A Doll's Life: Trim Part I

Today we're going to go through some basic cutting techniques. Tomorrow, and later, we'll be addressing some specific techniques, as well as some common problems--like stairwells. What are you supposed to do with those things, anyway? I honestly have no idea, I think the majority of kits don't anticipate most finishing issues and concerns. Here, I can offer you my solutions, but, keep in mind, they're solely the product of my imagination. They're certainly not the only solutions out there--and your imagination might provide you with much better solutions!

The room we're starting with today is a roombox I'm building for the Sturbridge Miniatures Festival. When it's done, it's going to be a Victorian kitchen. I've already installed the door and window, which are going to, when the roombox is complete, face out onto a narrow alley. The opposite wall is going to be a brick wall, the side of another townhouse. Victorian London was, architecturally, very similar to parts of New York and Boston--even the very rich lived in narrow, tall townhouses, squished in together side by side. Space was at a premium, so it was important to use every inch. Commonly, kitchens and garages were in sunken half basements. Not only did these basements have limited light, but also they were much closer to the noise and smell of the street. It's hard for us to imagine, today, but in the days before indoor plumbing and town garbage disposal, city streets were very smelly places. In class conscious Victorian London, everyone--including the servants--expected the servants to be content with such quarters.

This is something you want to keep in mind, as you start trimming your room--what's the room's purpose? Who is going to use it, and for what? A Victorian kitchen, particularly in the home of the very rich, was a utilitarian space. Encaustic tile was durable and stain resistant. Baseboard (and crown moulding) sealed up cracks in the wall and kept out drafts. Chair rails protected the wall against scuffs and scratches from chairs and tables. While today, with our advances in construction techniques, these trims are purely decorative, back then they served important functions. The Victorians tried to make them as pretty as they could. Here, I'm using simple tile and trim, to reflect the room's function. I'm staining the trim with an oak stain, because, while paint was expensive, back then, wood was still cheap--the reverse of today.

I start by using my mitre box to cut the trim at a 45 degree angle. I usually sand the cut lightly--very lightly--to remove any "fuzzies" from the wood. Make sure that, before you cut, you're cutting in the right direction! It sounds silly, but mistakes do happen.

I like to start with the side walls. Push the trim all the way in to the corner, but don't mash it.

Lightly mark the edge, where you want to make the cut, with a pencil.

As you're preparing to cut the trim, keep in mind which side of the pencil mark you're going to cut on. Otherwise, your piece is going to end up either too long or too short. Measure twice, cut once--it really is true.

For the back wall, I use what I like to think of as the "paper technique." Trim usually comes in 24" lengths, but roomboxes usually come in 12 or 15" lengths--and therein lies the problem. The trim you have is almost always longer than the space. You can use a ruler for this, but why? Particularly if it's an odd length, a ruler can be sort of ineffective--you end up cutting closer to the nearest mark on the ruler, even when it's not entirely accurate. So, I push a sheet of typing paper into the corner, and mark along the edge where the trim piece should end. It's not rocket science, but it works for me.

Here, I make my mark just at the edge of the door.

Now, I hold the trim against the typing paper.

Here, note that it's important to push the edge of the trim right up against the edge of the typing paper--you want to make sure you're going to get a tight fit. A few millimeters here or there can add up to visible gaps.

I lightly continue the mark on the typing paper onto the trim.

I use a short piece of trim for the corner. Remember to cut the 45 degree angle at the end before you measure the length of the trim!

Now, I'm ready to cut the chair rail. I start the same way I start with the baseboard--by cutting the trim on a 45 degree angle.

I want my chair rail to be at a 2.5" height, all the way around the room. Here, I'm marking that height very lightly with a pencil. When I hold the trim against the wall (or the typing paper), I want to make sure that I hold it along the pencil marks. If the trim is crooked, then it's going to be the wrong length.

The trim should fit snugly in place, but you shouldn't have to force it. If you have to force it, then it's too long. Here, the chair rail fits tightly enough to stay in place without tape, but I can easily push it out.