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Choosing the right skirting board and architraves can be difficult especially if you have many options to choose from. We have put together some points to consider when making your decision so you can be confident you are creating a beautiful interior!
When selecting your skirting board and architraves first you have to determine what is the interior style of the house, or what style you are looking to create. This will determine the profiles of the board you choose.
Traditional Hamptons use high, thick skirting boards with big rounded profile features. This not only creates a stand out look, but helps the skirting hold its own again elaborate wall wainscoting.
A more coastal or modern take on Hamptons skirting is to still have a tall skirting with a more simple design.
The French Provincial style is admired for its symmetrical design, classic proportions and decorative elements. Skirting boards are a key feature in French style homes and are ornate and decoratively detailed.
Victorian/Georgian interiors mantra is &#;more of everything.&#;. Highly detailed dado rail, wall panelling & highly decorated skirting board profiles which are balanced & elegant will help you achieve this beautiful look.
Interior mouldings in modern homes most popularly choose a minimal Shadowline skirting, or a smaller profile with sharp, hard lines. We have seen an emergence of the use of high but thin skirting boards with simple designs with large flat space. Don&#;t be scared to experiment with size, so long as you keep it simple, you can&#;t get it wrong.
farmhouse/Country style houses are generally cosy and relaxed. This look can be achieved using large skirtings to give a touch of warmth and cosiness to the space.
There are some basic rules when choosing your boards, although they are not hard and fast, they give you a good guide on what works best. Choosing a skirting board based on your ceiling height is a good place to start.
Ceiling Height Complimentary Skirtings Sizes
To 2.4m 90-135mm
To 2.7 m 115-185mm
To 3.0m 135-230mm
To 3.6m 185mm+
Think about what are you looking to achieve. Do you want drama, a cosy space or to open your room out. How prominent do you want your skirting and will you have them as a stand out piece of architectural art, or do you want them to just enhance the look of your room?
The first proportion you should look at it&#;s the height of your ceiling, and then decide what you are wanting to achieve with space.
It is a myth that you should only use large skirting in large rooms with high ceilings, and smaller skirting in small rooms. It is true that large skirting will fill a room and make it feel smaller, but if you are wanting to create a cosy space, then this is something you can experiment with. Using smaller mouldings on a high ceiling will create the illusion of height, and make the room feel taller.
Is your home high traffic? Do you have kids and animals running and playing inside? If so, you may wish to consider a high skirting board to provide a better level of protection to your walls, especially if you&#;re using wallpaper or a bold colour where chips and marks will be more visible.
We consider a larger skirting to be 185mm and larger. 185mm suits most houses and spaces. A more busy profile will suit a room with more space available and if you&#;re using that size in a smaller space you don&#;t want to close in too much, we would recommend a profile design that itself has more breathing space, and may have some elaborate detailing on the top portion, and have 50% or more flat space on the profile.
Another decision you will need to take into account is whether or not you will be painting your skirting boards and architraves white, neutral, staining natural timber or choosing a bold colour.
Most people choose to paint them in whites and neutrals, which will create a more spacious feel, but if you want something on trend and a little different, you can try some bold colours. This can close the space but adding colour in different areas of the room can help with creating that illusion of different space. For instance, you could paint your skirting boards and the bottom half of your wall up to and including a chair rail, mounted below the halfway point on the wall to create the illusion of a higher ceiling. You may also want to try painting all of your skirting boards, architraves and walls in one colour to help the eye pass over the whole room and not be distracted by changes in colour. This can be excellent if you have something else you would like to draw the eye to and feature in the room, like artwork or mounted sculptures.
If you have already selected your skirting and are looking for the architrave to go with it, we usually suggest using the same profile design in a smaller size to provide a consistent style treatment, scale, and balance. However, in some cases, if the skirting has a large area of detailing it may not be available in the smaller size for your desired architrave size. In such cases, we suggest you go for a similar profile with complimenting design elements, which would be a different profile code.
So, if you ask if the skirtings and architraves have to match then yes they should match but matching is more relevant to proportional sizes and not design. And if using the exact same profile is not possible you can choose a different profile with similar details.
There is a two-pronged approach for choosing your architrave size, and these are by the height of your doors and the height of your skirting boards.
When looking at door heights we recommend:
Door Heights Architrave Widths
2.04m 66-90mm
2.34m 90-115mm
2.70m 115mm+
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When considering what works well with your skirting board size, we recommend:
Skirtings Architrave 90-135mm 66-90mm 115-185mm 90-115mm 185-230mm 90-115mm 230mm+ 115mm+The most common size combinations sold are:
135mm skirting with 90mm architrave
185mm skirting with 90mm architrave
If you choose to go with a different profile for architrave, there are a few things to remember:
Here are some of our recommended profile combinations if you&#;re looking to experiment.
A skirting block is an excellent choice if you are using different profiles, thickness or heights for your skirting and architraves, as it seamlessly allows the two profiles to not look out of place or odd, allowing them to not be placed right next to each other.
You can find more information on matching skirting boards & architraves here.
There&#;s so much to consider when working on a home renovation project. Skirting boards are one of the most important and can transform your home&#;s interior while giving your rooms depth of character. They also serve a practical purpose when hiding piping and cables that would spoil the look of your room while protecting walls from any unwanted scuffs or marks.
If you&#;ve never replaced or installed skirting in your home, it can be hard to figure out where to start. Before you buy anything, it&#;s important that you don&#;t rush into simply getting the boards from the first place you find. By shopping around and looking online, you can save thousands by buying high quality skirting that is in keeping with your newly designed room.
At Skirting 4 U, we have a wide range of skirting boards for you to choose and install. In our latest blog on how to choose skirting boards, we share four tips to help you make an informed decision when buying skirting.
Before you buy skirting, it&#;s important to do your research. You need to make sure that the skirting you buy fits the property that you live in and the room you want to fit it in. By taking the type of existing skirting and your property into account, it&#;ll give you an idea of what style, size and profile to include in your home&#;s interior design.
You also need to take into account how much you are willing to spend on skirting so that the products you buy are right for your home&#;s interior. Skirting board needs to be properly maintained to avoid any noticeable wear and tear that can build up over time.
By doing your research, it&#;ll help you decide on the type of skirting that&#;s right for your property as part of your home renovation project.
Picking the right skirting material is something that needs to be thought about when replacing existing skirting boards. You need to make sure the skirting material is not only durable, but can deal with everyday wear and tear from pets, children and general daily life.
When it comes to the types of material used for skirting, there are two options to choose from, MDF or wood. It&#;s important that you take into account the theme of your home, whether it's modern or period, so that the type of skirting material you choose blends in perfectly with the home&#;s interior.
If you&#;re looking for a cost-effective alternative to oak and pine skirting, the smooth, flat look of MDF skirting is great for modern properties. As MDF skirting has no natural knots or grains, it&#;s perfect for painting the skirting boards to your ideal colour.
If you want a premium look, then our wood options (oak skirting and pine skirting) can add style and definition to your home. Both oak and pine skirting are more suited to period-style homes over MDF as they are not only durable, but they add a luxurious style to your humble abode.
An important thing to consider when buying skirting boards is picking the right height that&#;s suited to your property. You need to take into consideration the age of your property, as well as the style you want to achieve before fitting the skirting.
For Georgian or Victorian properties with high ceilings, it&#;s worth going for tall skirting boards over short ones. Taller skirting boards in a period property can allow you to be more decorative, due to the amount of surface area they can occupy in a room.
If you live in a property with a low ceiling, then shorter skirting boards are more suitable over taller skirting. While tall skirting can add a dramatic look to a room, short skirting boards can add a subtle tone, which allows the walls and wall decor to be the focal point of a room.
When purchasing skirting boards, it&#;s always good to consider the height of your ceilings before installing new skirting.
It&#;s important when buying skirting for your home that the colour you choose fits in with the room&#;s walls and flooring. If the colour you pick to paint the skirting does not blend in well with a room, it can spoil the look and style you&#;re trying to achieve.
There are lots of ways to achieve specific looks when installing your skirting. Painting them, for example, is a great way to really make a statement. Our blog on improving your home through coloured skirting and architrave has some great examples.
If you want a modern look to your room, then it's worth painting the skirting in the same colour as your walls. The other alternative is to paint it with a contrasting colour, which is in a colour that&#;s lighter or darker than the colour that&#;s already on the wall. Painting the skirting in a different colour to the wall adds balance to a room, popular choices when trying to achieve this look include navy blue or mustard yellow.
You need to make sure that the colour you choose for the skirting you buy blends in well with the overall aesthetics of your property.
We hope these 4 tips we&#;ve given you will help you make an informed purchase on buying skirting for your latest home renovation project. If you have any questions about our range of oak, pine and MDF skirting boards we offer, you can speak to one of our expert sales team members today.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit wall skirting pvc.