Decorating
Decorating: 12 Wonderful Ways With Wooden Wall Panelling
Move over plaster – panelling is having a design moment right now, as the fast track to walls with texture and style
We have been panelling our walls with wood for centuries as a way to insulate rooms in stone buildings and make them more comfortable. But while panelling is nothing new, it is being explored afresh in today’s interiors. From feature walls of reclaimed timber to simple tongue and groove, taking wood onto our walls is big news right now. And no wonder! What better way to introduce warmth, texture and decoration to the largest surface in your home? These 12 inspiring rooms show how everything from traditional wainscot to elegant hardwood designs are creating wonder walls.
Channel the coastal look
Simple tongue and groove panelling, painted white, brings a beach hut vibe to any home. Here, it is teamed with seaside tones and homely wooden furniture for a really inviting look, but it works just as well in a pared-back country or vintage scheme, too.
Read more about coastal style
Simple tongue and groove panelling, painted white, brings a beach hut vibe to any home. Here, it is teamed with seaside tones and homely wooden furniture for a really inviting look, but it works just as well in a pared-back country or vintage scheme, too.
Read more about coastal style
Paint in a subtle colour
Panelling is a favourite ingredient of a bathroom and can be used to box in the bath as well as line the walls. This room has panelling that extends up onto the ceiling, painted in a soft grey-blue so it becomes a feature without dominating this cool, predominantly white space.
Panelling is a favourite ingredient of a bathroom and can be used to box in the bath as well as line the walls. This room has panelling that extends up onto the ceiling, painted in a soft grey-blue so it becomes a feature without dominating this cool, predominantly white space.
Go contemporary
Panelling doesn’t need to look rustic or cottagey, as this striking office shows. Today’s take on panelling includes a very sleek, elegant use of veneer panels on walls, which creates a natural backdrop that’s also smart and serious.
Panelling doesn’t need to look rustic or cottagey, as this striking office shows. Today’s take on panelling includes a very sleek, elegant use of veneer panels on walls, which creates a natural backdrop that’s also smart and serious.
Work in whitewashed boards
Serve up some Scandi style with a wall of whitewashed boards. Great at reflecting light, they also bring some texture and graphic lines to an all-white scheme and prevent it from feeling sterile.
See more ways to work Scandi style into your living room
Serve up some Scandi style with a wall of whitewashed boards. Great at reflecting light, they also bring some texture and graphic lines to an all-white scheme and prevent it from feeling sterile.
See more ways to work Scandi style into your living room
Team panelling with timber
This gorgeous timber headboard, made from reclaimed boards, stands out against the simple tongue and groove panelling and gives a nice shot of rustic texture to this pale, peaceful room.
This gorgeous timber headboard, made from reclaimed boards, stands out against the simple tongue and groove panelling and gives a nice shot of rustic texture to this pale, peaceful room.
Head for the dark side
Classic wooden panelling painted in a dark shade brings an instant dose of cool, contemporary style to any room. Used on all four walls, it creates a cocooning effect and is a stylish reinvention of the traditional gentlemen’s club or library look.
Classic wooden panelling painted in a dark shade brings an instant dose of cool, contemporary style to any room. Used on all four walls, it creates a cocooning effect and is a stylish reinvention of the traditional gentlemen’s club or library look.
Use as a frame
The walls in this living space are loaded with shape and pattern, thanks to a clever combination of wallpaper and panelling. The panelling forms a border around the lower half of the room and into the window recesses, and this is echoed by framed panels of paper above. There is lots of detail on the walls, but the mellow sage colour and elegant furniture keep the space looking serene.
The walls in this living space are loaded with shape and pattern, thanks to a clever combination of wallpaper and panelling. The panelling forms a border around the lower half of the room and into the window recesses, and this is echoed by framed panels of paper above. There is lots of detail on the walls, but the mellow sage colour and elegant furniture keep the space looking serene.
Transform a simple space
Panelling is a great way to add interest and detail to those incidental areas that often lack character. This hallway feels fabulously stylish thanks to sections of panelling painted a bold blue.
Panelling is a great way to add interest and detail to those incidental areas that often lack character. This hallway feels fabulously stylish thanks to sections of panelling painted a bold blue.
Create a contrast
The timber used to line one wall in this contemporary kitchen extension was reclaimed from a barn. It is deliberately rustic and raw to act as a contrast to the crisp, sleek lines of the white kitchen cabinetry.
See more sensational splashbacks.
The timber used to line one wall in this contemporary kitchen extension was reclaimed from a barn. It is deliberately rustic and raw to act as a contrast to the crisp, sleek lines of the white kitchen cabinetry.
See more sensational splashbacks.
Install as a border
You don’t need to fit panelling from floor to ceiling to benefit from its good looks. A simple border that runs to chair height brings a shot of classic style and leaves simply plastered wall space above for hanging artworks.
Do you have any thoughts on wall panelling? Jot them in the Comments section below.
You don’t need to fit panelling from floor to ceiling to benefit from its good looks. A simple border that runs to chair height brings a shot of classic style and leaves simply plastered wall space above for hanging artworks.
Do you have any thoughts on wall panelling? Jot them in the Comments section below.
Wide timber planks bring heaps of rustic style to walls. Here, they have been fixed both horizontally and vertically to create contrasting lines, and while the timber could stand alone as a show-stopping detail, this living space demonstrates how it can also handle being peppered with artwork.