Decorating with Architectural Trimwork: Planning, Designing, Installing

while there are better boooks for pure trim carpentry skills, Jim Tolpin's book comes to mind, I find myself reaching for this book over Tolpin's as it has great color pictures, concise instructions, good organization, and most importantly, ideas.

When I was choosing how to make my base moldings, or build the decorative cap, I needed guidance on which moldings to choose, what size they should be proportionally, and how to build them. This is where this book becomes worth every penny--its descriptions and pictures, along with techniques for different styles such as neo classical, victorian and Arts and Crafts, with suggestions on how to put all the components together on walls, floors and ceilings.

Overall I highly recommend this book for anyone that's going to trim their house themselves.

Even if you do not plan to do it yourself, the book will provide excellent pictures to help you select the type of trimwork you would like, and will serve as a starting point in a project discussion with a carpenter. The example pictures alone are worth the price of the book.