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The main thing during the repair is the wall decoration in the kitchen. It is necessary to choose finishing materials that are practical and beautiful, but this is not easy: not everyone meets the requirements.
Requirements for finishing materials for the kitchen
The kitchen belongs to rooms with difficult conditions: there is often high humidity, evaporation, splashes of grease. Therefore, the materials for finishing the walls of the kitchen should be well washed, should not react to high humidity.
In addition to cooking, in most families the kitchen is also used as a dining room. And if so, then the finish should also be beautiful. Naturally, it should be safe for health and, preferably, durable.
Satisfies all conditions not so many materials. Rescues only a wide variety of textures and colors, but new items that have appeared recently. So, wall decoration in the kitchen is carried out using:
- ceramic tiles and mosaics;
- washable wallpaper;
- waterproof paint;
- panels from MDF, plastic;
- decorative plaster.
Due to the fact that different functions are combined in one room, even a small kitchen is divided into two zones – working and dining. And emphasizes the separation of the use of different finishing materials, including for walls. So most often you have to choose two types of wall decoration for the kitchen – something very practical, easy to clean in the work area, and in the dining area in the same style and color, but more comfortable.
Ceramic tiles and mosaics
Wall tiles for kitchen walls are an excellent option in terms of durability and ease of maintenance. But if the whole room is tiled, it will be uncomfortable in it, like in an operating room. Another disadvantage is the high cost of the material itself and its installation: laying tiles on the walls is not very easy, therefore, craftsmen are often hired, and their work is not cheap.
Therefore, in modern repairs, for the most part, ceramics trim the working area – the space of the wall between the floor and hanging cabinets. This piece is also called a kitchen apron. Previously, it was made only from tiles, today this material has worthy competitors – glass-ceramic and plastic panels, MDF panels, decorative and natural stone.
All new materials are easy to install – they are mounted on several bolts, they do not require a perfectly flat wall surface. It is even easier to care for them, since there are very few seams – at the junction of panels – and they can be sealed with sealant to prevent moisture and dirt from entering. In general, ceramic tiles are a good option for finishing the working area in the kitchen, but not the only and not the best.
Ceramic tile options
But, despite the availability of new materials, tile is still the most popular option for finishing a work wall in the kitchen. Only in the style of design there were significant differences. The 15*15 cm or 18*18 cm square tiles, which were widely used earlier, are no longer popular. Large formats are in favor – long rectangular or square, but with a side of at least 35 cm, or even 50-70 cm. So it turns out that one or two rows of tiles are required for a kitchen apron.
Which specific tile to choose – smooth, with texture, with or without drawings – it’s up to you. Textured, of course, looks very interesting. But in practicality, it is inferior to a smooth surface: dirt and soot clog into the recesses. It takes a lot of effort to bring it back to normal.
Mosaic wall decoration
Mosaic wall decoration in the kitchen looks good. This is a very small ceramic, glass-ceramic or glass tile glued to the grid – for faster installation. Small squares can be of the same color, or they can be of different shades in the same scale, there is a mosaic lined with patterns and even paintings. This type of finishing material is even more expensive than ceramic tiles, but it also has a non-standard look.
You can decorate with mosaics in the kitchen not only the working wall. The same panel is made over the dining table. It harmonizes the interior. In addition, another frequently soiled area receives an easy-to-clean coating.
Wallpapers: washable and paintable
This type of finishing materials is mostly used on the walls in the dining area of the kitchen. In the work area, even super-washable and super-durable wallpaper will not last long. Especially around the sink.
According to the technology, wall decoration in the kitchen with wallpaper involves first leveling the walls, wallpaper is glued onto a flat surface. The best choice is vinyl coated. Vinyl forms a dense film that can be wiped with a cloth. There are technologies that allow you to get such a durable coating that these wallpapers can be washed with a brush using liquid (non-abrasive) detergents.
Vinyl wallpaper is based on paper, there is on non-woven. Non-woven on a flat surface are glued very easily. If the walls in the kitchen were not level, it is better to take paper-based vinyl wallpaper, and choose thick paper and textured roll surface. This will help hide imperfections.
A separate category is to highlight the wallpaper for painting. They should also stick to flat surfaces. They are often made on the basis of fiberglass. They are painted with water-based paint, without problems you can repaint from 3 to 20 times (depending on the type of wallpaper, the more you can repaint, the more expensive the wallpaper). We will talk about the choice of paint in the next section.
Another separate type of wallpaper is photo wallpaper. Bright or pastoral landscapes, city shots, kitchen “still life” – whatever your heart desires. It is usually glued to the wall near which there is a table or to a free wall. By the way, there is a way to blur the boundaries in a rectangular kitchen – to stick a large-format image with a call to the next wall. The visual perception of the room immediately changes.
Painting the walls
The choice of wall paint for the kitchen is not so great – water-based paints are most suitable, but you need to take them washable. This type of paint can be repainted without problems, but it is easier to wash. That’s why we choose those.
According to the technology, finishing the walls in the kitchen with paint – on a flat, pre-primed wall. The type of primer is selected depending on the type of paint (with acrylates, alkyd and silicate). After the primer dries, paint is applied in several layers. Since the base is water, there is practically no smell, after drying, a film of varying degrees of strength is formed (read more about paints for finishing here).
Finishing the walls of the kitchen with the help of painting can be background, dim, or, on the contrary, attract attention. Background colors are chosen if the kitchen furniture set is bright in color, and the walls are made bright if the facades are neutral.
Decorative plaster
I also call decorative plaster “liquid wallpaper”. These compositions are textured and smooth. Smooth – Venetian plaster based on marble dust with various additives. To the touch, the surface is silky, has a muted sheen very similar to silk. Textured plasters are of two types. In the first, the relief is obtained due to the presence of some large inclusions in the composition (usually quartz sand of different grain sizes), in the second, the relief is obtained due to application with special rollers, brushes, spatulas.
Finishing the walls in the kitchen with smooth decorative plaster occurs after careful alignment of the walls. The composition is very expensive and it is extremely unprofitable to spend it on leveling defects. In addition, the slightest irregularities spoil the overall impression. Structural decorative plasters can be used to finish imperfect walls – the surface will still be uneven, so perfect smoothness is not required. What is mandatory in any case is a preliminary primer for better adhesion to the surface.
Decorative plaster for wall decoration in the kitchen is a good choice – it is washable, retains its appearance for a long time, many pigments do not fade or fade. The disadvantage is the high price of the material and the complex application technique, which not all “masters” can handle. In addition to the ability to plaster, artistic taste is required here, and not everyone has it.
Natural and decorative stone
Non-standard wall decoration in the kitchen is done using natural or artificial decorative stone. Natural – sawn into thin plates of different sizes and shapes. Artificial – made on the basis of gypsum or cement, with the addition of crumbs of natural minerals. Natural stone is heavier and more expensive, it is more difficult to lay it. Artificial is lighter in weight, much cheaper, easier to install, one side of it is like a tile, the second imitates the surface of a stone and color and shape.
Decorating the walls in the kitchen with decorative stone – natural or artificial – requires some skill. You also need to level the surface first before starting finishing work. Lay on tile adhesive, first covering with a primer. After laying the stone, the seams are embroidered (with mortar or grout), after which the wall is varnished – to make it easier to care for.
Wall decoration in the kitchen with plastic panels
If you are looking for an inexpensive and quick way to finish your kitchen, consider plastic wall panels. They are mounted on the crate, fastened with screws or staples from a stapler. It is completely optional to level the walls – the crate will hide all the flaws. Wall decoration in the kitchen with PVC panels is probably the fastest way to update the room. Also the cheapest. There are a lot of color options – from plain matte or glossy to imitation tiles, wood and other surfaces and materials.
Naturally, there are disadvantages – unnatural raw materials and fragility. Raw materials are not natural, but under normal operating conditions (do not exceed the temperature) harmless. With fragility. nothing can be done – plastic panels have jumpers between two layers of polymer. On impact, they collapse. There are, however, thin PVC wall panels, but they are glued to even walls. Either way, if you’re looking for a quick and inexpensive way to update your kitchen wall coverings, consider plastic paneling.
MDF panels
Another easy and quick way to make repairs is to decorate the walls in the kitchen with MDF panels. They are also mounted on the crate, but they are much more expensive than plastic ones. One way to trim an apron without tiles is to use MDF boards. In addition, the rest of the walls can be decorated with this material. It is made from waste wood crushed into flour, which is splashed at high pressure. The resulting boards are then laminated with foil. MDF can have a lot of colors, but the most popular ones are imitation of wood of different breeds and shades.
There are different color schemes for decorating walls in the kitchen with MDF panels:
- Choose the same color as on the countertop.
- Make an apron that matches the facade, and make the walls a different color.
- All walls and an apron in the kitchen are made in the same color, but it does not match the color of the furniture (contrasting or in the same range).
The disadvantage of this method of finishing kitchen walls is that MDF reacts to high humidity (a little, but expands). To reduce the effect, during installation, open sections are treated with a sealant.