how to build a victorian style door surroundVictorian Style

Finish Carpenter Price c. $600.00

This design is based on Victorian door surrounds I’ve seen all over the U.S. and Canada.

It’s a favorite pattern here on The Joy of Moldings, and now you can make it yourself using this page as your portal to all of the step by step installation and painting posts in this series.

I installed this door surround in a new farmhouse near the San Tan Mountains, Arizona.  I like to base my designs on moldings I find in historic homes near whatever project home I’m working on at the time, and quite often people are surprised that Arizona has a rich Victorian architectural heritage.

The Victorian architectural period was in full swing during the Arizona Territory population explosion.

People shipped complete house building kits out on the railroad and then assembled them in the hot, dusty, bustling desert towns.  So I thought Victorian farmhouse moldings would be a good fit for this desert ranch house.

Posts in This Series

1.  How to Build DOOR TRIM-114 for About $60.00

2.  PLINTH BLOCK-101: How to Make Step by Step

3.  PILASTER-103: How to Make Step by Step

4.  ENTABLATURE-100: How to Make Step by Step

5.  How Do I Make This Large Baseboard?

6.  How to Paint Moldings:  Steps to paint this door trim and this room are on this page.

Related Posts

Before & After: Victorian Farmhouse Trim

Before & After: Moldings for this Patio Double Door

Related Molding Patterns

BASEBOARD-103

DOOR TRIM-133

painted diy mdf door trim front door

The same door trim but viewed from the living room.

Below  This is the exact same door surround pattern as the one above, but this one’s installed on a pocket door leading to the kitchen on the other side of the living room.

You might ask why I made the front door surround, which is supposed to be senior — and therefore more elaborate — the same pattern as the front door surround?

The answer is simple: the front door eventually received ornate woodworking appliques on the capitals — a nice pair of rectangular rosettes.  [See my post Architectural Subordination for more about senior and subordinate patterns.]

A Little Architectural Vocabulary

victorian painted door trim moldings

Entablature

This portion of the door surround — from the top of the cornice down to bottom of the necking — is collectively called the entablature.

It is  sometimes referred to as the door header or overdoor, but since entablature is the post accurate term, that’s what I use on our blog.

Ornate Appliques  Even if you build this entablature exactly as shown, you could personalize the design by the unique combinations of ornate woodworking appliques you apply to the capitals and frieze.

door header trim moldings made from mdf and poplar

Entablature Capitals

The additional detail at either end of this entablature are called entablature capitals.  They are patterned after the top of a column, which is essentially what a full pilaster is.

Entablature capitals are the perfect place for ornate woodworking appliques.

piaster capital

This door surround I included a full capital on top of the recessed panel pilasters.

Recessed Pilaster and Plinth Block with Necking

Pilaster  This pilaster pattern has the extra detail of a recessed panel.  Pilasters can also be fluted or simple flat-stock.

Plinth Block  Necking at the top of plinth blocks was fairly common on Victorian style door surrounds.

victorian style plinth blocks for interior door

victorian door trim moldings

Before & After Pocket Door Trim Moldings

When you’ve decorated your home to perfection yet you still feel something is missing, then it’s probably moldings that you’re pining for.

diy door trim moldings for pocket door

pocket door mdf moldings

There, that’s what you needed all along!

Moldings make all the difference in a home.  They have the power to lift our spirits in a way that no other decorating item can.

They provide the solid, structural visual clues we need to make us feel like we are in a permanent, stable home — a refuge from the wearisome, disposable culture in which we live.  -Ken

 

Posts in This Series

1.  How to Build DOOR TRIM-114 for About $60.00

2.  PLINTH BLOCK-101: How to Make Step by Step

3.  PILASTER-103: How to Make Step by Step

4.  ENTABLATURE-100: How to Make Step by Step

5.  How Do I Make This Large Baseboard?

6.  How to Paint Moldings:  Steps to paint this door trim and this room are on this page.