re going for more of a minimalist look, you may decide that smaller base moulding is the answer. In this case, stick with low profile options for a simple quarter-round solution that is painted to match your walls so that you can take advantage of the entire surface. When choosing smaller base mouldings, remember that they offer less protection against scuffs and scrapes along the bottom of your walls. Base mouldings are an important element of any room, and even a little upgrade can change the way you feel about your space. Don’t settle for dull builder’s grade mouldings. Choose Volterra for a huge selection of moulding profiles and styles.]]>

If you have stairs, you most likely walk up and down them every day without a second thought to their decorative effect on your home. In reality, the stairs are an ideal area for creativity, going beyond the strictly utilitarian use we have for them. With a few simple changes to your staircase, you can dramatically add to the visual appeal of your home.

Add Accents to a Bland Carriage  

If your staircase has a large closed carriage (the outer angled part that holds up the actual stairs,) you can add decorative pieces to this for increased visual interest. Decorative pieces in a variety of materials and colors, such as corner trim pieces in woods and metals, can turn a plain carriage into a complementary accent to the rest of your home.

Give the Risers a Pop of Color

The risers are the vertical faces under each landing step of the staircase. To add a unique touch to your entire staircase, paint the risers, attach wallpaper strips or add ceiling or decorative tiles to them. This subtle addition won’t impact the stairs you step on, but provide a modern and creative peekaboo effect for those standing at the bottom.

Help the Newel Posts Stand Out

The front newel posts of a staircase are often the things we don’t think about at all, but if you choose, they can be one of the most intricate and detailed aspects of the entire staircase. The individual parts of the newel post, such as the cap, the post itself and the base can be uniquely designed. While some have intricately carved details at the time of purchase, others are a simple box or turned circular shape that leave room for additional design details, such as a decorative bolt accent or design pattern. Adding some decorative elements to your newel posts can help your staircase stand out. To learn more about the ways that we can help you upgrade your staircase design, contact Volterra today.]]>

Moulding in modern homes is shifting away from the ornate and layered designs of classical design. Instead, your modern study will benefit from moulding that is big, bold, and clean. With these simple ideas, you can transform your dusty old work space into a modern study that is worthy of a magazine cover.

Extra Tall Baseboards

A big change we’re seeing these days is a move toward taller base boards in a contrasting color, usually white. By having base boards that come 3-4” up the wall, you create a bright focal point that outlines the room and frames the walls nicely. Oftentimes this is done without the addition of crown moulding. Instead, the wide framing stands out around doors and windows.

Sharp Corners on Moulding

Again, moving away from delicately carved wood moulding, more modern looks feature a single straight line. Indeed, many base boards these days are nothing more than a straight board. This creates a strong appearance and an element of depth where you can see the upper edge of the base board. In some cases, designers paint the upper edge a darker color so that the white of the board’s face stands out even more from the walls instead of letting the baseboard taper into the wall’s surface. If you’re looking to bring your outdated study into the modern era, changing the design of your base boards and other moldings can do the trick. The best part is that modern-looking mouldings are easier than classical designs to install and fit because they have more straightforward surfaces to work with. You can also change up the look with a little bit of color to make a big impact. For more design ideas, visit Volterra Architectural Products online and see our full gallery.]]>