How To Update Wood Paneling Walls

Photo: Reena Sotropa

We don't have to tell you trends come up and go,then come dorsum again. After all, macramé wall hangings, wicker piece of furniture, and velvet haven't looked so good since the '70s. Just others, like wood paneling, are a flake more difficult to navigate. Believe us, there's a fine line separating your beautiful living room from the dingy den and shabby basement installations from the past.

Don't fret. These days woods paneling can exist reinvented into something modern and not the least scrap dowdy. Since the days of shag carpeting and avocado appliances, the abode décor staple has a whole new look. What used to look tacky and stagnant, now adds character to any space, from rustic to contemporary. Gyre through for the inspiration and tips you demand to execute wood paneling the right way.

01 of 20

Use It To Create Division

Panel Store

Why settle for a room divider when yous can actually divide a room? This built-in creates division, but the wood paneling works as an accent wall.

02 of 20

Update The Retro Await

Oak & Melanin

We're big fans of the retro look, but this commonly entails vintage-inspired elements, rather than bodily wall coverings from 30 years ago. This room works because it incorporates an updated version of wood paneling (thin slats in a light shade), paired with 70's inspired décor.

03 of twenty

Mix Woods Profiles

Blueprint: Figr Architecture; Photo: Derek Swalwell; Styling: Simone Haag; Furniture: Barnaby Lane

Yous probably already know how trendy mixed metals are, only as it turns out, you can do the same with wood. This infinite does an impeccable job at mixing the profiles of different lumbers. The lower half of this dining room boasts blonde tones of birch plywood, while the top half highlights warm tones in the forest slats. The two come together to brand this space unique and beautiful.

04 of 20

Install It Like Wainscotting

Pattern: Barnaby Lane; Photo: Dylan James Photograph; Styling: Justine Murphy

Wood paneling doesn't need to extend up to your ceiling to brand a statement. Wainscotting—a type of panel molding that covers the bottom half of a wall—is the nearly classic of wood accent walls. Dressing it up with a lip that doubles every bit a shelf isn't a bad thought either.

05 of twenty

Stain It Black

Barnaby Lane

Nosotros've never seen wood paneling look and then modern as it does here. Staining information technology in a deep shade of onyx instantly ups its cool factor. Merely retrieve this technique can simply be applied to existent woods.

06 of xx

Try a Modern Approach

@devon_grace_interiors

The walls in this bathroom are dressed in faux-wood tiles that create a stunning optical illusion. The same could exist done with real pieces of wood, simply this arroyo is much cheaper, easier to install, then much quicker. It's of import to always consider alternatives when sourcing materials for your forest-paneled wall.

07 of 20

Go for Dimension

Pattern: Timothy Godbold; Photograph: Alec Hemer

Wood slats are no 1-play a trick on pony. Turn them on their sides, identify them with some separating in between each piece, and y'all've got yourself an expensive-looking design element that transforms the wait of whatsoever room.

08 of 20

Experiment With Shiplap

Bicker Design

Think of shiplap as the modernistic-solar day forest paneling. 1 24-hour interval, our kids will talk nigh shiplap the style we talk virtually our grandma's basement. But we're not just tooting our own horn when we say shiplap is a much cooler, non then in-your-face version of '70s paneling.

09 of xx

Cover The Look

Amandine & Jules

Wood paneling isn't just for walls. Embrace the look and run with it. A light-wash plywood on the walls, ceiling, and dining-room demote looks modern, clean, and minimal, somehow without looking totally overdone.

10 of 20

Endeavor Horizontal Shiplap

Trinette Reed

Shiplap is commonly installed vertically, giving you clean lines that sew together and downwards a wall. Still, designing a infinite with horizontally installed shiplap visually stretches the room from left to right giving the illusion that information technology's longer. Information technology'due south a uncomplicated swap but it makes a major deviation.

eleven of 20

Create a Screen

Arianna Danielson

If there's one thing we desire yous to learn with wood paneling it's that you tin get creative with information technology. This forest-paneled wall is designed to work as a screen. It creates a sectionalization in the infinite but doesn't completely act as a wall. Separation between the wood panels creates a beautiful illusion that allows calorie-free and energy to flow through freely.

12 of xx

Paint It

Design: Bluish Copper Pattern; Photograph: Life Created

Just like whatever other wall in your space, wood paneling can exist painted. This sleeping room wall perfectly executes a geometric limerick, and the wooden slats simply add even more than dimension.

13 of 20

Attempt Wallpaper Equally An Alternative

Design, Photo: Anne Sage

If you long for a wood-paneled wall but currently reside in a rental, flex your interior design skills with a woodgrain wallpaper. The result is merely as beautiful, merely it'south easily removed, much more affordable, easier to install, and gives you the illusion of textured walls. Information technology'south a win-win.

14 of twenty

Install Your Shiplap Diagonally

Black Bear Ridge

You've seen vertical and horizontal installations before but y'all'll want to go on this new diagonal have on mitt for renovation inspiration. Paired with horizontal-running wood on the ceiling and perpendicular beams painted black, this living-room-dining-room hybrid is a formula for pattern success.

15 of xx

Match It To Your Floors

Photo: Reena Sotropa

Go a loftier-impact look when you lot dress your room in floor-to-ceiling wood. This office impeccably matches the wood panels on the wall to the hardwood floor, and the effect is gorgeous.

16 of twenty

Effort A Rustic Finish

Trinette Reed

Most woods paneling is clean and flawless. Notwithstanding, sourcing distressed wood for an accent wall will make all the difference in your final pattern. Aged wood brings so much character and charm to a modernistic infinite, you'll be transported to another place and timezone every time you go dwelling.

17 of xx

Take It To New Heights

Trinette Reed

We dearest the forest paneling on the walls in this space, but the wood paneling on the ceiling takes the cool factor of this living room up a notch.

eighteen of 20

Add Beams

ARBOR & CO.

The wood-paneled ceiling on its own might experience slightly dated, but the addition of beams helps arrive feel more mod. Painting them black adds a sleek factor to the space, and creates some welcome dissimilarity.

19 of 20

Embrace Modern Farmhouse

Karen Emile/Milk & Honey Life

White wood-paneled walls are synonymous with a farmhouse aesthetic, but to keep it feeling more mod and less land, combine with lite wood floors. Proceed décor minimalistic and purposeful, similar in the room pictured.

20 of twenty

Panel Congenital-Ins

Light & Dwell

Who says you have to woods panel your entire room? These built-ins feature woods paneling, which makes them pop. Since everything in the living room is neutral, the paneling also elevates the space and gives the middle a focal bespeak.