Modern interior designs offer maximum room to expand. For this, it is often used as the demolition of interior walls or their replacement with arches. An arch instead of a door to the kitchen is often placed between the corridor or room. This design has its drawbacks. In small apartments, where it is not possible to put a powerful hood, all the smells when cooking food will fill the neighboring rooms, but at the same time the apartment itself will visually increase in the filled space.
Which is better: a door or an arch to the kitchen
Many have thought at least once about visually increasing the kitchen space, so it is worth turning to the option of replacing the door with an arch. This method externally increases the height of the ceilings, expands the space of the room. When combining kitchens and rooms with arched entrances, they look light and airy. But this method has several disadvantages, for example, the complete lack of sound insulation. All advantages and disadvantages are presented in the table.
| Door | Arch |
| Keeps “kitchen” smells and sounds from getting into other rooms | Helps ventilate the room, eliminates air stagnation, poor sound insulation |
| Takes up to 20 cm of space that can be used | Saves space, making it suitable for small apartments |
| No restrictions | Cannot be installed in kitchens with gas stoves |
| Divides space clearly | Makes the ceiling visually taller and brighter |
| Can visually increase the height of the ceiling | Not suitable for low rooms |
| Does not change the style of the room as much as the arch | Requires a clear design project of the apartment, lighting nearby |
Arch types: bending radii
You should start decorating a doorway with an arch by choosing a shape, because it must be carefully selected taking into account the characteristics of the room, the chosen design, the size of the room, the height of the ceilings.
Semi-arch
Semicircular or classic Romanesque: the easiest version to perform, it is an even semicircle. The easiest to install, because it does not require a complete dismantling of the doorway, unlike all other types.
It is used in large rooms with fairly high ceilings, usually in rooms adjacent to living rooms.
Luchkovaya
The bow or English arch is distinguished by its sharp corners and the same even semicircle as the Romanesque. Most often it is used for wide openings, well suited for large kitchens.
Semi-ellipse
This shape is suitable for small rooms up to Khrushchev and miniature studios. It visually advantageously expands the opening, enlarges the room and makes it brighter.
Trapezoidal
Such an unusual shape is not suitable for a small room: it needs a wide opening and a large space around. As if “cut” corners should fit well into the interior and be combined with the design project.
Rectangular or square
The lightest version, suitable for small rooms and narrow openings “Khrushchev” and brezhnevka. Such arches look laconic and neat, but they can look too simple.
The form must be chosen taking into account personal preferences, not forgetting about the peculiarities of the room, because without this the arch will look ridiculous. Do not forget that massive and unusual will look strange in small apartments, where the rest of the interior is quite ordinary.
So, you have chosen the design and shape of the arch. Now it’s time to think about the material to craft. Arches are made of stone, wood and much more.
But when installing, you need to take into account that massive and spectacular masonry or a cut of wood will look out of place in small apartments with simple interiors.
One of the most readily available materials is drywall. It is also the most commonly used for interior work. It is so easy to use that you can make the right product yourself with minimal effort. It is environmentally friendly, lasts up to 15 years, and is also inexpensive. Plasterboard arches are suitable for almost any interior, in contrast to more expensive materials. And the ability to play with a variety of decor allows the designer to fantasize. The only important drawback is the relatively low strength, but the visual advantages and cheapness override it. And if you are thinking about installing a drywall arch, it’s time to find out how to make it yourself with minimal investment of time and resources. This article will tell you about sliding doors to the kitchen.
For families with active children, drywall is not the best choice.
How to make an arch with your own hands from sheets of drywall to enter a room, corridor
Do not be afraid of these construction work, because even a beginner with a minimum set of tools can do it. As mentioned above, drywall is one of the easiest materials to work with, so the instructions in this article should be enough to get you started with the installation. This material will tell you which laminate is better to lay in the kitchen.
Trapezoidal will fit well into the design of a small kitchen and save space.
What you need: tools and material
Equipment:
- screwdriver;
- screwdriver;
- impact drill;
- hacksaw;
- jigsaw;
- ruler (preferably wooden);
- pencil;
- engineering compass.
You should not take plastic rulers to make measurements more accurate. If you don’t have an engineering compass, you can replace it with a rope with a tied pencil.
Materials:
- plasterboard sheets 12.5 millimeters for the frame;
- arched drywall sheets for the end;
- metal profiles;
- self-tapping screws, dowels;
- putty, primer;
- finishing putty and paint if necessary.
Before painting, check if the paint is suitable for the selected material, consult with the sellers in the store. Remember that paint with aggressive components can damage fragile sheets.
To install all types of arches, except for the Romanesque semi-arch, a complete dismantling of the wall opening will be required. Most types are suitable for wide openings, use a wall saw to widen it if necessary.
By law, it is impossible to expand doorways if the thickness of the walls is less than 20 centimeters.
Make sure that all preliminary work has been done, and materials and tools are available, and start manufacturing.
Step-by-step instruction
- The first step is to fix the arched frame. To do this, you need to cut the profile with a hacksaw into 3 unequal parts. One should be equal to the width of the opening, the rest to the height of the arch.
- We fix the profiles. The longest is at the highest point of the niche, and the short ones are along the walls. On the other hand, we repeat this scheme.
- The profile is mounted with an indent equal to the thickness of the drywall sheet with a fastening step of 10-12 centimeters
- Draw the desired arch on paper at a 1: 1 scale. Show the roundness with an engineering compass. According to this kind of “pattern” with the help of a jigsaw or a hacksaw, drywall is cut out. Be sure to make sure all the details are symmetrical so that everything works out smoothly!
- It’s time to start editing. With the help of self-tapping screws, the elements of the arch are installed. Check symmetry with a level. Do not allow even small flaws, because they will be noticeable on the finished product.
- We start manufacturing the end part. Here you have to make a bend, we will look at how to make it later. We measure a strip of drywall of the required dimensions, taking into account the bend, cut the sides of the metal profile with an interval of 3-5 centimeters (this depends on the planned bend). After that, the strip must be cut out and, gradually bending, installed on the frame.
- Everything is almost ready. It remains to prime, putty and paint of your choice. Also at this stage, you can decorate the opening by any means at your discretion.
Now we need to focus on the most important part of the installation – the bending of the sheet. This is done by several methods, the main ones: wet bending and longitudinal cuts. This link will tell you how to choose the right knives for the kitchen.
Wet bending method
It is used if a small bending radius is required – from 0.3 to 1 meter, this option will also be appropriate when moving the kitchen to the corridor. The method is to soak the drywall sheet before laying.
- Place the sheet on a wire rack to prevent water from stagnating. It should drain freely.
- We pierce the back surface with a needle roller several times.
- Using a paint roller or spray gun, we wet the surface several times, wait for a while.
- After that, the sheet is installed on a ready-made curved arched profile.
- You can also leave the sheet under the yoke in the template, wait for the plaster to dry, and then mount the already dry and deformed drywall in the opening.
Dimensions when using drywall.
Slitting method for bending
The second method is suitable for the smallest bending radii and allows for much more painstaking work. It is usually used in interior work, where a strong bend often looks inappropriate. How it’s done:
- A network of parallel cuts is applied to the reverse side. You need to saw through cardboard and the entire thickness of the gypsum. This method allows you to leave the front side clean and intact.
- We put the sheet on the template and give the desired shape. After deformation, the cuts open “like an accordion”, and the voids are filled with a special mixture like putty.
- The dried sheet can be mounted on profiles.
Output
- The arch in the kitchen must be carefully thought out, presenting the result.
- The two most famous forms of acry partitions are semi-arch and rectangular.
- The easiest way to make an arch from drywall sheets in two ways: wet bending and longitudinal cuts. The choice of method is chosen depending on the amount of bending.
- The abundance of decor, acid colors and lurid decorations will look heavy and should be avoided in a small apartment.
- There are advantages and disadvantages both at the doors and at the arches, so you need to take into account your desires and home environment.