Wonderful wood panelling ideas to transform any room

From slat panels to wainscoting, wood panelling is a great way to add texture and visual interest to walls in almost any room. We’ve got everything you need to know, from how to install panelling to your most sustainable choices, plus a round-up of the latest designs.

Let’s start off with a really fashionable contemporary look: wooden slat panels.

Slat panels

Slat panels are lengths of material – typically felt – with lots of long, thin parallel batons – usually made of wood – attached to them.

They are relatively quick, cheap and easy to fix to the wall, creating a textured feature wall, and giving a contemporary update to any room.

Because of the thick felt backing, the panels offer a degree of sound insulation and thermal insulation aside from their decorative qualities.

Plus, they are a great way to cover up a wall that has aesthetic problems – old, textured wallpaper you can’t shift, say, rough plaster, or pipes you want to hide.

How to put up slat panels

Slat panels are usually screwed directly into the wall through the backing felt, though, for extra soundproofing, you can fix wooden battens onto the wall then screw the panels into them.

With tall vertical panels, if you want to cover a whole wall, it’s probably best to place a middle panel centrally on the wall and then work outwards from that.

If you want your panels to go down to the floor, you’ll need to remove your skirting boards. Otherwise, just rest the bottom of your panels on the top of the skirting board.

If your room is taller than the panels you’ve chosen, you’ll need to cut extra sections of panel to fit in the space at the top of the full-length panels.

You’ll also need to mark the position of any electrical sockets and cut out a hole for each one. If you just want to create a smaller area of panelling, use matching trim – edging – strips to finish the top and sides neatly.

There are lots of videos online showing how to put up slat panels.

Materials

Many slat panels are made from MDF strips with a hardwood veneer.

They are available in a whole range of different woods, colours, and finishes.

Some need to be treated with oil, some can be painted, some come ready to install.

You can also get panels made from plastic or composite strips. These are good for use in bathrooms and kitchens.

Lighting

Some slat-panel manufacturers sell lighting strips specially made to fit between the panels, for example check out the Glow LED light strips from Acupanel.

Slat panels aren’t the only options available, though. There are lots of other kinds of wall panelling to choose from…

Wainscotting

For a period property – or if you just prefer a more traditional look – consider wainscoting.

This is traditional wood panelling that covers the bottom third (or two-thirds of a wall).

Wainscoting comes in various styles, including:

• tongue-and-groove
• shiplap
• a more classic traditional raised-panel design.

Each of these is topped off with a wooden moulding at dado height.

And any of these panel styles can, of course, also be carried up to the ceiling to cover the whole wall.

Wainscoting protects the walls from scuffs and damage, but is primarily a decorative element these days, often chosen for bathrooms and hallways.

Tongue and groove kits are widely available. The vertical strips are nailed to horizontal battens fixed to the wall.

Then the top is capped with a moulding and a skirting board is fixed across the bottom.

If you already have a skirting board, choose battens of the same depth, then you won’t need to remove the existing skirting but can simply use it as the bottom batten to fix the tongue and groove strips to.

If you’re putting any wooden panelling in a bathroom, make sure you use moisture-resistant MDF.

Mouldings

An alternative way to achieve a similar effect without fully cladding your wall is to use strips of wood or mouldings stuck to the wall to create faux panelling.

A popular traditional style that’s back in fashion is Shaker-style board-and-batten or coffered panelling.

Although it is all often sold as Shaker panelling, different styles of board-and-batten panelling have actually been fashionable at different times in history.

DIY Wall Panelling sells a good range of kits in different historic styles from Georgian to Edwardian.

Kits for these types of panelling, containing pre-cut strips of wood that you fix to the wall using grab adhesive and a nail gun are widely available.

The hardest part of using these is getting the measurement right and deciding what to do if your panels don’t fit neatly into the width of your wall.

There are lots of how to videos online. Shop around if you’re not confident in your skills: some kits are easier to install than others.

You could use sheets of MDF or wood as backing board to create real panelling in any of these styles.

But, if you have a good wall surface, that isn’t usually necessary – you can just create the look of panelling using strips of wood or moulding.

Use moisture-proof MDF anywhere that is damp and in bathrooms and kitchens.

Geometric panelling

Another striking style of faux panelling is geometric panelling, where wooden strips or mouldings are to create bold geometric patterns on the walls.

Accurate measurement is the key here.

Rustic look

On the other hand, rough-cut or recycled planks fixed to an interior wall – flat-plank cladding – can give a more rustic (or urban) look, depending on the timber you choose.

DIY or tradesman

If you’ve got good skills, no need to buy a wall-panel kit of any kind, you can buy your timber in bulk and cut and mitre the panels yourself.

On the other hand, if your skills are minimal and budget healthy, a carpenter can easily install any kind of panelling for you.

Real wood

Of course, instead of MDF, you could use real timber.

As Polly Bedford, of hardwood flooring company, Coppice & Crown, explains, in that case, “It’s important to consider the right texture, tone and finish for the style you’re trying to achieve.

For example, chestnut panelling features pale straw tones and a subtle grain pattern, giving it a timeless simplicity that’s perfect for a modern office space or contemporary home design.

Meanwhile, ash panelling features paler tones that will instantly brighten and open up your space – a perfect addition to a room that doesn’t have much natural light.

Opting for a naturally sourced hardwood will retain each piece of the panelling’s original details, such as knots, ribbons, grain patterns and undertones, adding unique character and charm that can’t be replicated in other materials.”

Painting

While slat panels often come pre-finished, wainscoting and Shaker-style panelling will need painting. And, chances are, before it can be painted, it will need priming.

You can buy pre-primed kits to save yourself the work here.

Or just buy some primer and do the work. You’ll need to sand and fill the panelling before you begin, too.

Alternatively, you could go for a paint that doesn’t need a primer, such as V33 Renovation Wall Tile and Panelling Paint.

If you need to paint both wall and wood/MDF in the same shade, you could go for a multi-surface paint.

Inspiring ideas

There are a lot more options out there for creating texture on walls

Noël & Marquet, for example, makes super stylish 3D wall panels with curved designs that bring a really cool retro vibe.

These are made from high density polyurethane (PU) foam that you stick on the wall.

For more inspiration, to get an idea of the variety of options available, look at the website of a specialist such as Designer Walls, which sells a great range of unusual wall panels, including:

• handmade textured wooden tiles from Form At Wood

• its own faux brick panels based on bricks walls in Manchester

• Sunwood flat planks which can come as stick-on kits

• designer cork from Magna Natura and other cork surfaces

• dramatic back-lit panels like these from Decora Glass by Tecnografica.

Bleached Cuneo Oak panelling from Naturepanel  who have an online visualiser that lets you see what slat panels would look like in your room

Sustainability

Whatever style you go for, look out for more sustainable choices, such as:

• felt backing for slat panels, which is made from recycled plastic, such as recycled plastic bottles
• wood with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which shows that it has come from sustainable, well managed sources
• reclaimed timber panels
• tiles made from cork
• slats made from recycled plastic
• solvent-free grab adhesive
• formaldehyde and VOC-free MDF, from manufacturers like Honext,
• volatile organic compound- (VOC)-free paint.

Main image at top of page shows Canelé Arstyl panels from Noël & Marquet

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