Monday 7 March 2016

Gorgeous High Skirting Boards!

Today, let's talk about lovely high skirting boards. Perhaps not the most glamorous of subjects, you might be thinking (perhaps high skirts might draw the crowds more easily) but, before this post is out, I hope you'll agree that tall skirting boards are one of the unsung heroes of adding a HUGE dose of W:O:W! to a room.

White Chesterfield sofa by Marks and Spencer's. Walls in Farrow and Ball Shaded White. Modern Country Style: Kate's Creative Space Full Home Tour Click through for details.:
High skirting boards in a kitchen

You see, in olden days, the higher the status of a room, the grander the mouldings needed to be (by mouldings, I mean tall skirting boards and thick architraves...)Yes, it was all about impressing the neighbours and showing off your social standing back then but aren't these lovely high skirting boards beautiful, don't you think? 

sash window, original shutters, lovely radiator...but someone water that plant!:
High skirting boards and shutters

Period houses were created to have more prominent mouldings in the main living areas, and then for the mouldings to get smaller (and cheaper!!) as you went up the stairs to the bedrooms, away from the public eye.

extra high #skirting #boards by joanna:
Tall skirting boards painted the same colour as the walls

It's easy to let such details in a house slip you by but, believe me, my dears, adding high skirting boards can make all the difference in adding character to your home.

High skirting boards and wooden floor is cool - like the spacious and bright corridor and the archway thing.:
High skirting boards in a hall

For some reason, newer houses hardly ever add this stunning feature, unless they're very high end, which is such a shame. I imagine that such extras are sadly driven by profits for the builders.

There wasn’t really a design plan to this room, more of a slap-dash, happy accident kind of situation. I worked with what was there (which was not much bar the mouldings on the walls, the high skirting boards and a very dark fire place), kept the walls quite light (Farrow & Ball Strong White) and painted the fire place in Farrow & Ball’s All White, added a big mirror above it to maximise light in that room.:
Tall skirting boards draw attention to a gorgeous fireplace

Let me tell you a secret: upgrading to high skirting boards and gorgeous wide architraves is one of the best things you can do to add a wow-factor to the bones of a home.

Gorgeous Modern Country living room - Farrow and Ball Pavilion Gray?:
Tall skirting boards in white pop against the walls painted in Antique Cream by Crown

I'm not just talking about period houses here, contemporary homes can also take a bit of skirting board action; they just need careful choosing.

gray+gray+gray+white...:
Note the height change in skirting boards when entering the higher status room...

There are lots of ways of decorating with high skirting boards as you can see from these images. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

 :
Tall skirting boards topped by panelling

You can add panelling on the top.... 

fireplace in sitting room:
I love this Modern Country living room

or you could draw attention to your high skirting boards by leaving a vast expanse between them and the ceiling....

Grey walls, gold mirror, wood floor:

Choose paint colours that make them pop against the walls..

I like the large ornate gold mirror...:

...or simply paint your tall skirting boards the same colour as the walls for a bit of reverse I'm-so-cool-I don't-even-have-to-draw-attention-to-my-beatiful-house psychology!

Black and White Room, Yellow Sofa for Accent, Chandelier:

In our new Georgian house, we've been doing exactly this! Some of the mouldings had been changed over to diddy little versions (as was all the rage in the seventies!) and changing them back has been SUCH A PLEASURE!!

Shaded White - No. 201 - Emulsion Mate:
Gorgeous Modern Country hall

Wanna see?!!


Images via Kate's Creative Space, Farrow and Ball, indulgy, champagne maker, wearandwhere, Charlotte Bezzant, unknown, La Maison Gray, Modern Country Style, Nicety, Houzz, unknown, Kate's Creative Space

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4 comments :

Lissy Parker said...

Beautiful! We have added larger boards to our house too. The difference in the look and feel of the room is amazing.
xo, Lissy

Unknown said...

I love this post. I'm in the process of buying a new house and will pin some of these for future reference.

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

I chose not to save any money on the skirting board when renovating Cottage... Everybody thought that was a ridiculous expense, but it makes a world difference.

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