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One of the most important elements of kitchen design is an apron – part of the work wall between hanging and floor cabinets. This area is the most polluted, especially in the area of the sink and stove, therefore, along with aesthetic requirements, strict practical requirements are imposed on finishing materials. Only then can a kitchen apron be considered good when it is pleasant to look at and easy to care for.
Of what do
A few decades ago, the question of what to make an apron in the kitchen did not arise: if you were lucky to find a tile, they made it, if not, they simply painted it with oil paint. As one of the options, they glued ordinary paper wallpapers, which were varnished. That’s the whole selection. Naturally, tile in this case is the best possible option.
Today the choice is much wider. There are both traditional tiles and many other materials for the backsplash for the kitchen:
- Ceramic tiles and mosaics.
- From the tempered glass with the applied photo printing.
- Stone and materials based on it (porcelain stoneware, for example).
- MDF.
- Plastic and plastic panels.
- Metal.
Despite the abundance of materials, ceramic tiles are still the most popular. And all because there is it in a very wide range of colors and sizes. The second most common is an apron made of plastic – it is easy to care for it, and it is also inexpensive. That is why it is popular. In third place, perhaps, is a kitchen apron made of glass. And all because it gives unusually wide possibilities of design and design. Its only drawback can be considered a high cost. All other ways to decorate the wall of the working area are not very popular. Some because of not the best qualities (MDF, for example, does not really like moisture and heat) or the difficulty of mounting on walls (porcelain stoneware and stone). However, all of these materials can be used.
dimensions
There are usually no questions about the length: the entire wall or part of it, which is occupied by the kitchen set, requires special care. Because the length is simple. But the width of the lined area should be larger than the open space. That is, the finish should start below the level of the countertop of the floor cabinets and end above the level where the hanging cabinets end. This margin is desirable in the region of 5 cm. More or less depends on the size of the finishing material, in particular ceramic tiles.
Since there are no cabinets above the stove, the apron in this place is made higher. And again: its width should be such that the cabinets hung from the sides lie on the tile with their side. This makes it easier to clean up.
You can read about the design of the kitchen-living room here.
Tile apron
The most traditional type of finishing the work wall in the kitchen is ceramic tiles. It is good because it is easy to clean, has a long service life. Modern technologies make it possible to make it in different shapes, colors and sizes, which gives ample opportunities for decoration.
The disadvantage of a tiled backsplash in the kitchen is the complexity and duration of installation, the high price of the tile itself and installation work. The disadvantage can be considered the presence of a large number of seams. They are rubbed with special compounds, but it is the seams that get dirty and lose their attractiveness first of all. You have to remove the old grout and process them again with a new one.
However, it is the tile backsplash that is most often made in kitchens. The tile can be small in size – a square with a side of 12-15 cm.
There is a tile in size more reminiscent of bricks: rectangular in shape. This shape of the tile is also called “boar”. It is more difficult to lay it – there are more seams, but the apron looks interesting. You can find a “brick-like” model, or you can make it blue or green. All look good.
There are large-format ceramics. It can have dimensions with a side of 60-70 cm. Moreover, it can be both square and rectangular. You can choose such a model that one unit will cover the entire height of the apron. This is good because such an apron has fewer seams.
There are collections of tiles of various non-linear shapes, with patterns. They look, of course, wonderful, but it’s more difficult to care for: all the cracks, bumps and bends are more difficult to wipe off than a flat surface. Another disadvantage of such a tile is the high price, much higher than the average. If all this does not scare you, keep in mind that you need to order it with a margin of about 10%. Firstly, laying waste is inevitable, secondly, there is a fight during delivery, and thirdly, if you make a little mistake in the calculations, you will have to wait again for a long time, and it’s not a fact that such a tile will be. Many collections are produced in very limited quantities. And they simply may not exist. For the same reason, it is always necessary to leave a few pieces in case of repair. After a few years, even mass collections are discontinued.
There is also ceramic mosaic – very small tiles, from which you can assemble entire panels. It is even more difficult to lay it, but the wall turns out to be very effective.
There is another type of ceramic tile – with photo printing. Before firing, a pattern is applied to the ceramic surface with special ink. After it is covered with glaze and fixed at high temperature in the oven. Using this technology, even photographs can be applied, but fruits or flowers are more often chosen for kitchen aprons.
As you can see, there are already a lot of options for a tiled apron in the kitchen. And there are 5 other materials.
The design features of a small kitchen are described here.
Kitchen Apron
This type of material began to be used to finish the work wall in the kitchen relatively recently, but it is quickly gaining popularity. It is even easier to care for a glass backsplash than a tiled one – there are almost no seams, the surface is smooth. You can apply almost any pattern – from a smooth color to a three-dimensional photo. The technique of applying photo printing on glass is called “skinali”. It is on the aprons in this version that three-dimensional 3D drawings can be applied.
How to make your own photo printing on glass
The only disadvantage of a glass apron is its high cost. This is due to the complex drawing technology. But you can do it yourself. The technology is not the one that is used in enterprises, but craftsmen are craftsmen to find a way out of any situation.
To make a glass apron using the skinal technique at home, two glasses of relatively small thickness are taken. If you find or buy hardened – excellent, but the usual, as practice has shown, lasts a long time. Ask a glass shop to finish the edges and drill holes for fasteners (or do it yourself if you can). Two glasses must be exactly the same in size, the holes for the fasteners must also match.
A film with a pattern is glued onto one of them. It can be a ready-made self-adhesive translucent film, which is usually sold in wallpaper stores. You can order printing on film of any image in a specialized workshop (perhaps you will be helped by an advertising agency that deals with outdoor advertising).
The glass is cleaned of dust, degreased (a mixture of water and dishwashing detergent or glass cleaner), wiped off, then sprayed with water from a spray bottle. The protective layer is removed from the film and glued to wet glass on one side: it is more convenient to work on it and less likely to make an air bubble. Then they take a dense and elastic material with smooth edges (you can use a rubber spatula) and expel excess water from under the film. The main task is to prevent the appearance of air bubbles. The glued film is left to dry for several days, and then holes are made in it for fasteners.
Both pieces of glass are folded and in this form are attached to the wall. The film turns out to be clamped on both sides and is perfectly protected from any influences. So that nothing happens with such an apron over time, the joint around the perimeter must be smeared with silicone sealant (not acrylic, it turns yellow after a while). You can do it without a second layer of glass, but then there are high chances that the film will peel off, or dirt will get behind it, which will be visible.
Read about bar counters and their manufacture here.
Apron from MDF and chipboard
If you need to quickly and inexpensively finish the work wall in the kitchen, you can install an apron from MDF panels. You need to choose from moisture-resistant products with a durable coating: you will have to wash often. Because MDF take medium or high density. The higher the density, the better: thinner panels are more durable, but denser material is more expensive.
It is installed on furniture screws or, if necessary, on dowel-nails. A hole is pre-drilled in the required places. The diameter of the drill is the same as that of the hardware rod or slightly less. To prevent the caps from sticking out, a small indentation is made in the panel with a drill of a larger diameter than the size of the cap. In a store selling furniture fittings, you can find plugs to match the panel. Here, under the leg of the plug, you can select the diameter of the drill: so that it becomes tight.
Before installation, an adhesive composition is applied to the back surface, then it additionally sits on the fasteners. If the apron is obtained from one wall to another, there are no problems, but if there are corners, they must be finished somehow. To do this, you can use plastic or aluminum corners – it depends on the style of kitchen furniture (furniture fittings stores).
If we talk about color solutions, that is, there are monophonic options of different colors, a fairly wide selection of surfaces that imitate different types of wood, there is an imitation of stone surfaces. There are also exclusive drawings, such as photo printing, flowers, etc.
The pattern is glued onto the MDF board. This is a film with a photo print. Since the film must have a high density, such panels cost decently.
Read about how to choose the right kitchen cabinet and how to arrange furniture here.
From plastic
Plastic aprons are good because they are inexpensive, easy to install. At the same time, the plastic surface washes well. For the production of aprons, ABS plastic (ABS) is used. It is neutral to fats, acids, alkalis, but reacts badly to contact with alcohol. Therefore, it is impossible to wipe with alcohol and alcohol-containing compounds. Physical properties – rigid, durable and at the same time plastic – allow the manufacture of household appliances cases from it. Even some parts in the car interior are made of such plastic. Therefore, aprons in the kitchen are only part of its application.
The temperature range at which such a plastic apron can be used is from -40°C to +90°C. Its only drawback is that it does not respond well to ultraviolet light. Therefore, it is undesirable to put it in kitchens in which the working wall is illuminated from the window.
The choice of colors is wide, and the relatively low price and ease of installation allow you to change the finish, if you are very tired. Any image is applied to the plastic, then it is covered with a double layer of varnish, which protects the design and prevents scratches. If you try, of course, you can scratch it, but accidentally hitting it is unlikely. In general, a good option. If we talk about the price, then a plastic wall panel, which is used as a kitchen apron, costs from 1,5 to 6 thousand rubles. Panel width 60-80 cm, length 2-3 m. Some examples of plastic aprons are in the photo gallery.
Wall panels are mounted on a relatively flat surface. Glue of the “liquid nails” type is applied pointwise and plastic is fixed on it. Its density allows you to hide minor surface defects.
Features of the kitchen renovation in Khrushchev are described here.
Of stone and metal
The least common aprons for the kitchen are made of stone. Firstly, they are expensive, and secondly, it is not easy to clean off plaque from them: even a very well-treated surface has open pores into which fat and soot are inevitable in the kitchen.
Exceptions are stone-based products, in particular porcelain stoneware. Its surface can be very smooth. But there is one more thing: the great weight of such a finish. Accordingly, complex installation and a powerful mounting system.
They decorate the working wall in the kitchen with metal, but this is a very caustic phenomenon. Such an apron will fit only into minimalism and hi-tech, and even then you need to try so that the room does not look like a meat cutting workshop …
As you can see, you can finish the working wall with different materials. There are options for different tastes and budgets. The main thing is to choose an apron for the kitchen so that the set and the rest of the furniture become a single ensemble. Then the kitchen will be comfortable.