When homeowners are planning their bathroom interior design, the area where the wall meets the ceiling is often overlooked. These seams can look terribly bare without decorative coving.
While it’s true that other features might be more immediately noticeable at eye level, cornice mouldings can add a stunning architectural element to uninspiring bathroom ceilings.
Within this blog, you will uncover the key steps you transform your bathroom with coving. From it's importance to measuring and preparing it for installation.
Why is Coving used in the Bathroom?
Coving is perfect for creating sleek transitions between walls and bathroom ceilings, and ideal for covering imperfections whilst adding detail and an elegant finish.
Coving is an effective way to enhance your interior design and add character to any room... including bathrooms.
We offer a range of covings that will add a tasteful design finish to your bathroom or shower room.
Our range of ceiling covings are designed to suit all homes, including Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and contemporary modern day homes, these are available in various sizes and styles.
All our covings and cornices are made from the finest gypsum plaster and ideal to install in your bathroom or ensuite.
Coving Styles
Cornices are capable of transforming a once ordinary space into a bathroom with great character and style. We have wide range which such as Egg & Dart, Dentil & Modillions to Floral & Ogee coving.
Your choice of style is subjective, we all have our opinions, likes and dislikes as well as design styles that appeal to us as individuals.
For the bathrooms of Victorian and Edwardian homes and where there are higher ceilings and traditionally a plainer plaster cornice would have been used.
Our most popular coving are MPC051 and MPC039, both of these are ogee plaster coving patterns.
For modern houses, where the ceiling heights tend to be lower, MPC065 and LPC030 are both smaller Swan neck coving designs and these are very popular along with Dentil plaster coving MPC075.
How to Measure & Prepare your Bathroom for Coving Installation
There are three measurements to understand when buying coving / cornice. Firstly the Drop (depth) from the ceiling down the wall, secondly the Projection from the wall across the ceiling and finally the Width (diagonal) across the face of the coving.
Coving is sold by the Drop size. If for example you want 200mm (eight inch) coving in width you’ll actually need to be looking for a design with roughly a 150mm Drop and Projection.
The most popular sizes of plaster coving that we sell have a drop between 90mm and 120mm. After measuring up your project allow an extra 20% for wastage, mitring and to produce the best finish possible.
Why not order a sample pack from us? You’ll know exactly what you’re buying; its size, quality and how it will look in situ. You can also show the sample to your fitter and then everyone knows what they’re dealing with.
How to Install a Coving in the Bathroom
Fitting fibrous gypsum plaster cornice is a skilled job and not all builders or plasterers are experienced enough to do it properly. Usually everyone can fit the paper faced coving sold in the DIY superstores but fitting Fibrous plaster coving requires more skill.
A tradesman who specialises in fitting this type of coving is known colloquially as a ‘Fibre hand’. If you choose to undertake this as a DIY project, we have created helpful videos with professional coving installer, Mark Draper.
Mark showcases the necessary steps to fit coving & cornice in this helpful guide.
How to Blend Coving with your Bathroom Decor
After installing remove any excess adhesive first with a scraper, then with a damp cloth. If you want to paint the coving afterwards (we highly recommend painting all our roses and coving) then it’s advisable to wait at least 24 hours.
Whether you like to stick to tradition or like a little flamboyance, there are endless design opportunities when it comes to painting. Adding accent colour to your coving will create a strong, authentic border between the wall and ceiling.
If you have a minimalist ambiance throughout your bathroom, a touch of colour will add dimension and can really bring your interior to life.
Enhancing the look: Painting and Finishing Coving
When it comes to painting cornices and coving, the choice is yours. We’d recommend that you use a water-based paint that can be applied to interior walls. While a bathroom must endure high-moisture levels, this moisture comes in the form of condensation.
For this reason, you can simply use a paint that has a level of moisture resistance that won’t deteriorate and weaken due to the moisture. Or, many of our customers simply paint a sealant (many are available from DIY stores) onto their coving after painting with an emulsion.
A wide oval brush is ideal for painting coving as the shape of the bristles will hug the curve of the coving more efficiently, giving you a consistent, neat finish first time. Our range of cornices look spectacular with a splash of paint!
Easy Maintenance Tips for Bathroom Coving
We would recommend removing Wet towels and clothes from the bathroom. Let your towels dry outside or place them in the washing machine. Leaving your wet towel in the bathroom can increase the humidity in the room.
Potential Challenges to using Coving in the Bathroom
When it comes to painting cornices and coving, the choice is yours. We’d recommend that you use a water-based paint that can be applied to interior walls. Whichever paint you choose to use, always think about the amount of sheen you would like to achieve. Anti-condensation paint are available to help protect your walls and ceiling from moisture damage in very wet environments.
Benefits of Using Coving in the Bathroom
Create a cohesive and visually appealing bathroom with our coving options that seamlessly integrate with your existing decor. We pride ourselves on exceptional quality and a wide selection of coving options suitable for all rooms, including bathrooms.
Choose our coving for your bathroom and enjoy a practical and stylish solution for this essential space in your home. Get inspired and transform your bathroom today!
