This is a popular question which, as time goes on, is building up hundreds of answers. Of course, there are several options but one we feel is a quick and easy way to bring that little bit of elegance to a lounge and that we recommend to our customers is ‘wainscoting’, which normally is met with a screwed up face of confusion and a response of “what is wainscoting?!”. So to answer this question, wainscoting has several variations but its most common comparable is “wood panelling” and both terms do seem to be interchanged. Wainscoting tends to be seen more in both the USA but also in stately homes in the UK so it’s not surprising that when it’s installed in a UK family home, it really brings that ‘touch of class’ to the room it is installed in.
Wainscoting generally consists of wood mouldings arranged in squares or rectangles, or another formation to suit the style of installation, and equally spaced. When installing wainscoting in a hall, landing and stairs for example, the stairs wall will have angled squares to match the angle of the stairway itself. Also, commonly installed is a dado rail to either separate upper and lower square mouldings OR, to act as a top for some squares that have been installed to around waist height only. Another popular way to make this type of wainscoting stand out is to paint the area with the mouldings (including dado) one colour and another above the dado. A typical choice is the area with the mouldings being in white with a contrasting colour above. Alternatively, the reverse has a strong effect, as well as two complementary colours on both the wainscoting and the free wall space above. Whichever option we install for customers, the effect can take place very quickly. For a project of this nature however, we would always recommend using a professional trades person to complete the work for you. The finished product installation using their skills and years of experience is always noticable compared to that of an enthusiastic DIY’er.
Get in touch now to discuss your new wainscoting project and book your free consultation.
Contact: Matthew
T: 07954 168666
E: enquiries@sshomeimprovements.co.uk