DIY Home Projects
Installing Decorative Door Headers


BLACK+DECKER B+D Contributor 187 Projects
Adding a decorative head casing to a door is a simple way to dress up your existing trim. Although head treatments are more common over doors, this project will work for window trim as well. Designing your own decorative molding can be creative and fun, but try not to overwhelm the room with an elaborate piece, as it may detract from the décor.
Standard stock door casings have an outer-edge thickness of approximately 11⁄16". Build your custom header around this thickness. Use it to create a reveal line to a thinner piece of trim, or build out from the edge for a bolder, more substantial appearance. In the project shown, a bed molding or a smaller piece of crown molding is used to build the header away from the wall. The ends of the molding are returned to the wall, and the entire piece is capped with a piece of lattice molding.
Installing a decorative header of this style on an interior door may require the installation of additional blocking. For installation over an exterior door or a window, nail the pieces in place directly to the load-bearing framing in the wall above the opening.