Often when people want to decorate a room, they focus on large-scale design choices, such as floor plans, color palettes and furnishings. Yet, trim work can also play a significant role in defining the character of a space as those other considerations.

The importance of trim
Trim is the finishing decoration that usually lines the edges of a room, including doors, windows, ceilings and floors. Often, trim is made of wood or polyurethane, and can have varying degrees of width. Trim can be as basic as a thin piece of rounded wood no bigger than a quarter of an inch thick running alongside the edges of the floor. It can also be incredibly ornate, with intricate repeating patterns cut into a crown molding that fits along the edges of a ceiling.

The presence of trim can help emphasize the elements of a room, such as doors and windows, and it can also break up the visual impact of a blank wall. Some homes will have trim running alongside the walls of a room at about waist height to add some texture. Others will keep the trim as minimal as possible, making a space feel more stark and uninterrupted. Whether you're working with luxury house plans or smaller house plans, trim can serve as an elegant detail that helps tie a room together.

Considering styles
Besides choosing how much trim to have, homeowners should also give consideration to the style of trim they want. While it won't define a space on its own, trim will often act as an important extension of the rest of the house's style. If a home is more neocolonial, such as the design in HHF-5989, then the trim should match this aesthetic. More modern, minimalist homes may want for sharper, cleaner trim.