Introduction
Want to give a dreary room a dramatic facelift? Adding window or door cornices will bring freshness and style to any room decor. They'll hide ugly drapery rods and add a touch of custom-made detailing that makes an ordinary window or patio door look like something special. The top of the cornice can even serve as a display shelf for art or collectibles.
Cornices are surprisingly easy to build, even the elegant ones you see in home magazines. Using off-the-shelf trim from the home center and a compound miter saw, anyone with simple carpentry skills can create a beautiful window or door cornice in just a few hours.
Read on and we'll show you how to select the materials, assemble the parts and attach the cornice to the wall. We'll also share design tips to help you match a cornice style to your home decor. Search online for cornice suppliers and you'll see that you can save huge money by building your own.
Design the Cornices to Fit Your Home
All wood cornices begin the same way, with cutting and assembling the three-sided, lidded box. Then you add the trim of your choice and finish the cornice. The cornice is then ready for mounting on the wall by affixing it to a 1×2 that’s screwed to the wall above the opening.
Finished cornice close-up
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FAMILY HANDYMAN
Cornice cross-section and parts
Design elements within your home should dictate the wood type, molding style and finish you select. Depending on the design, the top overlaps the sides, sometimes with a routed edge, or is nailed to the top or inside of the box and doesn’t show from below.
The tops are best made from 1x4s, 1x6s or 1x8s. There’s no need to cut the tops to width if you choose the right combination of top style and board size. The example we show is a 1×6 nailed on top of the box, which gives an overall inside depth of 4-3/4-in.
For the same look but with a shallower box, you could also nail a 1×4 inside the box flush with the top for a depth of 3-1/2-in. Choose whichever method it takes to clear your curtains.
Other cornice options
Options are almost endless. If you’re having trouble choosing, here’s a tip:
Buy short lengths of different types of trim, along with some cheap 1x4s and 1x6s. Cut everything to 1-ft. lengths and mock up several combinations. Just squirt a little wood glue on the pieces and clamp them together for about 10 minutes. Hold the cornice mock-ups over the opening to get a feel for the final look.
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FAMILY HANDYMAN
FAMILY HANDYMAN
FAMILY HANDYMAN
Select Materials and Collect Key Tools
If you plan to paint your cornices, poplar and aspen are good choices for the box materials. They’re stable and cheap, and the grain won’t show through paint. Pine and basswood moldings are usually the least expensive choices for paintable trim.
If you want stained or natural wood cornices, look for oak, mahogany, cherry, maple and others at home centers. The biggest problem is finding hardwood moldings other than oak. You may have to special order them or find a specialty millwork supplier online.
The best tools for cutting miters on wide boards (1x6s) are a 10-in. compound miter saw or a sliding compound saw. Standard compound saws work like typical miter saws, but the motor and blade tip sideways, making them capable of cutting bevels. A sliding compound miter saw cuts compound angles too, but the motor and blade slide on tracks so it can handle wider stock.
Be sure to use a sharp finish-cutting blade in either one. Prices for standard compound miter saws are low, or you can rent one.
You can pre-drill and hand-nail most of the project, but an air-powered brad nailer with 1- and 1-1/2-in. brads makes the job much easier. Many are inexpensive and well worth the price. Or you can rent one. (Go with one of the special airless ones and you’ll save the price of renting a compressor.)
But for the money, compound miter saws and brad nailers are far too useful and far too fun not to own yourself.
