The New Decorating with Architectural Trimwork

Bought this book to help with design and installation of wall frames in my son's room. Helped dramatically with the basics and the rules of installing molding and wall treatments. Have not spent much time with the rest of the book, but will consult it surely when I move on to crown molding or any other projects that arise. If you are planning on putting any type of molding in your house this book is a must.

I am a custom carpenter in the Metro Detroit area, and have a huge library of carpentry and trimwork books that I use for discovering my clients' style and generating ideas for their projects. Of all the books in my library, this is the one I use the most. The cover is getting creased pretty bad, so it is about time to order a new copy or two. This books is one of two that makes the trip to every single one of my new customer meetings. For ideas and photographs, I would give it 7 stars if possible. For the instructions portions, I would probably give it 3 - 4 stars, as they are geared much more to the do it yourselfer, and therefor use homeowner tools, and techniques, some of which I would not recommend. In fact, some of the instructional details are missing very important details that would be hard for a homeowner, that does not do this as a trade, to figure out. I also own the previous edition that has less material. When this edition came out, I grabbed it right away and am very pleased with the added content. My wish for any future editions that may be on the way would be for them to drop the chapters on tools, etc., and just add more design content / photos. I know that I am biased on this topic, but I really wish publishers and retailers would quit pushing the do it yourself concept for many projects, particularly those involving carpentry because the average homeowner really is not up to the task, which results in shoddy work and problems down the line for future homeowners and their contractors. Do what you are good at and get paid for it, then pay a professional to do the rest.

This book will help you totally redesign and redecorate your home using trims like crown and medallions. Types of moldings are explored in detail, with pictures and instructions for installation and the lists of tools you need. We bought this book and it was our sole guide for giving our home a much-needed, expensive-looking facelift for a very modest price. Any novice can select and install trimwork using this book. Beautifully illustrated.

The older version of this book was good. This version is much better. The "Elements of Design" chapter is expanded, as is the chapter on crown molding. The most comprehensive chapter for me was Chapter 10: Wainscoting, Pillars and Pilasters. The detail provided on the methods for routing flutes was very helpful. If you do trim, this is the third book to buy right after "Trim Carpentry Techniques" by Craig Savage, and "Finish Carpentry: Efficient Techniques for Custom Interiors" by Gary Katz.

The new, expanded and updated edition of Jay Silber's New Decorating With Architectural Trimwork: Planning, Designing, Installing shows how to use decorative trim and molding in all rooms of a house to transform windows, doors, and more. Hundreds of color photos pack a design guide covering almost every room in the house, but the meat here is the inclusion of actual installation instructions, making this a cut above similar-sounding titles which are focused on appearance alone. All are highly recommended for any homeowner who wants more than a casual hand in construction or renovation choices.