20: Wall-scaping with coving and mouldings. A how to guide.

Design & Build Happiness

This week we talk to coving and moulding expert Stephen Biggs from Orac, one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of architectural mouldings in the world.
Wall-scaping is the process of taking a plain plastered wall and ceiling and adding practical and decorative mouldings to add architectural interest, drama, lighting (of which we discuss in the podcast the how’s and the how not to’s) and elements as a way of hiding flaws and problems.
We are used to thinking about architraves and skirtings because of their practical necessity, but what about other mouldings and coving? As your eye is drawn to the ceiling when we enter a property shouldn’t we be thinking about the ceiling first?
And if you think coving hasn’t moved on since our Victorian cousins installed it in their grand parlours - wow, the change has been in manufacture method, material, install method and use. We can now achieve all of that wonderful architectural adornment, which add such value to period properties, without the environmental impact.
And for those of you who think that wall-scaping is only for imitating historic elements - please see the amazing imagery on Orac’s Instagram page or their website. I think their contemporary ranges, designed with modern room dimension and ceiling heights in mind, are some of the most appealing and visually interesting additions a home owner can make to their contemporary property. The Every Day Design resident architectural expert said she previously didn’t realise mouldings are for contemporary properties - after seeing the Orac range, she is now specifying this for her clients!
We make reference to LED supplier Orlight who can supply LED strip (with drivers of the right capacity for the length of light supplied) as well as channels and diffuser strips with Stephen and I talk about. There is a really good video on the use lighting used with mouldings on the Orac You Tube channel.
If you want to see how exciting it is to receive and start making the changes with coving, see @In theFrow video with Victoria and follow her home changes, including decorative architectural details @Frowhome
To find out more about Orac please see their website, their instagram page @Oracdecor_uk and their really useful You Tube channel. If you would like to know more specifics and technical detail on their product please see this newly launched video here.
For more information on this podcast and other episodes please visit https://www.abigailhall.design/podcast
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With thanks for listening.
Image credit to Orac