Materials for decorating the kitchen: choose the best option
The kitchen is a kind of room for the embodiment of a design idea. In this place, a person spends a significant part of his time, and the functional value that the kitchen has is very great.
In modern houses and apartments, the kitchen more and more often ceases to be just a place for cooking. For example, in 1-room studio apartments, the kitchen is part of the living area, but in large houses it is often combined with a dining room or living room.
This range of functionality makes it possible to use almost all modern materials for decorating the kitchen.
The content of the article
Kitchen finishes
Walls can be either decoration or a sign of misery of the whole type of kitchen. Probably, therefore, many are trying hard to strain their brains when they begin to think about how to finish the walls of the kitchen.
It is not surprising that the modern building materials market offers them a huge selection of different finishes. Just how not to make a mistake in choosing a material?
Materials for decorating the walls of the kitchen can be very different:
- water-based paint
- antimicrobial moisture resistant paint
- wallpaper for walls
- ceramic tile
- Wall panels
- wooden lining
- combined wall decoration
Water-based paint
Water-based (or water-dispersed) paint is truly an opening for finishing a kitchen.
This material has many advantages:
- Nontoxic. In the "water emulsion" there are no solvents or other environmentally harmful substances. Such paint does not emit toxic odors.
- It dries quickly. You don’t have to think about the long 24-hour drying process.
All this has nothing to do with water-based paint. While 1 wall is being painted in the kitchen, the previous one is already dry and will be ready for repeated painting. - Good moisture resistance. This paint is quite resistant to liquids and is able to protect kitchen walls from moisture for a long period of time.
Attention! After covering the walls with paint, the moisture gradually evaporates, leaving behind only a layer of material that hardens and reliably protects the walls from water.
- Does not exfoliate. After all, this is not oil paint, it is a completely new technology for painting with a thin layer.
- Suitable for outdoor use. The “water emulsion” allows steam and air to pass through, so the painted walls “breathe”, and this is a very important factor.
- Fireproof. The components of water-based paints provide this tool with resistance to fire.
- Extensive color scheme. The designer will not have to sit idle, the widest range of colors will help to translate into reality the most unbridled fantasies of the designer with an unhealthy perception of the world.
Simply put, water-based paint is actually a real find for both the owner of the kitchen and the designer who designs it.
Many builders and repairmen are sure that water-based paint is the most reasonable material for wall decoration for the kitchen.
Tip: A painted wall is an easy to clean surface without any problems. It can be cleaned with a brush or soapy solution, without worrying about the appearance.
Antimicrobial moisture resistant paint
An excellent option for wall decoration in the kitchen is antimicrobial moisture-resistant paint. It is surprising that modern humanity creates not only harmful GMOs and other substances of suspicious origin that are harmful to the human body.
A brilliant positive example is antimicrobial paint.
For reference: In general, it means a matte “water emulsion”. Only this is not a standard material, paint protects the room from the destructive bacteria that surround us everywhere, including in the kitchen.
The material on the wall forms a specific bactericidal film, which forms an environment that helps to neutralize harmful microorganisms. Only once on a covered surface, the number of such bacteria decreases by 2 times, and then after 2 hours they are destroyed.
For the kitchen - it's just a discovery. After all, it is here that cooking takes place, which subsequently enters the human body, and, of course, no one will be opposed to reducing the number of destructive bacteria in their body.
The corresponding instructions are sold with paint, which will tell you how to properly cover the wall.
Advantages of such material:
- Protection against harmful bacteria.
- It has no smell and no toxins.
- Resistant to moisture.
Tip: Before applying antimicrobial moisture-resistant paint, remove all release agents, such as lime, etc.
Wallpaper for walls
Wallpaper is one of the most common ways to decorate walls with your own hands. They are common in living rooms, hallways and other living quarters, as well as in kitchens.
But there are certain requirements for kitchen wallpaper. Still, the kitchen is the kitchen - there you will find temperature differences, high humidity, and various fumes - in other words, there is some kind of aggressive environment that adversely affects unprepared materials.
Experts in the field of kitchen repair recommend using high-quality wallpapers for wall decoration in the kitchen.
And how not to make a mistake in choosing wallpaper for the walls in the kitchen? After all, inaccuracy here can be expensive!
Moreover, if you are not gluing wallpaper at home, but, for example, in the kitchen of your parents. It is difficult to even imagine the scale of the results that may appear after the first cleaning by the mother of "low-quality" wallpapers.
You can choose among the following types of wallpaper:
- Moisture-resistant wallpaper, the name of the material speaks for itself. They come in several forms: printed (made on paints), printed wallpaper with a protective film (in such wallpapers the front side is covered with special polymer emulsions), embossed wallpapers (colored polymer film is applied to the paper), baseless with a printed pattern (no basis but there is an ordinary printed drawing).
Such finishing materials can be washed safely with warm water (they will not gain moisture and will not be erased). - Structural (textured) wallpaper for painting - two-layer wallpaper produced with deep relief, have a fairly high density. This wallpaper is much thicker than ordinary duplex paper wallpaper.
Most importantly, such wallpapers can be repainted several times, while maintaining their original quality. - Liquid wallpaper is a fairly convenient material. But, like any material, it has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage can be attributed to the ability to obtain a continuous seamless surface. But the disadvantage is that these wallpapers quickly absorb moisture. - If you still choose a wallpaper, look at the photo, how they look in the kitchen.
Tip: When choosing wallpaper for the kitchen, be sure to check the product labeling: the “wave” indicator indicates moisture resistance, and “wave with a brush” indicates resistance to mechanical damage.
Ceramic tile
This material is the most common due to a number of advantages:
- Practicality. If you want to fry food without fear that the spray of boiling fat is the appearance of your kitchen walls, then tiles are the best option.
- Wear resistance. You can wipe and wash the ceramic tile at least a hundred times, since it will not lose its original appearance
- Moisture resistance. Moisture is not the enemy of ceramic tiles. After all, it will not swell, swell and fall off the surface of the wall.
- A wide range of drawings and decors. Thousands of shades and colors will not let you get bored.
Styling features
Everyone knows that to finish the room with tiles it is not necessary to have professional skills. Repair can be done by yourself.
You will need the following tools:
- turning tool or tile cutter,
- building level,
- scissors for metal,
- pliers,
- spatulas
- chisel and hammer.
And, accordingly, the materials:
- tile,
- primer,
- glue,
- cross stitches,
- grout
- metal profile.
Before you begin, it’s best to watch the video, especially for beginners.
Tip: In places where the tile will be covered with door platbands, it is more economical to lay cut pieces.
Wall panels
Do you still think what material to finish the kitchen? Panels for the kitchen - the most successful solution.
After all, they have so many advantages:
- Easy to install. Installation of wall panels will be able to perform even not quite an experienced specialist. Installation should be carried out not only on an absolutely smooth surface, but also on imperfect walls.
Wall imperfections can be masked with a PVC grill or a simple wooden beam. - A huge range of decors. Manufacturers of wall panels produce the greatest variety of decors, which greatly facilitates the work of the designer.
- Water repellent. Not all wall panels have the ability to repel water.
But the wall panels for the kitchen are probably resistant to moisture. - Resistance to temperature extremes.
Tip: In the process of working on the kitchen apron area, you need to keep in mind that some part of the material may be defective, another part will have to be spent on cutouts for communications. When calculating it is better to lay 10% on waste.
Wooden lining
What else could be better than natural finishing materials? Just imagine a kitchen whose walls are finished with wooden lining.
Indescribable beauty! Here you will find both environmental friendliness and a sense of “life”. A tree is a tree.
It should be noted that the process of wall decoration with clapboard involves a decrease in the perimeter of about 4 cm. The fact is that the mounting rails and the board together are 4 cm thick.
Thus, it turns out that your kitchen will slightly decrease in width and length by about 8 cm. A trifle, but not entirely pleasant.
Tip: Among the finishing methods, you can choose both full (top to bottom) wall cladding, and partial, by installing wooden panels to the middle of the wall.
Repair in the kitchen is a process that sooner or later everyone faces. Suppose the main design idea, the look of the dream kitchen has already taken shape.
The color scheme of furniture is determined. The following question arises, what materials for wall decoration in the kitchen to choose?
It is clear that going to the construction supermarket, you will find shelves that lead somewhere far away, which are full of cans and jars, rolls of mixtures that can be used for decoration.
How not to get confused when you see the abundance of modern materials and choose the most practical, convenient, safe, stylish and modern ones? Yes, and the price should be reasonable!
