Blog
How Custom Millwork Can Add a Distinctive Look to Your Home
Often, it’s the little touches that make your house a home. And custom millwork is one of those touches.
There are so many ways that custom millwork can give your home a fresh look, without a major renovation. It’s all about understanding the options and how they can work for you.
What is Custom Millwork?
Millwork refers to all the woodworking and other wood architectural features in your home. It’s everything from baseboards and trims, to mouldings and panelings, to beams and built-ins.
While you can certainly purchase some of these items at big box stores, you’ll be very limited in your options. Whether it’s the choice of material, color, or style, stock millwork selections can be fairly narrow.
But with custom millwork, the options are nearly unlimited! Providers like Freedom Millwork can custom-craft millwork elements to suit your exact needs and preferences—creating spaces that are as distinct as you and matching millwork elements to your home’s architecture and interior design.
Where Can Custom Millwork Add Style and Distinction?
Custom millwork can have a place in any space in your home. Here are just a few examples of the many ways the right millwork can complement your design and create truly unique living spaces.
Ceiling Features
The ceiling is one area that’s often ignored in home design, but it shouldn’t be! Adding a coffered, tray, or tongue-and-groove ceiling is a great way to create depth, texture, and visual interest—whether in a large area with a vaulted ceiling or a more enclosed space. You can paint the entire ceiling the same color for a subtle look or use different colors to make the millwork features really pop. Or to give the room a warm, organic feel, consider adding an entirely wood ceiling stained to match your wood floors.
Architectural beams and trusses are another millwork feature that can lend more aesthetic interest to any room—from living spaces, to bedrooms and entryways. Whether you choose rustic trusses made from reclaimed wood, metal beams for an industrial feel, or wood beams painted the same color as the ceiling for an understated look, these elements can really tie together your home’s design aesthetic. They’re also perfect for defining specific spaces in an open-plan layout.
Wall Features
Does the term “paneling” evoke images of a 1970s basement? It shouldn’t! Today, you’ll find a world of millwork options that can transform your walls by adding depth and visual interest.
Consider adding recessed panels, wainscoting, shiplap, or tongue-and-groove panels on select walls in your home. It’s a great way to break up a long wall, draw attention to an accent wall, give your entryway more character, or add visual interest to a stairway wall. You can customize wall millwork features to suit any style—from rustic to formal, from simple to ornate—and paint them in any color, whether to complement your wall paint or create a dramatic contrast.
Trim Features
You may not pay much attention to the trim in your home. But choosing trim should never be an after-thought—because the right selections can really transform a space.
Crown moulding is often equated with a more formal style and relegated to certain areas of a home, like the living room or dining room. But in reality, you can customize crown moulding to suit any design and give any room a more finished look.
Doors and windows are another place where custom trim can completely change the look of a room. Custom millwork providers can craft distinctive trim for your interior doors and your window interiors—from sleek to ornate, from formal to casual, in a variety of materials and colors.
Built-in Features
Nothing personalizes your home more than custom built-ins perfectly suited to the way you live. Built-ins are the kind of custom millwork feature that can add style and functionality to nearly any room in your home.
You’ve probably seen photo after photo of built-in bookcases flanking a fireplace. But when it comes to custom built-ins, that’s just the start. Consider these creative ideas for using custom millwork features throughout your home for the right balance of form and function:
- Custom open shelving in your owner’s bathroom suite
- Built-in bookshelves in your home office
- A custom bar or wine cellar in your basement recreation area
- Built-in cubbies to keep everything organized in your mudroom
- A built-in banquette to add cozy seating in your kitchen
When it comes to using custom millwork to add distinction to your home, the possibilities are nearly endless. So how do you get started? By partnering with a local company that can help you consider all the options and determine where custom millwork can best make an impact in your home.
If you’d like to explore how custom millwork can add form and function to your home, contact the experts at Freedom Millwork! Our in-house designers and craftsmen can help you choose and customize millwork features that transform any space.