Renovating
5 Design Challenges That Wall Panelling Can Resolve
Think panelled surfaces are just for looking pretty? Many have clever functions, too, as these schemes demonstrate
From protecting walls from excitable dogs to visually reducing a very tall space to concealing a hidden door, a section of panelling in a room can offer numerous solutions. There are plenty of styles for this interior addition, too, from characterful Shaker to contemporary and fluted, to elegant rustic. Take a look below.
2. Counter tricky acoustics
This airy flat is part of an old school conversion, and the interior was devised by Ivana De Felice. As is often the case with double-height, open-plan spaces like this, the acoustics were a challenge and Ivana knew there was a risk the owners could have sound quality issues while watching TV without a good solution.
So she closed off a portion of the lower level on the right and created a TV niche. It looks beautifully demarcated with its vertical wood battens, but they are more than pretty panelling. They are, in fact, specialist wooden acoustic panels that help to reduce echo in the voluminous space. “Plus they’re very nice to look at,” Ivana adds.
Tour the rest of this converted flat.
Read reviews of renovation professionals in your area on Houzz.
This airy flat is part of an old school conversion, and the interior was devised by Ivana De Felice. As is often the case with double-height, open-plan spaces like this, the acoustics were a challenge and Ivana knew there was a risk the owners could have sound quality issues while watching TV without a good solution.
So she closed off a portion of the lower level on the right and created a TV niche. It looks beautifully demarcated with its vertical wood battens, but they are more than pretty panelling. They are, in fact, specialist wooden acoustic panels that help to reduce echo in the voluminous space. “Plus they’re very nice to look at,” Ivana adds.
Tour the rest of this converted flat.
Read reviews of renovation professionals in your area on Houzz.
3. Visually reduce height
Danielle Palm and Rocci Chandler, of Rose Rock Properties in the US, had bags of experience renovating historic homes, but none tackling a new build. They were keen to add character to the building, but in a subtle way.
They wanted to create a grand entrance, as in many of the neighbourhood’s Colonial-style homes, but the resulting two-storey space felt very high with such plain walls. So the designers added elongated board-and-batten panelling above and below the stairs both to add character and mitigate the height of the space.
The simple woodwork did its job and the result is an elegant yet warm entrance that’s grand but not overwhelming in scale.
Check out the full project.
Danielle Palm and Rocci Chandler, of Rose Rock Properties in the US, had bags of experience renovating historic homes, but none tackling a new build. They were keen to add character to the building, but in a subtle way.
They wanted to create a grand entrance, as in many of the neighbourhood’s Colonial-style homes, but the resulting two-storey space felt very high with such plain walls. So the designers added elongated board-and-batten panelling above and below the stairs both to add character and mitigate the height of the space.
The simple woodwork did its job and the result is an elegant yet warm entrance that’s grand but not overwhelming in scale.
Check out the full project.
4. Blend in a doorway
In a contemporary interior, a plain, flush door or set of wardrobe doors can effectively vanish into a surrounding wall. It’s a trend we’ve seen lots of over the past few years, and it creates a lovely uncluttered finish.
But what if you want more decorative doors that tie into the period style of your home, but also like the idea of a wall with no jarring breaks? Well, you could do this.
When designing the kitchen, Richard Davonport of Davonport Kitchen & Home wanted to keep the original character of this Georgian house. As such, the team installed Shaker cabinetry and continued panelling in the same style around the room. To blend in the doorways, they opted to make the doors so similar to the walls that they gently blended in.
You can see the effect here, where a wall of panelling in the ‘snug’ area of the open-plan kitchen ‘disappears’ a discreet door into the living room, creating an elegant and visually uniform area from the outside. The central bar of the door lines up with the first horizontal line of the panelling and it’s painted in the same colour. Though slightly different in design, it blends in.
You can also just see a hidden, push-to-open door on the left that completely hides to the boiler.
Take a tour of the kitchen and the snug on the other side of this door.
In a contemporary interior, a plain, flush door or set of wardrobe doors can effectively vanish into a surrounding wall. It’s a trend we’ve seen lots of over the past few years, and it creates a lovely uncluttered finish.
But what if you want more decorative doors that tie into the period style of your home, but also like the idea of a wall with no jarring breaks? Well, you could do this.
When designing the kitchen, Richard Davonport of Davonport Kitchen & Home wanted to keep the original character of this Georgian house. As such, the team installed Shaker cabinetry and continued panelling in the same style around the room. To blend in the doorways, they opted to make the doors so similar to the walls that they gently blended in.
You can see the effect here, where a wall of panelling in the ‘snug’ area of the open-plan kitchen ‘disappears’ a discreet door into the living room, creating an elegant and visually uniform area from the outside. The central bar of the door lines up with the first horizontal line of the panelling and it’s painted in the same colour. Though slightly different in design, it blends in.
You can also just see a hidden, push-to-open door on the left that completely hides to the boiler.
Take a tour of the kitchen and the snug on the other side of this door.
5. Conceal awkward pipework
It’s not uncommon to see pipes in odd places when homes have been chopped about over the decades and rooms have changed function. Often they get painted to blend in with a wall, but this design by Stephen Nash of ALL & NXTHING may inspire you to tackle yours in a different way.
When Stephen was brought in to help with this Grade II-listed 1790s townhouse renovation, he knew its conservation area location and status would add challenges. One was in this en suite bathroom, which he created out of a bedroom.
Adding plumbing and pipework was tricky, as strict rules around the home’s listed-building status prevented the team from running it through the underfloor joists. “We could run the pipes from the front to the back of the house, but we couldn’t cut through the joists to run them horizontally,” he explains, “so we had to think of another plan.”
Stephen came up with the idea of running the pipes along the wall and covering them with panelling. The panels were made bespoke and match the cabinetry in the adjacent bedroom.
See more of this bathroom and the adjoining bedroom.
Tell us…
What practical challenge would panelling solve in your home, and which is your favourite style here? Let us know in the Comments.
It’s not uncommon to see pipes in odd places when homes have been chopped about over the decades and rooms have changed function. Often they get painted to blend in with a wall, but this design by Stephen Nash of ALL & NXTHING may inspire you to tackle yours in a different way.
When Stephen was brought in to help with this Grade II-listed 1790s townhouse renovation, he knew its conservation area location and status would add challenges. One was in this en suite bathroom, which he created out of a bedroom.
Adding plumbing and pipework was tricky, as strict rules around the home’s listed-building status prevented the team from running it through the underfloor joists. “We could run the pipes from the front to the back of the house, but we couldn’t cut through the joists to run them horizontally,” he explains, “so we had to think of another plan.”
Stephen came up with the idea of running the pipes along the wall and covering them with panelling. The panels were made bespoke and match the cabinetry in the adjacent bedroom.
See more of this bathroom and the adjoining bedroom.
Tell us…
What practical challenge would panelling solve in your home, and which is your favourite style here? Let us know in the Comments.
Sponsored
Hallways can come in for a bit of a battering, whether from pram or bike wheels scraping against them, bags and shoes being stacked against them, or dogs being boisterous – little bodies will often squeeze through gaps, rubbing against walls, and lead clips can also bash against paintwork.
The owners of this London flat, designed by Omar Bhatti of Space Shack, know all about that, as they live with two dogs. As such, this elegant oak panelling, a material motif Omar picks up on around the flat, is the perfect problem-solver, protecting the walls to keep them looking smart.
Not only is it robust and wipeable, it looks great, too. “People often overlook hallways … but they’re so important,” Omar says. “Whether it’s furniture or a paint selection or panelling, having a detail that can help the transition [into other rooms] can link everything together aesthetically – especially in a flat.”
This job ran super smoothly thanks to Omar’s use of Houzz Pro software. At the initial stages of a design, he creates a Houzz Mood Board for his clients by way of an overview. He then uses the Product Clipper tool at the sourcing stage. “We send them Houzz Selection boards to approve, decline and comment on items. It’s a lot easier than going into an email full of links,” he says.
Take a look around the whole of this flat.