Any tips on trimming windows?

[ktzmoh]

I think trimming out our windows is going to be a 2013 project for me. Seems like something that will keep me busy, wont cost a fortune and that i can do in spurts without creating too much turmoil in the house... I think it will add so much to our rooms. Plus we want to buy plantation shutters this year, so I guess we need to trim the windows first. 

Any tips? Currently there is no trim other than an ugly metal piece at the bottom: 



 

(how do you like those rockin mini blinds?!)

anyway, do I just rip out that metal piece with a crowbar and trim away? What style do you think I should go for? My interior doors are super boring and standard :




 I'd love to do something more architectural with the windows, but do I then have to do every door in my house too? 

[kaylie]

I'm a sucker for nice trim =)

Not an expert by any means, but when you take out the metal piece be careful not to bend the bottom of the window frame with the crobar. I've never seen a metal one before, but take your time and hopefully it comes out pretty easily.

I highly rec going somewhere that is NOT HD or Lowes for help. The selection there is pretty meh and most of the employees are limited in what they know. I go to 84 Lumber (they might have a store near you) but any place that specializes in lumber will probably work. I have a specific sales person I work with every time I need to put in an order and they keep track of what I order so it's easy to get the same thing repeatedly. The first time I went, he gave me catalogs for these two companies: www.mouldingandmillwork.com/ and www.gardenstatelumber.com/

Pinterest and Houzz are great for inspiration. If I see a molding profile I like, I can figure out which pieces I'd need to create it. The sales guy helped me with that the first time but now I've got the hang of it for myself =). Some are more complicated than others.

For the sill (which is also called the stool) there are many sizes and you need to get the one that fits your window. When I went I brought a chunk of the one I had just ripped out and he held it up to the picture in the catalog to figure out exactly which one I needed, so it might be good to bring the metal piece with you when you go. I would also bring pictures of your windows as they are now so they can point out anything you might need to take into account.

You can definitely be fancier in some rooms and less so in others. My favorite molding blog is thejoyofmoldings.com/
He has some great info about subordination in moldings, but I'll admit I don't adhere to it 100%. I've basically decided that my entryway, dining room and living room will have the more formal profiles and all other rooms will have a similar look, but in a smaller scale. I do think that the windows and doors in each room should match. It should also compliment other architectural details - don't put really skinny crown molding in a room with really thick window casing, kwim? I've googled before and found suggestions for molding proportions that will tell you the crown should be half the size of the baseboard, etc if you want to know more about that.

That site also has some profiles with instructions that he's put together and reading it really helped me figure out how to make my own. He doesn't have window profiles, but I adapted the door profiles when I did mine.

[prazenjc]

if you haven't ever done trim, the classes at HD are good, imo. at least the ones at mine were. it might help a bit that i'm an engineer and think like that a little already. however, for selection of what to choose and the style, i agree with kaylie that the people at lowes and HD are pretty basic (unless you luck out and get one that has some skills).