When you’re doing up your home, whether it’s just to spruce up a tired-looking interior or whether you’re completely renovating, you can get so preoccupied with the bigger picture that you forget about the finer details. Once the final specks of dust have been swept away, however, it’s the finer details and finishes that you’ll notice most, so make sure you avoid these common oversights.
Don’t just settle for anonymous skirting boards
Very often, skirting boards are simply left up to the contractor and so if you’re not replacing the boards in a period property, you might end up with a very plain or traditional-looking set. This is fine, of course, but there’s so many more styles out there now that your brand new skirting board could be a really attractive feature and not just something to absorb kicks and vacuum cleaners.
There are different heights, for example, as well as lots of different styles and even the colours, especially if you order precision-cut MDF skirting boards. Your skirting boards frame your rooms, so make the most of them and use ones that’ll really enhance your interiors.
Use architraves that match your skirting boards
Architraves are essentially the skirting boards of your doors! They’re the timber or MDF mouldings that cover the door frames and also any detailing in the actual door. It’s always a good idea to match the profile of the skirting boards and architraves to give a consistent and classy look, so make sure you talk to your contractor about these features as well.
Your ironmongery
Your ironmongery includes things like door handles, rails and similar fittings. These trimmings are the finishing touches to your doors, cupboards and stairs and it’s important that they not only look great but that they’re easy and comfortable to use. If you have older or very young people in the home then lever handles are much better than doorknobs as knobs can be difficult to turn if there are mobility issues. The same applies to your front and back doors, not just to your internal doors.
Whichever form you choose, it should be in keeping with the prevailing style within your home so that your metal fittings don’t look out of place or as if you just threw everything together.
Your tiles
It’s a good idea to ask your tiling team to lay out the tiles before they actually start to fit them; it may be that you see a CAD version or photos of previous work. Make sure that the design has the tiles placed symmetrically around the toilet, around the hob and kitchen sink and line up as neatly as possible on the floors and walls.
When it comes to the grouting, try to keep the lines as narrow as possible and decide before you start how you’re going to deal with exposed edges if there will be any. If your tiles are made of stone, they can be filed, smoothed or bevelled, whereas ceramic tiles will need a trim. Metal trims are much better than plastic ones and are definitely worth the extra expense.
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