General Guides

Visit our Help Centre to where we have answered your most frequently asked questions here from the initial product selection, ordering, payment, production lead times, delivery, returns, warranty, and everything in between

The colour scheme you choose is a big factor in achieving the desired result – a pleasing overall look – with either coloured or neutral toned skirting boards. Here are some ideas:

•  Coloured skirtings with white or off-white walls. This helps to “frame” a room and offers scope for toning wall decorations,

•  White or cream skirtings with coloured walls. This places the emphasis on the skirtings, so it is important to install a good style and finish as any imperfections will be noticeable. Care needs to be taken with this as it is easy to get wrong.

•  Walls and skirtings in the same colour but with the subtle variation of having the skirtings a shade lighter or darker. Or skirtings and walls the same colour. Either of these give a seamless appearance and both are a popular statement in contemporary homes. Both approaches give the impression of greater space.

When choosing your skirting boards & architraves you need to analyse how much traffic the skirting is going to have to cope with and how soon you may need to replace them. Plus in an addition or renovation, how are they going to look adjacent to existing rooms?

Also consider the aesthetics of the finished room, so consider other features such as chair rails, picture rails, wainscoting and other wall panelling designs.

Keeping to a budget? A cost-saving option is to reduce the skirting thickness without altering its height. This can often give you the profile you want but at a cheaper price. We estimate that while skirtings and architraves are less than 1.2% of the overall project costs, the impact they make and the value they add is far greater.

Aim for consistency. Practicality, longevity and aesthetics combined throughout your project will give you years of satisfaction. Skirtings must flow whether in corridors or adjoining rooms. They make far more impact than you may have thought!

While it is true that other elements of home design are larger in terms of impact, getting the design of your skirting boards right makes a big difference. They frequently act as a conduit in blending colour and style themes between rooms. They ensure your objective of consistency and a décor that is pleasing to the eye.

The factors to consider therefore are 1) style, 2) colour, 3) material and 4) finish. All these details need to be combined as they add up to the perfect decorative completion of your build or renovation.

It is a mistake to ignore the importance of the material you choose for your skirting boards. It is a big factor in how they look, how easy they are to fit and how long they will last. Finger-joined pine is our preferred timber for both skirting and architraves. If you are looking for a natural, lasting product you cannot beat it. It is available in 5.4metre lengths and is straight and stable. Available in FSC-certified timber it is also good for the environment. However, MDF is widely used for skirting in modern homes. Its limitation is that it cannot be machined or formed in the same way as natural wood and therefore cannot be used for period styles. For a contemporary look in a contemporary home, it is both suitable and affordable. Factors to consider are that it does not offer the longer life span of natural wood, is susceptible to warping, chips and cracks, and may need to be replaced sooner than you would like. If you are spending the money on your building project it is often worth spending that little bit extra to get the qualities that natural wood offers.