I would like to see pictures as well. Our living room is vaulted and I am trying to picture the crown molding and having a hard time!!

Congrats on your town home!

Kelly :-)

We are installing crown molding in all of our rooms, including the ones with high ceilings. They are painting in these rooms today, so I can't take any better photos right now, but if you are interested I will post some with some color on the walls and ceilings to give you a better visual later in the week.

Formal Living Room 18 ft. ceilings:

Formal Living Room again:

Family Room - 14' ceilings:

Master Bedroom - 14' ceilings:

Just let me know if you would like to see some pics with color :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress So Far

Thanks, KelnTx and congrats to you on your beautiful new home. Mavsfan, those ceilings and the detail in your home are incredible. I'd love to see pics with color when you get the time. I'm hoping for a coffered ceiling in our Florida townhome. Yes, we're crazy enough to be building and buying two new homes at the same time. We're downsizing from our 4400 SF home in PA and want to be near our son and DIL in NC. However, DH has always wanted to move back to Orlando where we lived for several years so we found a place on the golf course, an absolute necessity for him. So rather than one move and one build, we're doing two--twice the headache, twice the anxiety, twice the decisions and yet, crazy as it seems, twice the excitement. DH is taking early retirement at the age of 48 and plans on doing some consulting work from home. I plan on spoiling our grandson and my DH, and taking courses in interior design. It's something I always wanted to do. Good luck to all in your building adventures.

onourway2nc,

Thanks for the kind words :-)

I will post pics for you either tomorrow or Friday (depending on when the painters take down all of the plastic they have taped up everywhere.

Best of luck with your dual home purchase/build.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress So Far

onourway2nc,

It slipped my mind that I had taken these this afternoon. This just the first coat of paint, but I thought it might give you an idea of the end result. Also, because of the afternoon sun streaming in the windows, the color is inaccurate. I will post pics of the family room and formal living room as soon as I can.

Study - 14' ceilings:

Master Bedroom - 14' ceilings:

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress So Far

There is a way to "beef up" the crown molding. We used a strip of beauty molding about four inches below the crown molding on our 11ft ceiling. The painters painted all of it with the trim paint.

Some wonderful $$$ details in those pics, particularly the triple-layer dome!

Trying to save some money on one 4,380 sf. spec house, we left off the plaster moulding on the second floor, includng a 19ft. high section of ceiling. It looked so "off" we put it in after the house was completed. Very messy job at that point, as the painted walls had to be roughened up with a hammer to get proper adhesion for the plaster.

Beautiful ceilings. How do you put a dollar amount on those when estimating cost? I'd love to have a coffured ceiling in the dining room but was worried that it may cost too much. Also we have a two story family room and foyer does it make sense to put a tray in there since it's already pretty high?

onourway,

As promised, here are a couple pics of the formal living room with the first coat of paint.

Worthy - thanks for the kind words.

doctj - As far as costs go, you would really need to speak with your GC to get an accurate number. I didn't have ours break that out separately, so I couldn't give you any idea on costs. You will get differing opinions on here, but I love the different ceilings "designs" incorporated into homes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress So Far

This is one from a local house for sale.

Thanks to everyone who responded with their pictures and comments. Mavsfan, those ceilings are looking fantastic! I think the different designs you've used throughout your new home give it such character and charm. I really appreciate the pictures.

Wonbyherwits, the molding in your room is beautiful. Our builder uses what they refer to as double crown molding because of the "wow" factor and also because he feels with the higher ceilings, a single piece of crown gets lost in the shuffle. After seeing how you added the extra four inches to your molding and the effect you get from it, his opinion is one I would echo and do the same in our home.

Worthy, after hearing of your experience, I think we'll go ahead with the crown and have it installed now than adding it later and ending up incurring additional costs (we all know how easily that happens and how quickly those $$$ add up). Speaking of $$$, do you have any idea what it might cost or should cost approximately to add a coffered ceiling to a 14' x 19' dining room. It is rectangular in shape so there are not unusual cuts if that would be a factor. Thanks for any help you can give us.

Luckymom, the trim work in the pic you posted is droolworthy and has given me a few more ideas--thanks!

Costs are so local and so specific to the project that any figure I give is only ballpark.

Keep in mind you get the best price by having a lot of work that gets quoted all at once. For trim carpenters and plaster moulding co's., the extras that are added after the project is underway are gravy.

The going price I would pay as a builder here (Toronto) for straightforward 7" pre-cast plaster moulding--made up in sections up to 8' long and melded together on-site--is $7 a ft. invoiced. Trim carpenters charge $35-$45 per hour.

From what I've read here, that could be double the price you'd pay below the Mason-Dixon line.