The Wall Feature You Might Be Better Off Avoiding

Wall features have long been celebrated for their ability to add personality and depth to otherwise plain spaces. From bold accent walls to textured finishes, these design choices offer homeowners a way to infuse style into their interiors. However, there's one wall feature you might actually be better off avoiding, and that's wall molding. Wall moldings, such as chair rails, wainscoting, and picture frame trims, are good to consider before remodeling your home, as they can make a space feel elegant and complete. The visual appeal is undeniable. They add depth and structure to flat walls, and when done right, they can even add an illusion of height to a room. Unfortunately, the downsides to these features could make their appeal become lost on you with time. For instance, they can become difficult to maintain, hard to uninstall, and even pricey to install.

Thankfully, wall moldings aren't the only way to elevate your walls. If you're looking for charm without the cleaning headache, there are better options that you could employ to decorate your walls. A great (albeit unexpected) one is wall-mounted lighting. You can install sconces or swing-arm lamps to add depth and visual interest without touching the paint or trim. They create cozy zones and can double as ambient or task lighting. 

Wall moldings might look good in the right space, but they can quickly turn into a maintenance burden. This is a side to these moldings that most homeowners only discover after the installation. So, before adding texture to your blank walls with this molding DIY, weigh your design vision against your lifestyle and cleaning tolerance. These features collect dust and grime easily because the grooves, ledges, and corners in decorative moldings are dust magnets. If you're not up for regular cleaning, they'll look dirty fast, and this is exponentially worse if the molding is white, which most of them are. Wood moldings also require regular maintenance as they can be damaged by moisture, infested by termites, or warp due to weather changes.

Wall moldings (especially crown molding) can also get expensive. Specific molding materials, such as plaster and hardwood, typically cost more than others. And even if you decide to go for the cheaper materials, labor can cost hundreds, especially if you want custom cuts or seamless corner joins. You should also know that some of these affordable materials, like Styrofoam, can become a sustainability and health nightmare.

Another consideration is how permanent these features can feel. Unlike wallpaper or paint, moldings aren't easy to remove if you grow tired of the look. Most moldings are caulked and sometimes nailed to the wall, so removing them improperly can damage your drywall and paint. Finally, some busy molding patterns can visually shrink a room, instead of expanding it.