What is Double Skirting?

What do I Need to Know About Double Skirting?

There are many trends in interior design and some actually involve skirting board!

You may or may not have come across this yet, so I don’t know that we can claim credit for it being a thing, but it basically involves putting two skirting styles together to make an even more unique look for your home.

By Double Skirting we don’t mean hiding one with a skirting board cover, that’s something else, this is about going for a unique look achieved only with by placing one skirting board on top of another!

Where would I use double skirting?

Generally, wherever you would think of using tall skirting boards you could instead use double skirting.

This includes properties with high ceilings, large open rooms, halls or function rooms.

First, let’s look at what you’ll need to do this.

• The Base Board – Essentially, the skirting board that will sit on the bottom
• The Lead Board – this is basically the top board that will be affixed above the base board
• Measurements – You will need to find out how high you want your skirting to be

How do I create the Double Skirting look?

First decide on your styles, generally the base board has a plain or less detailed profile whilst the lead board contains a flourish with more detailed style.

Next, decide whether you want both skirtings to be the same thickness or if you want the top one to just flow back into the wall a bit more by making it thinner than the bottom.

In practice the bottom board would be 25mm thick and the top would be 18mm or possibly even 15mm depending on the look you’re trying to achieve.

The thicknesses you select might be determined by the style you choose, for instance if you go for a Square Groove 3 on the bottom, the flat edge at the top means that another skirting will just run into it seamlessly if they are both the same thickness.

Whereas a profile like Victorian is too thin at the top to provide a good base board, unless you are comfortable with the overhang.

Of course, height plays a part too and we think the best look is to have the lead board being shorter than the base board, which is where most of the flat will be. By having a shorter lead board the emphasis is placed on the profile.

What are the best Double Skirting Styles?

Whilst you might call placing one skirting on top of another the ‘classic’ look, there are other styles that may appeal more, here are a few suggestions, but you may feel inspired to create your own!

LED Skirting Board

You could actually make a feature of the top board being thicker than the bottom and make use of the overhang by running some led strip lights underneath it. They generally tend to be about 10mm wide, so taking the example above you could have 18mm Victorian on the bottom and 25mm Square Groove on the top and the overhang would give you plenty of space to do this.

Our Front Rebate profile makes a good selection for a base board here as the rebate creates a wide groove when placed under another board.

Mirrored Skirting Board

You could also buck convention by placing the lead board upside down, so that the profile runs along the bottom and creates a ‘reflection’ of the bottom skirting.

This would make the most of detailed profiles like Victorian or Period by taking advantage of their cascading profile to flow from one to another.

You could also create an ultra-modern look by mirroring a profile like Angle Groove 3.

Mix and Match Skirting Board

With this approach, you could take the basic concept of mirroring and instead of reflecting the same profile with both pieces, instead you could choose a different profile where the ends match or sit well together. For instance, our Palace and Period profiles.

Can I do it myself?

Most certainly, this depends on your confidence and skill level though.

If fitting new skirting yourself is new to you and you are already a little daunted or if you know that there may be certain issues with your home that may be awkward to overcome, then we would recommend hiring a professional to minimise any potential risk.

You may even feel brave enough to chamfer a square edge yourself in order to get it to look exactly how you want it.

How do I paint double skirting?

There are no rules here! At the moment, there are so few examples of double skirting that you could literally set the trend right now!

Of those I have seen, there has been plenty of opportunity to get creative and use different coloured paints to highlight or pick out certain features.

Will double skirting be seamless?

You will obviously face many of the same challenges with fitting double skirting as you would with normal skirting with problems such as irregular walls and floors, crumbling plaster, and humidity/damp issues, among others.

Generally, depending on the skirting you go for and how you paint it, you shouldn’t be able to tell. If you’re using gloss, it will probably be thick enough to fill the join, if you use satin, you may need some filler to hide any potential gaps.

Why would I use Double Skirting?

It is a design choice, so there is no practical reason for choosing to use double skirting in your home over regular skirting.

Instead, if you find that you’re striving for something different, that you aren’t finding anywhere else or are considering using tall skirting boards (generally over 121mm high) then using 2 smaller boards might achieve your vision.

Also, from a creative point of view it’s an area of interior design that is new and is looking for iconic images. Perhaps your choice will be the one to show others how it’s done!

It may be overkill to use it in the downstairs loo, but it would fit right in if you have a hallway or dining room large enough to make a statement with it!

Where do I start?

We’ve included some examples of possible combinations, but feel free to browse through our site and create your own.

If you’re still not sure, you can always make use of our samples to help you decide. Unlike many of our competitors you can order up to four samples totally free before we add postage costs. We want to help and inspire you to achieve the home you want to build with as few worries as possible.

Should you decide to use this unique style why not send us a pic, tag us in on Instagram or use the hashtag #doubleskirtingboard. We’d love to inspire others with your creativity.