Original Dark Oak Panelling
About to move into a house with dark oak original panelling (1920s/Edwardian, old English oak colour) & fireplace. I will lose the ceiling beams and paint the ceiling white, but I still find it very dark and oppressive, and it doesn't have the warmth of say cherry or mahogany . So, I'm looking for advice/opinions on if I should paint it perhaps light/mid grey or blue, or attempt to strip it and leave it lighter oak (assuming that is possible) or perhaps stain it grey or white wax it?
Comments (6)
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Original Victorian oak staircase
Comments (1)Hi. It would be a little sacrilegious to paint the whole thing as its good quality oak with some age by the looks of it. i would suggest you paint the spindles, baserail and the visible tread and have the handrail and newel posts rubbed down and polished dark black / brown this is a classic but far more current look that will work well. Also the spindles would be extremely laborious to rub fully back to bare and re-polish in situ. hope that helps :-)...See MoreWhat would you do with the oak panels in my dark hall?
Comments (51)We have the same type of panelling in our hall and it was oak the same as yours with an oak floor. It just started to feel quite dark and drab but we hesitated to to do anything for fear of messing it up. In the end we painted all the panelling in Farrows French grey, left the doors and floors wood and painted the sides of our staircase and the spindles in Farrows clunch but left the newel posts and the bannister rail as wood - looks like a different hallway - I have never regretted painting it...See MoreWill Victorian original pine doors look ok with oak LVT flooring?
Comments (7)In my experience it will look better finished if you had the same timber throughout, as pine & oak can look mismatched sometimes (they are close enough in colour but yet not the same). But it depends on the colour of the pine doors, it may work....See Moreoriginal 1930s doors?
Comments (4)Our doors are the same with good quality brass handles. I’m pretty sure they’re original. The adjoining semi has the 30s panelled doors with Bakelite type knobs but our house has generally much better fittings with dado rails and lincrusta. My husband knew the original owner who was very particular! Our doors and lincrusta have been painted but an old decorator said that the lincrusta would have had a wood like finish originally. Some houses nearby still have wood lined halls and dining rooms with flat doors....See More
8 years ago- 8 years ago
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- 8 years ago
I don't have any photos (useful!) however my brother painted his panelling. Where you've got the cupboard with the checker board design, he's got cupboards either side of a window (assume yours is too). He removed the top 2 shelves and has long mirrors in there but kept the bottom shelves for accessories. His fireplace (and the room isn't too dissimilar actually!) is very much like the picture but he's got a cast iron insert and grate. He originally had alcoves and shelves either side of the fire but he's just done some diy panelling (keeping the original behind) so it's now the same as the pic minus the shelf. He only had a couple of beams so they're painted the ceiling colour. I must admit there were a few family comments re painting the wood (and the front door!) but it does look good. I agree with what Emily said though, paint the ceiling, change the carpet and put your furniture in and reassess
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Emily