Building with Style: Trimless Detailing – What’s Missing?

Most of us have become accustomed to seeing featureless gypsum board interiors with window openings, skylight wells, plumbing boxouts, and other shapes wrapped in drywall without trim. While such trimless detailing has a modern look that some find appealing (the architects who popularized it are called Modernists), it can also leave you feeling like something is missing from the picture. Take a look at Figure A. The first drawing depicts a common element I often use: a skylight at the top of a deep well that connects a flat ceiling to a pitched roof. Now look at the second drawing, in which a collar of trim has been added. To my eye, the trim adds a great deal