What is Coving?
When decorating our homes we spend a good deal of time thinking about flooring and walls, whilst the ceiling tends to be less of a priority. Coving turn the ceiling into a feature in its own right. It’s simple and decorative, drawing the eye upwards. Coving adds a new dimension and a touch of historic elegance to rooms or hallways.
What is coving? Well, it was created back in the 17th century to improve the appearance of the angle where the wall of a room meets the ceiling by replacing it with an elegant plaster curve. Whilst 18th century coving favoured simplicity of line, the Victorians introduced intricate patterning to beautify the curved surface.
Contemporary Coving Designs
A lot of domestic coving was ripped out in the early twentieth century, the fussy decorative style having become old-fashioned. And then it seemed as though coving might be gone for good. Until it became possible to replace the plasterwork mouldings with more lightweight, modern materials such as polystyrene or polyurethane.
All of a sudden, coving that would have taken skilled craftsmen days or weeks to install, could be bought ready-made, and fixed in just a few hours. The new materials were lighter and came in numerous different styles and patterns. Now, two decades into the 21st century, coving is once more in fashion and more stylish than ever before.
What is Coving in the 21st Century?
The simple answer is that it’s anything our customers want it to be. Here’s just a few of the ways in which we’ve used coving over the past few years:
- Architraves (for doors). If you like the idea of a door feature, add an architrave. It’s a moulding fitted around the door which hides the door joints and adds style to your door frame.
- Roses (for ceilings). Whilst you’re drawing the eye upwards, you could take the opportunity to encompass your light fitting with a ceiling rose. These can be ornate or plain, to match your choice of lighting.
- Coving (for wall/ceiling joints). You can choose between the traditional Victorian, Georgian or Art Deco styling for your coving. Contemporary fittings allow cable to run behind the panelling, and there’s also the option for concealed led lighting.
- Panelling (for walls). If you’re keen to reproduce the Downton Abbey dining experience, wall panelling will take you some of the way. The panels look like they’re part of the original architecture and, once painted, they look stunning.
Logic Plastering is a Coving Installer
We’re a skilled team of coving installers based in Bedfordshire. Over the past two decades we’ve installed coving for customers in new properties, older houses, and heritage homes. If you have an idea, but you’re not sure how to achieve it, Logic Plastering can offer you a range of options for achieving it, tailored to the budget you wish to spend.
Would you like to speak to one of the Logic Plastering team about fitting coving in your home? Call us today on 07809 228328