Quality, stylish baseboards can update your home, add visual interest, and create an added layer of sophistication to your home’s style. Not only that, baseboards are inexpensive and they also add value to your home.
Functional Art
Baseboards are not just a pretty addition to a home (although, they certainly are that!). They also exist as a functional piece of material. Installed where the floor meets the wall, baseboards cover up uneven flooring and prevent furniture from being pushed too close to the wall. But besides their function, they help to complete the look of a room, making the room look sophisticated and more complete.
Learn how to choose the right baseboard for your home.
How Tall Should the Baseboards Be?
To determine the height of your baseboards, look to your casings. The casings are the moldings around the doors and windows in your home. Your baseboard should be taller than the width of the casing. You want the baseboards to be noticeable, but not overpowering. A good rule of thumb? If you have an 8-foot wall, keep your baseboard between 3 and 5 inches tall. If you have a 10-foot ceiling, keep the baseboard between 5 to 7 inches.
Helpful tip: Baseboards can make a smaller room appear larger when you blend the molding with the colors of the floor or wall.
What Material Should You Choose?
The material you choose for your baseboards depends on which room the baseboard will be going in. Wood baseboard is great for rooms with wooden floors and for general living areas. Wooden baseboards can be stained, painted, or even left untreated.
Plastic molding, on the other hand, often works in a room that gets a lot of moisture, like a bathroom or kitchen.
Helpful tip: If you’re replacing only some of your baseboard, match the material and style of your new baseboard to what you already have in your home.
What Style Baseboard Should You Choose?
When it comes to baseboards, your style choices are limited to the style of your home. Baseboard that doesn’t match the style of the house will just look off and wrong, so you want to make sure you match your baseboard to your house’s character. For example, if you live in a Victorian home, you can choose elaborate molding, while a modern home is better suited to a plain plank.
Also think about the other details of your home. Do you have beautiful flooring? Contrast your baseboard molding with the floor and wall to draw the eye to that area of the room.
What About Accessories?
Did you know you can add accessories to your baseboards? Plinth blocks help to join moldings of different widths, like a wider baseboard meeting a narrow door casing. Divider blocks add a decorative touch when the walls meet at a 45-degree angle. While plinth blocks and divider blocks are functional, they also add sophistication to the space.
When baseboards are done right, they add beauty and sophistication to a room without overpowering it. The eye almost doesn’t even register them. But when they’re done wrong, or when they don’t even exist? Nothing could be more obvious. That’s why it’s important to get this detail of your home correct.
At New Life Painting, we offer baseboard, crown, and other molding installation. Beautify your home with the right baseboards. Give us a call at (805) 937-9836, or contact us online for an estimate.
