I have a deep obsession with all the cool-girl-brooklyn-brownstone apartments. And one of the key details I see in every one of my favourite homes is THIS style of molding: the thick trim perimeter, paired with a thinner trim set inside it with each corner notched out in a perfect square. I see it on walls, on wardrobes, on cabinets. It adds a feeling of luxury to the simplest surfaces, and I needed to have a piece of it.
The two details that are KEY to achieving this molding look are:
- The actual moldings people use
- The spacing and measurements of the notched out interior trim
(Two details I never see anyone share). So I did the math, figured it out, and I’m dishing all the goods in this here blog post. Here is how I DIY’d this iconic Brooklyn brownstone molding, and how you can to.
What You’ll Need:
- A thick AND a thin style of decorative trim (details on what I used in the next section)
- Mitre Box + Hand Saw (for cutting your 45 degree angles)
- *Optional: this handheld mitre cutter for the skinnier trim
- No More Nails (or wood glue, if glueing to wood — I like this one)
- Finishing nails (I used 1-inch for the thick trim and 3/4-inch for the thin one, but this also depends on the thickness of the trim you choose, and the thickness of the surface you’re nailing into)
- Hammer
- Nail punch
- Wood filler (this one is bright pink when wet, but lightens up when it’s dry and ready for sanding)
- Sandpaper (anywhere between 120 and 220 grit)
- Caulking (make sure you use one that is paintable!)
- Paint of your choice
What Trim I Used
I used two styles of molding for this DIY:
- This is the thicker trim I used around the perimeter of the cabinet doors
- This is the thinner trim I used for the inner detailing
Attaching the Thick Outer Trim
For the thicker trim, I measured each piece to be the same lengths as my cabinet doors, cut them all on 45-degree angles, and simply lined them up flush with each edge of my cabinet doors. I used No More Nails and a few finishing nails to attach them.
For an extra professional look, I used a nail setter to tap the nails a little deeper into the surface of the trim, filled the pinholes with wood filler, and sanded it all down smooth. I also highly recommend caulking all your edges, where the trim meets your door/wall. It’ll look super seamless.
**Use paintable caulking for your seams, so your paint actually adheres to it!
The Prep Step For The Inner Detail Trim
I personally cut a bunch of tape to the widths and lengths I’d need to cut my trim at to make sure I’d like how everything looked. This isn’t essential, but it might be helpful if you want to make any adjustments to the spacing I’m going to suggest next.
Measurements, Spacing, and Attaching The Inner Trim
The key part of this trim style is making sure the “cut-out” portions of the inner trim look like perfect squares. Here is a diagram of the measurements I personally used to achieve that:
I used No More Nails and finishing nails just like I did with the outer trim. However, I used a 1.5″ block of wood as a jig to ensure my spacing was consistent along every long length of the trim. This way, I didn’t have to measure anything; the wooden jig did all the measuring for me. I also didn’t see any need to caulk the thin trim, so skipped that step here!
*I attached the long pieces of trim with my wooden jig first, then added the little 2.5″ pieces using some No More Nails.
The final result
I’m stoked with how the molding on this cabinet turned out. I pretty much want to deck my entire future dream kitchen out with this exact molding detail on ALL my cabinets. I do have a couple of notes on spacing for your consideration though.
1. If you are doing this molding on cabinet doors, bear in mind the size of the hardware you’re going to want to use. The spacing I personally used might be a little narrow for your hardware to fit between the two pieces of molding. Consider increasing the spacing between the two pieces of trim up to 2 inches (instead of 1.5) — or selecting smaller hardware. Adjust other measurements accordingly.
2. If you’re doing this molding on a large expanse of wall, consider upping the spacing between the thick trim and the thin trim to 3 inches! My spacing was so tight because of how narrow my cabinet doors are, but if your walls / sections are quite wide, this design can handle more space between the two styles of trim, if you want. Feel free to experiment (this is where I recommend testing it out with tape first!)
*Everyone’s measurements are going to be different for this, depending on where you’re putting this molding. Every wall and cabinet door is a different size, so I’m just sharing my spacing and proportions as a guideline for you and your version of the project.
