One thing that most homes have in common is that the kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house. Regardless of who occupies the house, the kitchen is subject to intensive use and as such needs to be fairly resistant to dirt, grime, bashes and scrapes.
In this guide, we take a look at how you can design your kitchen with skirting boards to keep it on style with the rest of the décor in your home while still maintaining a good degree of practicality.
It is very easy to treat skirting boards as an afterthought when it comes to interior design, but whether you are completely redesigning your kitchen or just giving it a quick makeover, skirting boards in kitchens should form a fundamental part of the overall design concept.
Are Skirting Boards Necessary In Kitchens?
A common question we hear is whether skirting boards are needed in kitchens and although here at Metres Direct we are probably quite biased towards saying yes, it is hard to imagine a scenario when skirting boards would not be required in a kitchen.
Even in a home that has more of a showhome style kitchen than one that is practically designed and constantly subject to wear and tear from rampant toddlers and moody teenagers, designing a kitchen without skirting would seem a strange decision (and one that you might later regret).
With so many styles of skirting board available and almost limitless choices in terms of the finishes to your skirting – it is quite easy to use skirting in a way to create real standout features or just to allow it to blend in for practical purposes.
How To Choose The Right Skirting Board For Your Kitchen
Choosing skirting board that complements your kitchen perfectly is not as daunting a task as you might think. There are a few key questions that you will need to consider and they can generally be broken down in to two categories – style and usage.
How Your Home (and Kitchen) Is Used?
Are you more Nigella Lawson or Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall? How you use your kitchen will go some way to helping you decide on the kind of skirting that is right for you. More importantly, it is how the rest of the house use the kitchen that is probably more important.
You may have dreams of conjuring exquisite culinary cuisine in a utopian paradise but if the rest of your household treat the kitchen as their own then you will perhaps need to go for something a little more practical - or at least something somewhere in the middle of style of practicality.
The beauty of skirting boards is that they can withstand a fair amount of abuse so if they are going to be used for protective purposes as much as decorative purposes then opting for higher skirting might prove a good decision – particularly if your home is more traditional in style than contemporary.
If you have pets (or children for that matter) that will be carrying muddy paws in and out of kitchen then adding a high gloss finish to your skirting is a good move as it will be easier to clean than lower gloss finishes.
The Style Of Your Home
One of the prime factors to consider when choosing skirting boards for the kitchen is style. If you already have skirting board in place you might be quite happy to go for a like for like replacement, however redecorating is a great opportunity to choose something that really complements the style of the home or the style of your new decoration.
If you have a modern home then more simplistic styles of skirting are most likely to complement your existing décor. For contemporary homes you should look to choose square edged skirting boards, chamfered, splay or stepped styles.
More traditional homes are likely to already have more intricate styles of skirting in place with Torus, Ovolo and Ogee skirting boards being the most likely candidates to choose from.
When it comes to choosing the height of the skirting board for your kitchen you can be quite flexible and go for something that suits your own tastes but also that will be practical. Period properties tend to have higher ceilings and therefore will not look unbalanced with very high skirting (even up to 250mm in height) whereas modern kitchens will generally be better suited to lower heights of skirting. Don’t be afraid to make a statement though as higher skirting can really make a statement – especially when using contrasting or bolder colours.
When it comes to deciding on the material of your skirting board you are again going to be dictated to somewhat by the style of the rest of the home. Country kitchen’s might be better suited to oak, whereas more modern homes might look better with an MDF finish. There is no absolute rule here and both MDF and Oak can be treated or painted to protect against the usual kitchen dirt and grease that you will need to be able to clean.
Kitchen Skirting Board Finishes
Your final decision will be how to finish your kitchen skirting boards. Painting your skirting boards in at least a semi gloss is usually going to be the best option although wipe clean satin paints can also be used. Most skirting boards will already come primed and at Metres Direct you can even order your skirting board pre-painted in whatever colour you like.
If you are painting your skirting boards yourself then be sure to do your research on the paint you buy and be sure to go with something that is hard wearing for kitchens that have a decent amount of traffic.
When it comes to colours don’t be afraid to be bold. So many homes will have the standard white finished skirting boards and although this can look great you can achieve some fantastic designs by choosing something a little more daring.
If you have dark walls then either choosing a skirting board that is matching in colour or is significantly lighter in colour can achieve a great look. Similarly, if you have lighter coloured walls then choosing a contrasting dark colour for your skirting will really help you to achieve a stunning look for your kitchen.
At Metres Direct we are extremely proud of the range of skirting boards we supply. In addition to that, we have some of the best value and high quality skirting so why not browse our skirting board styles today.
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