Trim on Walls Called: Names by Height, US and UK

Trim on walls is called molding, or moulding in the UK. The specific name depends on its position: baseboard or skirting runs along the floor, chair rail or dado rail sits partway up the wall, picture rail is placed below the ceiling, crown molding or coving joins the wall and ceiling, and casing or architrave surrounds openings. Decorative rectangles are called panel molding or picture-frame molding. Use the height-based guide below to identify the exact trim in your room or reference photo. For a full overview of every type, see our wall panels guide.

To see each style side by side with its spacing rules and a 10 ft wall cut list, browse our free Wall Trim Styles Library.

Most answers to "what is trim on walls called" are a list of ten definitions. That helps once you know which one you are looking at. In practice you are standing in front of a wall, or a photo, wondering what that strip at 34 in is, or what the boxes are called so you can search for them. This guide names wall trim by position: measure the height, look up the name, and see the UK term and whether it comes as a pre-cut kit like our trim on walls called chair rail and frame kit.

Key takeaways

• Most wall trim can be named from one number: its height above the floor.
• A horizontal strip about one-third up the wall is a chair rail; on an 8 ft ceiling that is about 32 in.
• Rectangles of trim on a wall go by four names: picture frame molding, box molding, panel molding and applied molding.
• The UK uses different words for the same pieces: skirting, dado rail, architrave and coving.
• Baseboard, casing and crown are usually carpentry jobs; chair rail and frame molding are available as pre-cut kits.

What is trim on walls called, by height?

Name wall trim by where it sits. Measure from the floor to the center of the strip and compare it with the table. Heights follow common practice: chair rail at about a third of the ceiling height, picture rail 8 to 15 in below the ceiling, as summarized in this wall trim reference.

Where it sits	US name	UK name	Typical position, 8 ft ceiling	9 ft ceiling	10 ft ceiling
Where wall meets floor	Baseboard	Skirting board	0 to 3-5 in high	0 to 5-6 in	0 to 6-8 in
About one-third up	Chair rail	Dado rail	About 32 in	About 36 in	About 40 in
Top of lower paneling	Wainscot cap	Dado capping	32 to 42 in	36 to 48 in	40 to 54 in
Just below ceiling	Picture rail	Picture rail	81 to 88 in	93 to 100 in	105 to 112 in
Where wall meets ceiling	Crown molding	Coving or cornice	Top edge	Top edge	Top edge
Around doors and windows	Casing	Architrave	Frames each opening	Same	Same
Rectangles on the wall	Picture frame, box or panel molding	Panel moulding	Anywhere between base and ceiling	Same	Same
Vertical strips with flat boards	Board and batten	Board and batten	Full or partial height	Same	Same

The chair rail column uses one-third of the ceiling height; the picture rail column uses 8 to 15 in below the ceiling. Your room may differ by a few inches, and older houses often have higher rails.

What are the rectangles of trim on a wall called?

Rectangles of trim on a wall are called picture frame molding, box molding, panel molding or applied molding. All four describe the same thing: thin molding mitered into frames and fixed onto a flat wall to imitate paneling. The name changes with region and with the size of the boxes, not with how they are made.

Name you will see	Usually means	Search it as
Picture frame molding	Frames on a wall, any size	Most common US term
Box molding	Same, often squarer or in a grid	Common in design media
Panel molding / panel moulding	The profile used to make the frames	Common in the UK and with carpenters
Applied molding	Any trim fixed onto a flat surface rather than built into it	Used for cabinets and walls
Wainscoting	Paneling on the lower wall, often with frames and a cap	When the frames stop at chair rail height
Shadow box molding	Frames, sometimes nested two deep	For double or layered frames

Worked example: naming the trim on a real wall

Picture an 8 ft dining room wall: a 5 in strip at the floor, a 2.4 in strip at 33 in, three tall boxes above it, three short boxes below, and a curved strip where wall meets ceiling. Measured from the floor, every piece has a name, and two of them can be bought as one kit.

1. The 5 in strip at the floor is the baseboard (skirting in the UK).
2. The strip at 33 in is a chair rail: 33 / 96 = 0.34, about one-third of the wall.
3. The three short boxes below it are wainscoting, built from picture frame molding.
4. The three tall boxes above are also picture frame molding; together with the rail the wall is "chair rail and picture frame molding".
5. The curved strip at the ceiling is crown molding (coving).
6. To recreate it: our chair rail kit supplies the rail plus 3 upper and 3 lower frames for $165 to $197; baseboard and crown are bought separately.

Which wall trim can you add yourself?

Chair rail, picture frame molding and board and batten are the easiest to add, because they sit on a flat wall and do not have to meet a floor, ceiling or door jamb. Baseboard, casing and crown fit against other surfaces, need coped or angled cuts and are usually installed by a carpenter.

For a structured treatment using evenly spaced vertical or framed sections, explore our Board and Batten Wall Kits.

For ready-planned framed and grid designs using adhesive-backed trim, browse our Peel and Stick Wall Molding Kits.

Trim	DIY difficulty	Why	Pre-cut kit?
Picture frame molding	Easy with a kit	Flat wall, 45 degree miters done in the factory	Yes
Chair rail	Easy	Straight run; only the ends meet casing or corners	Yes, with frames
Board and batten	Easy to medium	Square cuts; layout math matters	Yes
Baseboard	Medium	Floors are uneven; inside corners are coped	No
Casing	Medium	Must sit on a flush jamb with an even reveal	No
Crown molding	Hard	Compound angles, out-of-square corners	No

Common mistakes when naming and buying wall trim

• Calling every horizontal strip "crown". Crown sits at the ceiling; anything lower is a rail. Fix: measure the height.
• Ordering chair rail when you wanted a picture rail. They differ in height and profile. Fix: check the position table.
• Searching "wainscoting" for frames on the upper wall. Wainscoting is the lower wall. Fix: search picture frame molding.
• Assuming UK and US sizes match. Fix: compare in millimeters; our kits list both.

Shop the look

• Half Wall Wainscoting Kit with 6 cm Chair Rail: wainscot frames plus rail in one box, from $39.41.
• Picture Frame Wall Molding Package: full-height frames in 60 to 120 cm widths, from $53 per column.
• Board and Batten Grid Kit: the batten look in self-adhesive sets, from $69.80.

Frequently asked questions

What is the trim around the bottom of a wall called?

Baseboard in the US, skirting board in the UK. It covers the joint between wall and floor and takes knocks from vacuums and feet.

What is the trim on top of a wall called?

Crown molding where the wall meets the ceiling, called coving or cornice in the UK. A strip a little lower, 8 to 15 in below the ceiling, is a picture rail.

What is the trim in the middle of a wall called?

A chair rail, or dado rail in the UK, usually at about one-third of the wall height. It originally stopped chair backs from marking the wall.

What is square trim on walls called?

Picture frame molding or box molding. When the boxes stay below a chair rail, the whole treatment is called wainscoting.

Is molding the same as trim?

Nearly. Molding is the shaped strip; trim is the job it does. People use the words interchangeably for wall details.

For the difference between molding and trim and more layouts, read our wall trim molding ideas. Ready to choose? Browse Wall Molding Kits, or plan your wall with live pricing in our Wall Designer.

Last updated: October 9, 2026