Style Specifics - Mouldings

When designing your home, it's all in the details, and all too often the details are forgotten. Here, H&R guides you through a variety of decorative moulding styles for your home.

ART DECO

Bold, chunky designs are typical of this era — and decorative mouldings are no exception. Strong, stepped designs feature heavily in both skirting boards and cornicing, whilst sweeping yet solid curves were also popular. The materials may also reflect trends of the time, with polished black and white finishes being much sought after.

GEORGIAN

Georgian mouldings tend to vary considerably. One of the main features of cornices of this period is that they projected down the wall and across the ceiling at equal distances. Deep wall friezes were also popular. Ceilings often featured ribbons and swags, Classical figures and urns. Other decorative devices included dentils and egg and dart patterns. As during the Victorian era, the ornamental qualities of the mouldings diminished with the relative social importance of the room.

VICTORIAN

From the 1850s ‘fibrous plaster’ (strengthened with hessian fibres) allowed for large complex cornices to be cast in one piece prior to fitting. Also used were cheap, lightweight papier mâché ornamental mouldings. Cornice was very ornate, featuring flowers, fruit and vines. Ceiling roses were at their height during this period.

CONTEMPORARY

No fuss or decoration here. Junctions between wall and floor and wall and ceiling should be kept crisp and clean. Skirting boards should either be in the same material as the floors or skipped altogether in favour of shadow gaps. Cornices should either be very subtle and simple, non-existent or once again replaced with a shadow gap.

Further Reading:

• Skirting for Modern Homes