Panelling - help!

[DDIY]

Panelling...

Yes, very popular right now but also very in-keeping with our 150(ish) year old house.

Downstairs - high ceilings, oak flooring, big windows etc. Thinking of bullnose and beading in squares.

Bedrooms - normal height ceilings, carpet, small windows. Unsure on having the 4" strips of wood to create the panelling effect or the beading (as planned downstairs).

Thoughts / comments / tips / advice / suggestions all welcome.

Don’t do it. Honestly. Especially not in a house that old. You’re literally sealing in any damp between the wall and the panelling. If you want the same effect opt for wallpaper.

We don't have any damp. Does the "panelling" (it's obviously not full panelling, just decorative strips to create the effect) cause it? If so, I'm thinking the beading would surely be fine - it's so slim and just glued onto the wall.

So fake panelling?

I don't like it. It's obviously decorative and thus looks performative.

Sorry, you asked.

If you like texture I do really like Anagylpta painted in deep colours or grasscloth etc.

Sorry again.

If you have an older house the walls need to breathe as much as possible to prevent damp and condensation. If you are sticking panels to the wall, no matter how thin they are, the walls can’t breathe properly.

If you’re just going to be creating fake panelling with beading then that’s different and should be fine.

Fake panelling looks awful. Don't do it.

No need to apologise - each to their own ☺️

If it suits the age of the property and is done well it can look really good. If you mean making the square/rectangle shape “panels” with strips of beading/wood then accuracy is the key. The angles have to be spot on and take a lot of time and care with the prep work so that when it’s painted it looks seamless. Nothing worse than being able to see the seams and joins when it’s done.
if you like it then absolutely go ahead. I don’t tend to follow trends and just do things I like and will suit the house when it comes to decorating.
personally I’m not keen on the tongue and groove style the squares tends to look better but that’s just my opinion.

Currently renovating our house and the joiner has put beading in squares and the dado above on the staircases, landings and in the main hallway. I am very happy with it.

We decided against doing any in the bedrooms as I was keen to avoid the whole house being panelled and it looking like we had seen an idea and completely run with it, opting for F&B strong colours instead.

I won't be doing it myself - we have a fabulous carpenter!

Oh, absolutely!

We have an excellent carpenter who will be doing the work.

Much like you, we're not people to follow trends and, especially now, we are just trying to choose what will most suit the house. I have always loved panelling / panelling effect (go back to the early 00s and every SIMs creation of mine had it!) so this isn't a fad for me ☺️

We're not planning to go crazy with it, either. Probably two bedrooms and the dining room. The house is big with lots of rooms so it shouldn't be overpowering.

😬😬😬

I didn't think you would be doing the work yourself! I'm afraid my opinion still stands. We have a very large house with bespoke joinery in almost every room - why not consider other options to create a unique, stunning home?

Yes but assuming it is already painted with plastic paint the panelling won’t do more harm it will just disguise it for longer. That’s not a reason to do it, the OP needs to really ensure the plaster and paint are correct. I’d sort it but not everyone wants to and in that situation she can do the panels and leave the next owner to deal with this issues. 🫣🙄

We put panelling (timber strips forming squares attached to the plastered wall) in the dining room of our previous house in 2018. The house, which wasn't listed, was 400 years old and very much lacking in character when we purchased it as a repossession.

DH who is skilled at carpentry did the work himself - from scratch, not using a kit - and it looked stunning - imo, obviously! We painted the walls in Farrow & Ball Olive (an archive colour) and most people assumed it was an original feature.

@DDIY we don't follow interior fashions either - eg, we've been colour-drenching for years as I once read that this 'French style' of decorating makes rooms appear more spacious and I hate 'choppy' colour schemes. Our interior choices are made because we love them. If you love the idea of panelling, go for it!

Hit me with some ideas!!! I'm not the most creative of people 😬

It's the "forever home" and we're young enough to not be considering imminent death so I don't want to do anything that might cause a problem in the foreseeable.

This is wonderful!

Decorate your house the way you want to do it, don't listen to people saying not to do panelling. All our previous houses have been stepping stone houses until this one. We would decorate in muted tones so that it was ready to sell when the time came.

This is the first house we have decorated the way we want and I don't care about anyone else's opinion on it because it is done for us, not to put on social media. I even have a feature wall and I don't care that it is considered dated.

One of the best things about AI whichever one you use is you can upload a photo of your room and ask it to colour it, panel it, add curtains or do whatever. I have just done this with my kitchen to visualise the paint colour we are going for and change the flooring. If you give it dimension too it will help with the results.

You don't need to be. Find a highly recommended joiner in your area who can work with you to create a vision. After viewing your home, they will be full of suggestions for every room. They're worth their weight in gold.

I’m in the process of restoring original wooden panelling circa 1850 using materials which are as authentic as possible and I think it looks wonderful.The stone walls are wonky so it’s been a challenge. It wraps the room and brings warmth.

Try Pinterest or google images for ideas. I bet it will look lovely once it is finished!

Okay. Do some research into the correct materials for your property. You can use the SPAB helpline or and join the Your Old Home conservation and repair UK group on Facebook. You will learn a lot and also get lots of invaluable support

My house is from 1908 and it has original panelling throughout. Very elaborate on the ground floor, e.g. picture frames with the rosettes in corners, and dado rail between lower and upper frames. It’s different in all three receptions. Then there’s dado rail in the hall and along the stairs, and in a study. Picture rail in the bedroom on the first floor, and dado rail with frames underneath in the two adjacent rooms, that used to be one, private reception, before being partitioned. Picture rail on the second floor. Many houses from this era around us have variants of these. It’s all about the proportions - the ceilings get lower the higher you go (though always very high) and the placement of the rails and frames reflects that.

Do you have the original doors, OP? The panelling on ours is coordinated with that on the walls.

Once it's on there, that's it. Would cause a lot of mess and effort to ever remove it. If you don't like it once it's done then you'll be stuck with it

Absolutely possible to do good quality panelling yourself. We have.

My DH also panelled the hallways, stairs and landing of our Victorian home. Rather than do it directly on the plaster he used a wood backing, then the profiles, skirting etc on top of that. He did an excellent job.