Trim for a Dummy Cabinet Makeover

kitchen cabinet trim molding

We have to give the people at Leaf Group a little credit: they appear to have weeded out at least some of the dreck that was eHow.com when they were sliding posts into their new niches. How they decided which ones to delete, we don't know – it's unlikely that someone read them for accuracy, since the niches are about as full of crap as the original mother lode of misinformation. We were checking links not long ago and found that the source content for a DotD we handed out last year was gone, replaced by something equally inept. The author of that "cure worse than the disease"? Marissa Wilson, who managed to pump out "How to Add Trim to Cabinets"¹ at Hunker.com, even while knowing nothing at all about finish carpentry or cabinets...

Unless they're building their own cabinets – in which case they clearly don't need to ask that question – anyone asking that question is most likely asking about either the crown molding at the top of the door or the screen molding to hide the junction of the wall and the end cabinet. It's just possible that someone wants to put picture-frame molding on the doors, which is (we think) where Wilson was heading. It's hard to tell, though, when Marissa starts out by informing us that

"Custom trim is also known as shoe molding. Adding trim to cabinets will make any room look better and add value to the home. There are several different types of wood you can use to add trim to cabinets. These include cherry, pine, oak, maple and many others."

Ummm, shoe molding? That's what "custom trim" is? Heck, that bit of bogosity isn't in Wilson's only reference (which, by the way, is crapalicious in its own right). That's bad enough, but when Marissa gets to the actual "instructions" the bull really starts flying. Take, for instance,

• "Rip the wood... Use an orbital sander to sand the pieces you ripped": Shouldn't you, we dunno, buy molding? or at least use a tool with a molding head to give it some shape?
• "Stain the sides of the wood that will be showing": A pro would stain everything, Marissa, just on general principles (and to prevent uneven swelling/contracting).
• "Cut the wood to make it into trim at a 45-degree angle... using a miter saw... To make the corner trim, flip the piece over and cut it again": Sorry, Marissa, but that won't work for most molding profiles...
• "Dry fit the pieces of trim. Use the finish nailer to secure them to the cabinets": And there – all done!

We won't even bother to mention just how utterly crappy a job done like that would look. We'll just say that anyone who follows those instructions deserves the finished product that results from paying attention to a freelancer who has clearly never attempted this task. That's why Wilson is now the proud owner of a Dumbass of the Day award. Go, Marissa.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   hunker.com/12465322/how-to-add-trim-to-cabinets

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DDIY - CABINETS