Decorating Tips and Tricks for Painting Skirting Boards

When it comes to decorating your home, your skirting boards are probably not the first thing that springs to mind. But how you paint your skirting boards could make or break your décor scheme.

In the past, it was traditional to paint skirting boards with a thick layer of gloss paint. As skirting boards are at floor level and prone to knocks and bumps, it was often thought this was the more serviceable option. But in recent years savvy home decorators have been embracing the trend for more colourful skirting boards – and for plenty of good reasons. Here’s a look at some of the best ways of painting your skirting boards and how you can use great tips and decorating tricks to enhance your interior and create a perfect finish.

Using contrasting colour on your skirting boards

Painting your mdf skirting boards in a contrasting colour to your walls can instantly add a new dimension to your décor. In the case of the room in the image above, where the walls are painted in a pale French grey, the addition of black skirting boards provides a dramatic contrast, especially when combined with a black doorframe and other highlights. Use the skirting board colour to bring together the interior décor scheme and accessories in the room, or go bold with by introducing a completely new colour.

Using tonal colour on your skirting boards

A colour palette that combines different tones of the same colour, such as two or three tones of pink, works well in a contemporary home. If you’re keen to create the effect of more light and space in a room, use the lightest paint colour on the walls and the darker tone on the skirting boards to get the best results and a professional finish.

Painting a single colour throughout your room

Painting your skirting boards the same colour as your walls can have a dramatic effect. From a visual point of view, having the walls and skirting the same colour can result in making a small room feel larger and more spacious. This is because there are less dividing lines in the room produced by contrasting or different colours. It works with light colours, but can be equally effective with dark colours, such as deep indigo blue.

Using skirting boards to complement your wallpaper

If you’ve decorated your walls with a wallpaper design you love, you can help it stand out even more by the colour you choose to paint your bare skirting boards. This image, from Little Greene, demonstrates this perfectly and shows what a good idea this approach can be. The fresh shade of paint helps to complement the pretty floral wallpaper design and acts as a way of ‘framing’ it.

Create dark skirting boards to lead the eye

If you have a long narrow room, such as a hallway or landing area, one useful interior design tips is to try painting your skirting boards in a darker shade than the wall colour and ceiling. This creates a clever visual effect colour scheme that naturally draws the eye towards the darker band of colour and leads your focus towards the rest of the space in your home.

Tool list for painting skirting boards

If you’re new to DIY, here are some of the tools you’re likely to need if you’re planning to paint skirting boards.

1. Masking tape or painter’s tape, to outline the area you plan to paint and ensure that paint doesn’t go across the lines.
2. Dust sheets or plastic sheets, to cover your carpet or flooring (especially the back edge of the carpet) so that they’re not affected by drips from excess paint.
3. Fine sandpaper may be useful in case you need to sand down any rough areas on your wooden skirting boards.
4. A damp cloth is handy to be able to wipe up any spills or drip marks.
5. Paint. It sounds obvious, but it’s important to carefully choose the right type of paint for the top of the skirting boards and bottom of the skirting boards so that you achieve the most durable and neat finish that you desire. Is water-based paint or solvent-based paint better for your requirements? Think about the best finish too, and whether you want to have clean lines and gloss finishes?
6. Paint brushes. You may find that you need more than one paint brush, especially if there’s someone else helping you, so that you can both crack on with getting a first coat of paint on. Look for different sized paint brushes including a smaller brush so that you’ll have the right tools to get into internal corners. A soft dry brush may be a useful addition too.
7. Vacuum cleaner. If you’re sanding down skirting boards before adding a fresh coat of paint, you’re likely to end up with flakes of old paint on your working surface. Have a vacuum cleaner to hand so that you can get this cleaned up as you go, rather than having to tackle all the cleaning at the end.If you’re new to DIY, here are some of the tools you’re likely to need if you’re planning to paint skirting boards.
   1. Masking tape or painter’s tape, to outline the area you plan to paint and ensure that paint doesn’t go across the lines.
   2. Dust sheets or plastic sheets, to cover your carpet or flooring (especially the back edge of the carpet) so that they’re not affected by drips from excess paint.
   3. Fine sandpaper may be useful in case you need to sand down any rough areas on your wooden skirting boards.
   4. A damp cloth is handy to be able to wipe up any spills or drip marks.
   5. Paint. It sounds obvious, but it’s important to carefully choose the right type of paint for the top of the skirting boards and bottom of the skirting boards so that you achieve the most durable and neat finish that you desire. You’ll need a primer, undercoat and top paint. Is water-based paint or solvent-based paint better for your requirements? Think about the best finish too, and whether you want to have clean lines, a satin or matt finish, or gloss finishes?
   6. Paint brushes. You may find that you need more than one paint brush, especially if there’s someone else helping you, so that you can both crack on with getting a first coat of paint on. Look for different sized paint brushes including a smaller brush so that you’ll have the right tools to get into internal corners. A soft dry brush may be a useful addition too.
   7. Vacuum cleaner. If you’re sanding down skirting boards before adding a fresh coat of paint, you’re likely to end up with flakes of old paint on your working surface. Have a vacuum cleaner to hand so that you can get this cleaned up as you go, rather than having to tackle all the cleaning at the end.

   Beginners tips for painting skirting boards

   If you’re new to DIY, don’t panic – even you can (probably…) manage to paint skirting boards! Follow this simple step-by-step guide of tips for painting different types of skirting board.

   Step 1 – Clear space. Always move any furniture out of the way (if you’re short on space, put it in the middle of the room) so that you have a clear working area.

   Step 2 – Protect the flooring. If you have carpet or another type of flooring, it’s crucial to protect it, as you don’t want any unwanted drips of paint on it, especially if it’s new. Put down a dust sheet before you start work and, if necessary, use masking tape to secure it to the floor.

   Step 3 – Prepare your skirting boards. Before you start painting, you’ll need to prepare your skirting boards. If your boards are already painted, first clean them off with a damp cloth to get rid of any dust or dirt, then sand them down with sandpaper. If the skirting boards are bare wood, sand them down to ensure they’re as smooth as possible.

   Step 4 – Prime and undercoat the surface. Paint a layer of primer (preferably an oil based one) onto the skirting boards, as it will help seal the wood and get it ready for painting. Leave the primer to dry – depending on the temperature in your home, it could take between two and four hours – then apply a layer of undercoat paint. Once the undercoat has dried, you may need to add one further layer of undercoat. To speed up the process, look out for wood primer products that incorporate an undercoat too.

   Step 5 – Paint the top coat. Once your undercoated skirting boards are dry, it’s time to apply the top coat of paint. Depending what colour you have chosen for your bare wood skirting boards, you’ll either need one or two layers of top coat. Leave it to dry thoroughly between each coat.

   Step 6 – Remove the masking tape and enjoy your new painted skirting boards!

Summary

Painting and decorating bare wood skirting boards can take time, especially as you need to paint slowly to achieve a straight line and need to factor in the time to apply a second coat. But a change in skirting colour, whether you’re going for a lighter shade or a dark colour, can make the world of difference to your home interior. Hopefully this post has given you some tips and ideas on what you could do in various rooms of your home to highlight a feature wall or make small spaces look bigger.

Have you painted your skirting boards in any interesting ways? Do let us know in the comments below.

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