How to make an arch in a room? Interior design, types and forms

An arch in the interior of an apartment is not just a decorative element. Of course, thanks to such a design technique, the room looks more elegant, with a touch of aristocracy. But above all, arches are built for more mundane tasks. They serve as a separation barrier, visually uniting the premises, but at the same time dividing it into functional zones.

So today, when repairing, people increasingly prefer to make arches in rooms instead of doors. This saves space, and the room as a whole looks more spacious. It is interesting that citizens with any living space gravitate towards such a design of doorways. In small standard apartments and studios, the arch will help to zon the room, and in spacious houses - to create the effect of open space due to the enfilade of the rooms you are viewing.

Where in the interior of the apartment you can use arches

You can make an arch in the room anywhere. In order to reduce all the details of the interior to a single style, it is necessary to use this architectural technique more than once. For example, at the construction stage, not only doorways, but also windows are made semicircular - so the room looks more organic and complete.

In ordinary apartments, windows are of standard shape, but you can make an imitation of an arch on the window opening. Also, niches, dividing false walls made of drywall, are often decorated with arches. All this is complemented by curved semicircle elements of furniture and decor.

So you can play with this design element - come up with something original, exclusive, layered, or go off the beaten track and choose classic proven options for using arches in interior design.

Shaped Arches

There are many types of arches in the room, different in shape, style and performance. It is difficult to reduce them into one general classification, but you can try to give at least a general idea. So, they can be divided according to several criteria. In form they are simple and complex.

Simple:

1. Classical, with the correct semicircle.
2. In the Art Nouveau style - a semi-ellipse with a noticeable transition from right angles to rounded shapes.
3. Gantry - rectangular.
4. In a romantic style - only corners are rounded.
5. In the shape of a trapezoid.
6. Arabian (Moorish) - arch as a horseshoe.
7. Eastern - in the form of a minaret.

The list is incomplete, but these are the most common options.

Complex (curly) arch shapes can be of any kind - often these are bizarre curved lines connected in the most unexpected way, but sometimes a combination of simple shapes.

Also, the arches in the room (photo options are presented in the review) can be voluminous and flat. It’s easy to distinguish them - flat merge with the surface of the wall, voluminous protrude above it due to the decorative finish.

If we talk about which form is most preferable, then there is no single answer. The classic arch with the correct semicircle and the design of the opening in the Art Nouveau style is well suited to almost all types of rooms. But still, the choice depends on the type of room, its size and the overall desired interior style.

Materials

Arches are made of a variety of materials. They use plastic, brick, MDF, metal (forged gratings), glass (stained-glass windows), etc. But most often the arches in the room are made either from drywall or from solid wood. Each of the two common options has its pros and cons.

Natural wood has the following introductory characteristics:

1. Durability.
2. Structural strength.
3. Easy to care.
4. Attractive appearance - wood looks presentable and noble.
5. You can make any design - in form and style.
6. The variability of the external coating - varnishes, paints, impregnations, etc.
7. The price is noticeably above average.
8. A tree tends to “walk”, or, more simply, deform due to changes in temperature and humidity.

Drywall data is as follows:

1. High wear resistance.
2. Ease of installation - you can assemble the structure with your own hands.
3. Variability of the shape of the opening.
4. Long term of operation.
5. The project price depends on the finish. It can be either significantly lower than that of a wooden arch, or noticeably higher.

By the totality of characteristics, both options are equivalent, and you need to choose the material based on personal preferences, work plan, and financial capabilities.

Arch in the studio

The arch should be proportional to the whole room. And if you don’t think about huge lofts, then most often studio apartments are 25-30 m², in some cases up to 40 m² of total area, which includes a bathroom with a toilet, a cooking area, a living room, and sometimes a children’s corner.

And in this case, more than ever, the issue of competent zoning of the room is more acute. You can cope with this task if you correctly place the arch. What are the options?

You can separate the cooking zone - the space will be uniform, but the kitchen will be less noticeable. A sleeping place or a corner for a child can be separated by an arched false wall, blocking the room on one side. In this case, the arch should be as far as possible with gaps, and not one monolithic canvas.

The shape of the arches for the studio apartment is chosen as simple as possible, not cluttering up the space and not complicating the interior. Young couples often choose hi-tech style and, therefore, rectangular, “portal” arches for designing studios . The complexity of the form is permissible only when erecting a figured false wall, when a large number of bends give more light and visibility.

Clearance between the kitchen and the corridor

The arch in the kitchen doorway is a kind of limiter that separates one room from another. Why not use the door? In standard Khrushchev’s apartments, the corridor in front of the kitchen entrance is narrow, blocking it with a door is a strategic mistake. It is enough just to beautifully design the doorway - you can make a rectangular portal, flush with the wall - this will be the most affordable option for finances. And you can make a little more effort and arrange the opening in the form of a classic arch.

With such a design move, apartment owners often worry: “Will the smell spread throughout the apartment?” Modern hoods cope with this problem, so when replacing a full door with an arched opening, you should take care of purchasing and installing this miracle of engineering.

Owners of more spacious dwellings often separate the cooking area from the dining room with arches.

Arches in the living room

The design of the room with the arch looks more refined, expensive and interesting. And the living room is a field on which you can turn around without limiting yourself in the choice of forms and decor. The openings here are often wide, for double doors, so that the arch can be made more bizarre, voluminous, with different curving lines, with an interesting finish or to realize all these ideas at once.

In the living room, even a very elaborate and complex arch will look harmonious, but you need to remember to support it with other elements in the interior. For example, make another arch-niche on the wall, imitate the same style on the windows, or the same design and color schemes in the furniture.

Making a balcony aperture

An arch between the room and the balcony appears if the owner decided to expand the living space by connecting these rooms. Such a step is often justified - the room looks more spacious, several additional squares appear on which you can place a computer corner or a mini-workshop. The balcony is insulated and transferred radiator.

At the same time, the wall is not removed - a wide arched opening of a rectangular shape appears, and a countertop is mounted in place of the window sill. Sometimes the opening lines are corrected and made more rounded or complex, symmetrical or asymmetric.

Designer's tips for incorporating arches into the interior

1. The arch in the room instead of the door is a classic of modern interiors. Just do not make the doorway too narrow.
2. When choosing a material, it is always necessary to take into account environmental factors - whether light, increased humidity, heating, etc. will fall. Depending on them, an arch should be built in the room with the appropriate characteristics.
3. Designers often allow you to combine the incongruous, but lovers should remember that simple arches combine space, and complex ones with a curved edge are zoned.
4. In a room with a low ceiling, either classic arches or openings with a semicircular elongated arch look better.
5. Arches with columns look good only in very spacious rooms. This element of the interior significantly changes the proportions of the room, in addition, there is a very limited number of design options in which antique columns would look organic.

DIY plasterboard arch: instructions

When erecting an arch of drywall in the room, you must sequentially perform the following steps:

1. Dismantling the door frame. If necessary, expand the doorway. Bearing walls are best left untouched.
2. Production and fitting of a cardboard template. It is not worth neglecting this stage, as this will make it clear which shape will be better, and whether a narrow "rat hole" will work out instead of a door.
3. Installation of the guide frame from a metal profile. In order for the metal to take the desired shape, it is cut along the contour. They fix it to the wall with dowels or screws.
4. Drywall preparation - on two sheets of material draw an arch according to the template and cut.
5. Drywall bending - two semicircles need to be connected with a sheet that needs to be bent along the contour. To do this, it is slightly moistened and pricked with a needle roller. To give a small, but constant load on the bend - for this they put loads. The sheet is attached to two semicircles while still wet, and only then allowed to dry.
6. The final stage. Fastening on metal rails and finishing.
7. Decorative finish.

Decorative finish

Building an arch in a drywall room is not enough. It needs to be finished in accordance with the general style of the interior. Often they use wallpaper for this - the same as on the walls, or complex - to match the rest, but in contrast. Also, as one of the options, the doorway is decorated with border tapes. More original you can arrange the arch:

• decorative plaster;
• finishing brick;
• glass or mirror mosaic;
• paint.

Also , fixtures are installed in the arches - so a simple structural element turns into an art object.