| I finally got around to making some built-ins for my living room. There are some simple details that can make your built-ins stand out. Here are a few of my favorite decorative moldings and profiles that can easily be done with your router. Adding these details will make your built-ins look timeless.
Two simple ways to add decorative profiles are on the edge of the top and shelves. For the top I make a profile that is a fillet, bullnose and fillet. It is dressier then just a bullnose profile. I think it compliments the profile on the shelves. For the edge of the shelves I do the opposite of the top profile. It is a small bead, flat and small bead. I think both of these moldings are very elegant and go well together. Next I like to add detail to the edges of the vertical pieces of the face frames. For this I do a stop chamfer. It softens the edges so they are no longer sharp while giving a subtle detail to the face frame. It is these small details that can your make your piece. I am all about the small details! I try to make my built-ins out of solid wood whenever possible. This allows me to add additional details like a bead board back. Adding a bead to the back boards ties in nicely to the bead on the shelves. I use the same size bead for the bead board and shelf profile. Lastly I like to do a frame and panel design on the outside show faces of my built-ins. I tend to keep the panels of frames flat instead of beveled. I like this look since it is simple. I have a lot going on with the molding details so doing a flat panels makes sense. All of these moldings I do with my router and various cutters. I use cope and stick router bits for my outside frames. I can make the frame and panels rather easily and simply. I do have test pieces to make sure I have the bits set to the right height and I am getting the details that I want. I hope you try out some of these details and can incorporate them into your built-ins or cabinets. |
Ellen Kaspern Design 