In the era of newfangled building materials and bold design solutions, it is difficult to surprise someone with standard rectangular doors. Therefore, very often, when choosing a design for their apartment, many owners decide to design interior openings in the form of arches. If you show a little imagination, such designs can not only combine the space of several rooms, but also become the most attractive decor element in the entire room. Finishing arches can be performed in a variety of ways, for every taste and budget. With what materials you can decorate an unusually shaped doorway and how to do this work with your own hands, we will consider in this article.
Choice of finishing materials
Since arches have gained popularity for a long time, manufacturers of modern finishing materials have managed to establish production of products focused specifically on this element of the interior. Today, in specialized markets, you can find ready-made wood products.and MDF, which can only be inserted into the doorway.
If you do not want to limit yourself to standard solutions, or the passage already has a rounded shape and you just need to decorate it, you can use the following materials:
- wallpaper (any variety);
- decorative plaster;
- cork;
- molding;
- polyurethane;
- mosaic;
- decorative and natural stone.
Finishing the arches can be done by any of the listed options, the main thing is that it goes well with the design of both rooms. In order to assess the complexity of the work, let's dwell on each material separately.
Paper and cork wallpapers
Finishing the arch with wallpaper is considered the easiest and most budget option. There is no need to worry about the combination of materials, since most often the walls and the opening are pasted over with the same canvases.
It would seem that such a finish would be mediocre and unattractive, but if you are smart, you can give the arch a very spectacular appearance.
Using brick-like wallpaper will allow you to make an inexpensive imitation of brickwork.
Bright wallpaper with large patterns will help to bring contrasting notes into the interior. They make out only the vault of the arch, and at the junctions of different canvases there are special plastic corners that protect the corners from abrasion.
Recently, the decoration of arches is often done with cork wallpaper. Themuse helps to decorate and highlight the area of the interior passage against the general background. The material can be used even in places of high humidity, but only in this case it is necessary to choose options that have a wax coating.
Technology for pasting arches with wallpaper
Before you begin to glue the wallpaper, the surface of the arch and adjacent walls should be well leveled with putty.
Next, prepare the glue. Experienced experts advise kneading a thick adhesive solution. This allows you to achieve excellent adhesion in sharp bends and allows you to move the blade for better joining.
The first strip is glued to the wall near the arch. The next one is located so that the arched opening is half closed. The protruding part of the glued web is cut off, leaving an allowance of 25 mm. Along the entire length of the resulting stock, small cuts are made (at a distance of 20 mm from each other), which, with the help of a roller, are bent to the inside and glued. Thus, the entire opening is glued on both sides.
Then move to the vault of the arch. A strip is cut out of the wallpaper, the width of which is equal to the depth of the opening itself. Given the location of the elements of the pattern, it is glued to the inner surface of the arch and side walls. To prevent the formation of air bubbles, the wallpaper is smoothed with a clean roller.
Installation of cork wallpaper is no different from working with paper sheets, so we will not dwell on it separately.
Decorative plaster
Do-it-yourself arch decoration cancarried out using an even simpler method - applying decorative plaster.
Before using it, it is necessary to eliminate all flaws on the surface of the wall. With the help of putty and a spatula, they smooth out all the bumps, mask the seams and hide the caps of the fasteners. To ensure reliable adhesion of the material to the base, the arch is treated with a primer and left to dry for a day.
Next, a layer of decorative plaster is applied, which is given the necessary reliefs with a special spatula.
When it is completely dry, it can be painted with special paints or simply treated with finishing solutions.
Molding
Often, the decoration of arches in an apartment is carried out by combining various materials, and moldings act as a highlight of such an interior.
Under this concept it is customary to mean a wide variety of decorative elements in the form of figured, narrow and long stripes. They can be made from plastic, foam, wood, MDF, metal and other materials.
Moldings go well with all types of wallpaper and decorative plaster. Such strips are installed from both ends of the arch and fastened with liquid nails. For the best combination with the interior, it is recommended to use such elements not only for finishing the opening, but also for decorating the surfaces surrounding it.
Polyurethane products
Recently, very often the decoration of arches is performed usingpolyurethane. This is a dense and rather flexible material from which white decorative elements in the form of stucco are made.
This finish is attractive because its cost is much lower than, say, decorating with stone or tiles. Installation of polyurethane is very simple - using a specially designed adhesive. Facing the opening can be done in two versions. In the first, the arch is decorated simultaneously both from the inside and from the outside. In this case, the vertical racks can be arranged in the form of rounded or square columns, expanding upwards.
If massive structures do not fit into the surrounding interior, you can only make the edging of the corners from more elegant elements.
Natural and artificial stone
Finishing an arch with decorative stone is the most time-consuming process, but the result is always impressive. Such a cladding looks most impressive when not only the passage is finished, but also part of the walls adjacent to it. Both symmetry and asymmetry are relevant here. If the openings are located close to each other, you can decorate the interior with smoothly passing lining from one arch to another. No matter which option is chosen, natural materials always look rich and impressive.
In favor of the stone is also the fact that it does not require a perfectly smooth surface, which eliminates the need for its thorough preparation.
However, there are also difficulties associated withusing this material.
First of all, this is his weight. Natural stones are not recommended for cladding structures made of drywall, as this can lead to deformation and even destruction of the opening. Here it is better to use a plaster or acrylic imitation, which looks no less elegant.
Also, the decoration of the arch with stone becomes much more complicated in rounded places. Inexperienced craftsmen have to tinker with it to get the job done beautifully and efficiently.
Installation of decorative stone
Facing is performed in several stages:
1. The surface is puttied to remove large irregularities.
2. The adhesive composition is being prepared. Most often, a mixture of lime, cement, sand and glue is used. If light grades or gypsum imitation were chosen for finishing, you can fix it with ordinary liquid nails.
3. The first stone is laid at the very bottom, at the junction of the wall and the arched opening. It is leveled and pressed tightly against the wall. In order to avoid having to close the corners at the end of the work, the material is overlapped. To do this, the tile of the first row from the floor is attached close to the opening, and the tile of the second row is shifted inward by a distance equal to its own thickness. So, by alternating rows, the entire lining is performed.
4. During the finishing of the arched part of the opening, the material is applied to the arch, the cut line is marked and all unnecessary is removed. Here you can use special wire cutters or an angle grinder.
5. All angular and sharp edges are carefully filed.
6. The resulting seams are filled with a special grout.
Mosaic
Decorative decoration of the arch in places of high humidity (such as a bath, bath, kitchen) is most often done using mosaics.
This option can be used with glass, ceramic, metal, concrete or tile. The material is laid out on a prepared and smoothed surface, where it is attached to a specialized compound. The glue is applied with a notched trowel simultaneously on the wall and tile, after which the product is firmly pressed to the surface. The seams are carefully rubbed with special colored compounds.
Using patterned tiles makes laying a little more difficult as the material needs to be positioned according to the pattern, but the end result is well worth the effort.
Conclusion
The modern construction market is so diverse that it is simply impossible to list all the options for facing doorways. Designers to create interiors are increasingly using bamboo, textile, mirror, forged and other elements. We tried to consider the most popular materials with which the arch can be finished. The photos presented in this article will help you get an idea of this or that method of decorating, and maybe they will prompt you to create your own project. We hope that the above recommendations will be of great help to all beginners.
