What size baseboards should I use?

Tammie Harvey
by Tammie Harvey
I have a house that was built in 1968 with 2.25" baseboards. I want to upgrade the baseboards but not have the additional cost of redoing the plain 1.5" molding around the doors. Would you suggest I do the 3.25" or 5.25" baseboards? Thank you.
  4 answers
  • Dria @ Dio Dria @ Dio on Jun 12, 2013
    A cheaper alternative to redoing the baseboards is to add molding above your current baseboards leaving a gap between your old base and new molding, google faux baseboards you will see examples of this. It would be far less work and far cheaper to do this, then you could if you wanted to down the line do the same thing w/your door trim add more molding around your current trim to make it look like wider molding.
  • Tammie Harvey Tammie Harvey on Jun 12, 2013
    I actually already started ripping out the baseboards as I started redoing the flooring. But that idea could work for my door molding so that I can use the 5.25" baseboards. I like the taller ones jsut thought it would look funny with the 1.5" molding around the doors. Thank you.
  • Actually Tammie, many of the larger moldings both base, crown, door and windows are constructed of several other smaller trims. You just need to use your imagination. Purchase several foot long sections of different types at the local home centers that allow you to cut your own and then simply put them together in different patterns to you see what you like. Just remember that you will need to paint and keep them clean. So to many tiny gaps that will collect dust may not be the type you want for the area that your working in. Lastly remember ideally all the trims in the house should match. Do not use colonial type in one room and clam shell type in another. While it may look ok to do this, it really overall distracts from the rest of the house as the fancy side makes the other areas less attractive. Blending trims if done right however will prevent this from occurring.
  • Lil33447454 Lil33447454 on May 18, 2018

    I think wider looks better stands out bold