Good kitchen designers know the importance of two-piece crown molding and fillers.
Two-piece Crown Molding & Fillers are essential cabinetry pieces that make cabinetry look built-in and correct out of level ceilings and out of plumb walls. They are also the most overlooked elements by architects, interior designers and less experienced people trying to design kitchens.
The value of two-piece crown molding & fillers
Consider the120-year-old home below with ceilings nearly 1 inch out of level. This is unusually level for an older home. However, without the flat filler piece that the upper crown molding can ride up and down on, the molding could never reach the ceiling without the entire ceiling being rebuilt to make it perfectly level. Using a two-piece crown molding here allows the moldings to reach the ceiling and for the cabinetry to look built-in.
Kitchen with the two-piece crown molding designed in Bishop Danbury with a light maple finish.
Let’s take a closer look.
Notice the exposed riser shown in this part of the kitchen is 2 1/2 inches high.
Just 10 feet away the exposed riser is nearly 3 1/2 inches high.
Having the two-piece crown molding reach the ceiling is one of the most attractive features in this kitchen.
Using a crown molding without the riser would have left an unsightly and uneven gap. Additionally, over time the tops of the cabinets would also accumulate impossible to clean, inches of dust and dust mites.
This home is no exception. Leveling the ceiling would have cost several thousand dollars to relevel the ceiling joists. Plus, far more expensive custom cabinetry sizes would have been needed for the single crown molding to reach the ceiling. So, using a simple six-inch filler as a riser for the two-piece crown molding made the kitchen look better and saved thousands of dollars.
The beautifully centered the triple window between the wall cabinets is another very attractive feature.
The centering of the windows, the pantry door opening freely, and the adjustment for the walls being 1/2″ out of plumb was all accomplished with the same simple filler. Notice that the filler also allows for the thickness of the window trim and the window crown and sill.
See the close up below:
Even though the center windows in this kitchen were enlarged and added, contractors also need to have a little play to level and shim the new windows and the new cabinetry. The simple tall filler on the side of the pantry above accomplishes this. A base filler in the base cabinet run below the countertops makes up whatever space is leftover installing, shimming, and leveling the base cabinets. It is surprising how important simple fillers are for simple, cost effective, and well-designed space.
There is NO reason a homeowner should insist on “NO FILLERS!”
Homeowners tell our designers to eliminate fillers – or “Knowbettas” as we call them, almost always end up with expensive, unattractive, kitchens. Partly, because they are insisting on something that helps resolve the issues that all homes and designs have. This closed minded personality type is also generally doomed from the start of their project. People without years – and preferably decades of design experience should NEVER direct a kitchen renovation.
Good kitchen designers help customers understand the choices and provide customers with the necessary information to make sensible decisions. Bad things happen to customers who insist on getting “what they want” without listening to professionals’ advice including more costly renovations and, even, devaluing their homes.
Read about two families, the Smarts and the Knowbettas in the blog below.
The Kitchen Renovations of the Smarts and the Knowbettas (mainlinekitchendesign.com)
Hoping, like the Smarts, you will get the best kitchen by considering professional advice. And remember that two-piece crown moldings and fillers are what help make your project work and allow the kitchen designers and carpenters to adjust for imperfec reality that is everyone’s home. EVEN new construction!
Happy Halloween . . . and of course . . .
Bon Appetit!
Paul
