The Architectural Details You Will Need to Elevate Your Room

Hi Everyone,

Sorry, I left y’all hanging, first after discussing the architectural details upstairs, and then much more recently after discussing the paint colors and lighting downstairs. So, this post is really a continuation of what we started at the end of last month.

This post is primarily about my favorite architectural detail: the beautiful mouldings downstairs. Plus, I’m including the bathroom tiles.

 

While the upstairs ended up being a bigger deal than I thought it would, the lower level, except for the shower, was a total gut.

 

It takes a lot of courage to rip everything out, hoping that one day it will be put back together as one has envisioned it.

Below is how everything looked before the renovation began.

 

The only thing the lower level had going for it was that the ceilings were nine feet high. This is rare in a Boston brownstone. They are usually no more than 8 feet, if that.

 

However, the dinky doors and total lack of architectural details reminded me of a college dorm room.

I mean, is there anything about this space that suggests it was built in the 19th century?

No, there is not.

Above is before I purchased the unit.

 

Below is an accurate floor plan of how the entire garden level looked.

 

Below is pretty much the latest floor plan. However, tweaks were made during the building phase, using detailed drawings and sometimes verbal explanations. However, as far as general layout, this is as it is, except for the bedroom wall where the staircase breaks through the ceiling.

I was hoping that the wall could come forward far enough to fully enclose the staircase that breaks through the ceiling behind the closet. However, to do so, it would’ve left just a bit over eight feet for the bed and nightstands. Additionally, there needs to be sufficient space to open the door that goes under the staircase.

Since the door is 22″, there has to be at least that much space between the bed and the door. A queen-sized bed is 60″, and that leaves 28″ on each side of the bed.

If you’re interested in seeing earlier iterations of the floor plan and architectural details, please check out this post entitled “Little Known Secrets on the Design Process.

 

The final design was reached only a few weeks before the demo began.

 

I was looking at the exquisite architectural details done by Furlow Gatewood when a light bulb went off.

 

Photos above and below by Rod Collins

 

While Furlow’s paneled entrances are not doors, I had seen embrasure doors that fit into a pocket in an extra-deep door jam.

 

And that’s when the final design came to me.

There would be two sets of these beauties. One pair of doors would close off the bathroom, and the other pair would close off the bedroom. The beauty was that it made the entrances into the private rooms all the more private. Plus, the doors never get in the way of anything.

 

In between would be the double doors for the primary closet.

 

Nothing was going to stop this from happening. However, it was an exercise in extreme patience and a lesson learned.

If you’re knowledgeable about certain details, ask your contractor upfront if it’s okay to source some of the items and which ones. Some contractors want you to do this. It depends on what it is. I could have saved a lot of time, because I had found a wonderful source at the time I was planning the doors, which was more than a year before they were installed.
Speaking of installations. I will forever remember the embrasure door installation coinciding with a hideous cold. However, I still managed to take some photos after the guys had left for the day. (This is a fantastic post with many renovation pics that are fun to look at now.

There will be another post that discusses the doors used throughout the apartment.

 

One of my goals was to address and get rid of the hideous soffit in the bedroom.

 

Below is a new image of that corner.

Let’s take a closer look at the architectural details in the bedroom.

 

Laurel, I’ve been dying to know how you knew where to begin the picture rail.

 

In an eight-foot or nine-foot ceiling, it’s about a foot or so below the ceiling.

One thing I wanted downstairs and am so glad I did this, were extra tall 96″ doors and doorways.

I hated the only 78″ doors. They looked so dumpy in the nine-foot room.  And especially because the door to the outside has a tall transom, and the window is also quite tall.

In fact, it was reminiscent of the door and window height in my Bronxville apartment.  (below)

 

The picture rails in my Bronxville apartment were about a foot below the coved ceiling.

 

And, they intersected the door and window frames as seen in these images.

 

Below is my pretty bedroom that I hated to leave.

However, I’ve recreated all of the beautiful architectural details that I adored in that cozy room.

As it happened, the staircase ceiling break-through met the wall at exactly 12″ below the ceiling.

I know. It’s not ideal. But, there was no choice if anyone ever wants to put in a queen-sized bed.

 

This isn’t the best image, but it gives an idea of how it ultimately turned out.

 

 

So, it worked out perfectly.

 

For the picture rail, we used the same moulding as is upstairs for the wainscoting.

 

However, it’s a hunky moulding and I felt that something with a bit less heft would be more suitable for the lower level.

For the panel mouldings and wainscoting, we used the moulding shown above.

Note: A widget is coming up that includes links to all the moulding and bathroom tile, too!

 

The view from my bedroom into the bathroom. I had to erase the smoke detector. I don’t know why they put it at the entrance of the bedroom, unless it’s a code thing, but I don’t think so. There’s another smoke detector in the lower entry, and there are two smoke detectors upstairs. It’s code, as there must be a detector in each bedroom and one in the living spaces.

Below, we can see the beautiful mouldings from Orac Decor. Again, if you missed it, there’s a widget at the end that links all the mouldings to where they can be purchased.

 

 

I adore this crown! It worked out perfectly to transform this once banal space into something that looks like a 19th-century home.

 

We used the same mouldings in the entry. Only in the entry, we did wainscoting instead of the large panel mouldings and a picture rail.

 

Below, we can also see the crown moulding, door casing, and plinth blocks.

 

 

Why plinth blocks, Laurel?

 

That’s a terrific question.

I loved this door casing; however, it only came in eight-foot lengths, and the doors are eight feet. Since we needed a few more inches to make the mitered corner joint, the solution was a plinth block at the foot of the casing.

 

The wainscoting is at 33″ as it is upstairs. I followed Brent Hull’s advice and am so glad I did.

It’s not all that visible in the entry, but you can easily see it here on this small wall by the staircase. To the left is the linen closet.

 

The chair rail is the same one we did upstairs.

 

We did the same baseboard that was original in the bedroom.

However, in the bedroom, we added a small piece of moulding as we did in the entry. Only the entry is upside down. lol

 

 

 

Above, you can see the baseboard with the 1″ panel moulding above it in April 2024.

 

One thing to remember is not to stress too much about applied wall mouldings.

 

 

That’s because at least half of it might be covered with the furniture, anyway.

 

The carpenters did a superb job of the crown moulding return.

 

The Anglo-Indian smoke bell lanterns are the perfect size. They could’ve even come down one more link, but they are fine as is.

We need to stop for today. We’ll continue with the embrasure hall and bathroom shortly.

 

However, I would like to leave you with the image below of some of my favorite architectural details.

 

How did I get this shot? I was lying on the floor. It’s amazing what one can see when looking up. We’ll pick up here for next time.

Oops! Sorry. I’m an hour late with the widget. Here it is!

 

xo,

 

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