Decorating Town-House Halls, Part 1

A beautiful home deserves a grand entrance that lives up to the promise inside. The refinement of the town-house style provides just such an elegant introduction to gracious living.

First impressions count. However small, the area immediately inside the front door is more than merely a place to hurry through on your way in or out; it sets the tone for what follows in the rest of the house. The classic elements of the town-house look add character and distinction to any hallway.

The essence of the style is tradition and formality. Characteristic features include timeless elements such as black and white tiled floors, fine architectural and decorative detail, and a symmetry of arrangement. It is a sophisticated look, but need not be expensive to recreate. While the effect is elegant, practical requirements are well served.

Halls are connecting spaces, which means that decorative choices must be made very carefully to avoid abrupt clashes of color, pattern, and style in the transition to other rooms. This does not mean that bold and striking effects must be ruled out, but it is best to plan the look of the hall in the context of your overall decorating scheme.

Every hall takes a certain amount of battering from the daily comings and goings of household members, so surfaces must be able to withstand a fair degree of wear and tear. Town-house style has the practicalities covered. The look incorporates many time-honored elements, such as floor tiling and paneled wainscoting areas, which provide tough and easily maintained surfaces. Other nods towards practicality involve equipping the hall with a mirror, a small table for leaving keys, messages, and mail, and maybe a clock.

Above all, as the initial encounter with your home, halls must be welcoming to visitors. Stylish finishing touches, in the form of fresh flowers and decorative objects set the right mood.

Creating the Look

Walls: Neutral tones may be a safe bet in the hall, but the overall effect tends to be a little bland. A positive color gives an immediate lift that clearly spells out a welcoming message. Try yellow for a bright, warm feel, particularly in a hall that receives direct sunlight. Warmer tones, such as cerise, are also effective if the hall is dark, while soft greens are soothing.

Wainscoting is a traditional feature that earns its keep in the hall. The convention is to cover the lower third of the wall space with a hardy surface, such as a textured paper, that can withstand greater abuse than the rest of the wall treatment. You can achieve a similar effect using a coordinating border in place of the wainscoting rail. The visual distinction between the upper and lower portions of the wall effectively lowers a high ceiling. For a classic town-house effect, set off the walls with crisp white woodwork and moldings. Eggshell or satin finishes are more elegant than high gloss ones.

Many hallways in period houses have architectural flourishes in the form of brackets, cornicing, and corbels. In a featureless modern hall, apply strips of curved coving to the junction between walls and ceiling to lend a note of distinction.

Floors: The classic town-house solution is some form of graphic black and white tiling - in marble slabs, ceramic tiling, or linoleum - that looks crisp in entrances.

Alternatively, carpet the hallway, provided you supply some additional protection for the areas of heaviest traffic. Natural fiber flooring in sisal or seagrass is a good, traditional option for an understated look.

A buffer zone by the front door, where shoes can be wiped clean, helps to keep the rest of the floor in good condition. The neatest solution is to stop the main covering about a yard (meter) short of the front door and cover the remainder in coir matting, sunk to the same level and running across the full width of the hall.

Lighting: Halls should be well lit, for safety and security. The main hall light can be an eye-catching feature in its own right. In many hallways, such fixtures are viewed from above as you descend the stairs, so pendant lights and lanterns that enclose the bulb are more attractive than those which leave it exposed. Regency-style coach lanterns or a chandelier are in keeping with the look. If you wish, you can install wall sconces or table lamps, but these should not be the sole sources of light.

The front door: To make the hallway seem more spacious, it is a good idea to paint the inside of the front door the same color as the interior woodwork, leaving darker, glossier shades for the exterior of the door only. Glazing in or around the door increases the sense of openness, provided security is not jeopardized. If your existing front door lacks character, replace it with a period-style paneled door, with or without glazing, to add an element of architectural distinction.

How To Install Interior Door Trim In Your Home

In order to provide the finishing touch to the installed door, installation of interior door trim around the door is necessary. If you want to install interior trim for your doors, it is not a difficult job to do, if you have right tools with you. To perform this job successfully, you need a whole host of tools including Miter Saw, Nail Gun, level, square, tape measure, pencil, shims, wood or caulk fillers, center punch, 4 penny and 6 penny nails, rag and some paint or stain. If you need to fix extension jambs, you may also need table saw or skill saw with fence in addition.

This guide sheds light on trimming out both interior and exterior doors consisting of door jambs previously extended out flush with the completed sheet-rocked wall. In most of the cases, the only trim needed for installing interior door trim is case molding. In this article, a 2.5

Measurement of the interior trim case molding

In this guide, the number of the colonial case molding trim comprises of 3 pieces. Two vertical members will be placed on the each side of the door, while a top piece will be placed above both of the vertical members. Here, two 8

Installation of the vertical colonial case molding trim pieces

On each side of the door frame, the right, left and top extension jambs, you make a couple of small cross hair marks. These marks will help you to identify the height of the inside edges of the trim pieces. Additionally, these marks will help you to identify the place through which the trim pieces will be lined up resting on the vertical extension jambs. While making the marks, you should make sure that there is 0.125

With the help of Miter Saw, you first make a 45

After cutting your pieces, you should touch up the ends with paint or stain, and then place it in proper position. You should line up the bottom edge point to the cross hair mark. If you find it properly lined up, you should nail into position with the help of a trim nailer on the outside edge of the trim. Otherwise, you may need to re-trim it. In addition to this, you may need to make sure that you position the nails more or less 1

Installation of the top colonial case molding trim piece

To begin this process, you first measure the distance between the central corners of both of the vertical colonial case molding trim board. Keep the measurement record in a safe place. After that, you make a 45

Now, you need to change the position of the angle of your saw with the intention that you can make another 45 ² colonial case molding is used. ² vertical colonial case molding trim pieces and 4² horizontal top piece are used. Before you use the case molding, it is always better if you pre-paint it or purchase pre-primed trim. It is mainly because of the cleaner finished look and also it saves a good amount time. ² to 0.25² of jamb reveal. As soon as you make the marks, you need to measure the distance between the centre of the right cross mark and the floor. ° angle cut over the piece of colonial case molding trim board. It should be several inches longer than that of the size you have just made. You should make sure that the thicker portion of the cut colonial casing trim must be extended away from the thinner portion of it. Now with the help of the measuring tape, you gauge from the thinner segment of the cut colonial casing piece to the required distance that you have measured on the frame of the door. Then you make a little mark on the wood and cut it straight at a 90° angle. ² in from the edge which helps in preventing from splitting. You may need to use a level to make sure that the trim piece is plumb at the time of installing the nails. Follow the same procedure for the left hand side of the door frame. ° angle cut on the member of the case molding trim which is several inches longer then interior doors the measurement you have just recorded. Once again, you should make sure that the thicker part of the colonial case molding should be extended beyond the inner edge, that is, the thicker part of the colonial case molding trim. Now make a mark on the inner edge depending on the measurement you recorded earlier. ° angle cut in the reverse direction of the cut you did before on the board. One more time, you touch up the edges with paint or stain and place the top trim piece on the top of the two vertical members. You need to apply 6 penny nails resting on the surface of the edges of the trim piece. As soon as it will be done, you need to apply 4 penny nails resting on the inner parts of all the trim pieces. While doing this process you need to ensure that you must not position nails to close the edges. Otherwise it may result in splitting. To end with, sink and caulk the nail holes, and retouch with a little paint and you have finished.

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