Breadcrumbs ![How To Use Arches For Maximum Effect](https://media.sheerluxe.com/SHTcYvHQI4AtFeUMDRKSwMvVjpU=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Fsl-site-assets-280426-thumbhero-arches.jpg) Image: Blank Slate Studio [Interior Design](/home/interior-design) / 28 April 2026 # How To Use Arches For Maximum Effect The curve appeal of arches is strong right now, but they need to be handled with care. We asked some designers how they use them to transcend trends and look like they’ve always belonged… [ Save To My Favourites ](/user/login?destination=/markdownify/node/52231) Image: Blank Slate Studio [ ![Hutch](https://media.sheerluxe.com/MtGC7wfYPxivPwu3dmaFEb0BQ0k=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Fhutch-design-no-80327r.jpg) ](https://hutchdesign.co/) Hutch **Arches are having a real moment right now, but they need to be well designed to feel timeless rather than trend-led. How do you approach them so that they elevate a home long-term rather than dating it?** “The difference between times and trend-led often comes down to intent: whether the arch is solving a spatial problem, a structural one, or simply being applied as decoration. For example, when we designed the entrance hallway in a recent project, the arch wasn't a stylistic choice – it was the answer to a specific problem. We needed to transition between two volumes of different height and character without a hard threshold interrupting the flow of the house. The arch resolved that naturally and gave the corridor a sense of destination rather than just passage. “What keeps an arch from dating is restraint and consistency. Used selectively – not dominating every opening – and woven into the broader design concept of the home rather than appearing as an isolated moment, an arch becomes part of the architectural language of the house. When the arch is part of the whole picture rather than a flourish applied here and there, it won't date.” – *Craig Hutchinson,* [*Hutch*](https://hutchdesign.co/) “The arches that age badly are those cosplaying as history without understanding it. The ones that endure are structurally honest – they’re doing something, even if only visually. Arches need to be anchored to the logic of the space, so follow existing ceiling heights and respect load-bearing rhythms. A well-proportioned arch in a hallway transition isn’t trendy; it’s just good architecture.” – *Jojo Barr,* [*House Nine*](https://www.housenine.co.uk/) “For me it always starts with the building, not the brief. I ask what the architecture is already doing and whether an arch belongs to that logic – because the ones that date are the ones that feel like a response to what's happening in design right now rather than a response to the house itself. When I get it right, the arch feels like it was always there.” – [*Bari Jerauld*](https://www.blankslatestudio.co.uk/) “For arches to feel elevated, they need to be designed with the same level of detailing as the rest of the house. The arch needs to feel intentional, with proper depth to the reveal, and considered elements such as architraves or mouldings around the opening.” – *Claire Sá,* [*De Rosee Sa*](https://www.deroseesa.com/) **Where do arches have the most impact in a home? Are there any unexpected places you love to introduce them for maximum effect?** “The obvious wins are doorways, openings between living and dining rooms, or between bed and bathrooms because they frame movement. But the unexpected places are more interesting: a niche, a fireplace breast, a recessed kitchen shelf with an arched top, a bathroom mirror echo-arching the profile of a window opposite. Arches in compression pairs across a room create dialogue rather than decoration.” – *Jojo* “At thresholds – for example to doorways, hallways, the transition between rooms or marking the beginning of a stairway – they give the act of moving through a home a sense of arrival. Historically, a colonnade of arches – even on a domestic scale – creates a rhythm and a sense of procession that feels genuinely architectural. But one of our favourite unexpected applications is the secret arch door. It’s a door designed to disappear entirely when open, resting within a curved niche so that it becomes part of the wall rather than interrupting it.” – *Craig* [ ![House Nine](https://media.sheerluxe.com/FrWPJ6Nnl_dytrzSmv2uJS0SdZM=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Funtitled-capture-x-copy-of-the-arches.jpg) ](https://www.housenine.co.uk/) House Nine “Thresholds are the obvious answer, and I do love them there – the way an arched opening changes how you move through a house is hard to replicate with a square opening. But honestly, some of my favourite moments have been an arched recess built around a single piece of furniture, or an arch introduced somewhere you're not expecting it, like a larder or a boot room. Beauty in a utility space shifts the whole feeling of a home.” – *Bari* “Arches can be particularly effective in resolving slightly awkward conditions. If you have a tight threshold, a down stand from a staircase, or a junction that feels unresolved, introducing an arch can make it feel intentional. They also don’t need to be grand to have impact. Often, smaller arches in more unexpected places can be the most interesting. An arch into a bathroom, a pantry, or even a small cupboard can create a moment of joy. They can also be used within corridors to break up length and create a sequence of spaces.” – *Claire* **What are the key proportions or design details that separate a beautifully executed arch from one that feels purely decorative or overdone?** “Proportion is almost everything. Too shallow and it reads as an afterthought; too tall without the architecture to support it and it tips into theatre. I tend to work close to a true semicircle, or just slightly flattened. But the detail I care about most is the springing point – where the curve meets the wall. If there's no thought given to that transition, it always looks like something added rather than made. A subtle thickening, a material change, even just a considered line – that's what makes it cohere.” – *Bari* “The springing point – where the arch begins its curve – is the detail that most often separates a well-proportioned arch from an awkward one. If it springs too low, the arch feels squat. If it springs too high, it becomes theatrical. For a domestic interior, the spring point typically wants to sit at or just above door-head height, or at a key vertical datum running through the home, with the curve rising from there in a radius that feels generous without being dramatic. “The depth of the reveal matters equally, and then there is what the arch frames: one directing the eye toward something worth seeing – a view, a material moment, a considered piece of furniture or art – or one that transitions you from one room in a home to another. The rise-to-span ratio is everything. A semicircle (1:2 rise-to-span) reads classical and weighty; a flatter segmental arch feels more contemporary and restrained. The reveal (the thickness of the arch’s edge) is where amateur executions collapse. Too thin and it looks like a wound in the wall; too thick and it becomes theatre. Typically, 100-150mm feels considered without being theatrical.” – *Jojo* “Proportion is critical, and the curvature needs to feel right in relation to the width of the opening. Typically, the top of the arch wants to read as a true semicircle or close to it. If it becomes too shallow, it can feel flat or slightly awkward.” – *Claire* [ ![House Nine](https://media.sheerluxe.com/inNF9gfa1JZpb6Wfafrxh_vaOr0=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Fthe-arches.jpg) ](https://www.housenine.co.uk/) House Nine [ ![De Rosee Sa](https://media.sheerluxe.com/DMKm5M2gPBJpWD3yTErobRWEp_A=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Fcopy-of-240613-de-rosee-sa-gardnor-mansions-029-print.jpg) ](https://www.deroseesa.com/blogs/our-projects/the-deco-appartment) De Rosee Sa **How can materials and finishes be used to enhance an arch and turn it into a true focal point within a space?** “Plaster arches should be part of the wall so same finish, seamless, letting form do all the talking. Stone voussoirs earn their decorative weight because they’re structurally legible. Joinery arches such as curved cabinet headers or a library arch work best in painted finishes that unify rather than contrast. The material mistake to avoid is an arch in a different material to everything around it for no structural reason. This will read as a sticker rather than architecture.” – *Jojo* “We’re big believers in continuity. When the arch is finished in the same material as the wall it inhabits, such as smooth lime plaster running seamlessly from wall face into soffit, the arch will appear to be something sculpted from the building itself.” – *Craig* “The material should amplify what the arch is doing, not compete with it. I use lime plaster a lot – there's a depth and softness to it that paint can't replicate, and the slight irregularity of hand application makes it feel genuinely old. What I find most interesting is contrast: a plaster arch within a stone wall, or joinery in a deep tone set against a lighter room. The arch is always framing something – a view, a piece of furniture, a moment – and the right material sharpens that frame.” – *Bari* “Introducing timber trims, mouldings or architraves can help frame the arch, allowing it to become a focal point.” – *Claire* **For anyone renovating or building from scratch, what should they be thinking about early on if they want to incorporate arches seamlessly into the overall design scheme?** “Lock in arch positions when walls are open and the structural engineer is still on speed dial – retrofitting is expensive and often results in compromised proportions because you’re working around what’s there rather than designing from scratch. More importantly, decide early whether arches are organisational (defining zones, directing movement) or atmospheric (softening, enriching). That decision governs everything – how many, how formal, how thick the reveal. One well-placed arch beats five decorative ones every time.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​” – *Jojo* “Think about them in sequence rather than in isolation. A house where the arch appears at the entrance, echoes in a niche in the drawing room and reappears in the bathroom – where there is a logic and a rhythm – feels like a considered piece of architecture and a holistic interior. A single arch in an otherwise entirely rectangular house can feel like an afterthought. And finally, it is worth the investment in a skilled plasterer, stonemason or joiner to get it right. A beautiful arch done badly is worse than no arch at all.” – *Craig* “Think about it structurally from the start, not decoratively. The worst results happen when arches get added late as a finishing gesture – you can always tell, because they feel bolted on. If you know you want them, that conversation needs to happen at the planning stage, because wall thickness, lintels and the overall geometry of the space all need to be considered together. And decide early whether you want a single arch as an accent or a series that creates rhythm throughout the house – because those are two very different schemes and everything else follows from that choice.” – *Bari* “It’s important to think about arches early on, particularly in plan and elevation. An arch that works in plan doesn’t always translate well once you see it in elevation, so the width-to-height ratio needs to be carefully considered to avoid it feeling squat or unresolved. It’s also important not to introduce arches for the sake of it, because if everything else is very rectilinear, a single arch can feel out of place.” – *Claire* [ ![Blank Slate Studio](https://media.sheerluxe.com/HDvQbnuiLqaUKvoko74JJOoyRpY=/800x0/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Fcopy-of-blankslate-studio-2.jpg) ](https://www.blankslatestudio.co.uk/) Blank Slate Studio ## *more from* ### Home [View All Home](/home) ![5 Inspiring Gardens You Need To See](https://media.sheerluxe.com/XFEJv4HcaKU7C_weIDNF8YVzVdI=/200x267/smart/https%3A%2F%2Fsheerluxe.com%2Fsites%2Fsheerluxe%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F04%2Fsl-site-assets-100426-thumb-hero-x-inspiring-outdoor-spaces.jpg) [Home](/home) / 10 April 2026 [## 5 Inspiring Gardens You Need To See ](/home/garden-design-ideas) ![The Eco Upgrade Design-Led Homeowners Are 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