Materials & comparisons
Wall panelling styles: what suits which room
The style you choose changes the setting-out, not just the look.
Panelling has become shorthand for one look — white shaker squares on a hallway wall — but the choice is much wider, and the styles behave differently in different rooms. Height, proportion and how the panelling meets skirting, door architrave and switches are what make it look designed rather than applied. This is a comparison by room and by setting-out, not by trend.
Shaker (framed panels)
Rails and stiles forming rectangles, usually half-height in hallways and full-height behind a bed. It is the most proportion-sensitive style: the panel widths need to be set out across the whole wall first so the end panels do not end up narrow.
Board and batten
Vertical battens on a plain wall with a top rail. Simpler to set out than shaker, more forgiving on an uneven wall, and visually taller — a good choice for low-ceilinged rooms and stairwells.
Tongue and groove
The traditional option, and the most practical in bathrooms and utility spaces because it is a robust surface rather than an applied moulding. Runs can be vertical or horizontal; horizontal reads wider and suits narrow hallways.
Slatted timber
Spaced timber slats, often on a dark backing, used as a feature rather than a wall treatment. It works well behind a media wall or bed head and can be used to soften sound in a hard-surfaced room.
Where the cost actually goes
Not in the material. It goes into wall preparation, setting-out around obstacles, scribing to uneven surfaces, and the filling, caulking and decorating that make the joints disappear. A wall with a chimney breast, sockets and a door in it takes far longer than a flat one of the same area.
Questions we're asked about this
Thinking about panelling a room?
Send a photo of the wall with its sockets, doors and skirting — the setting-out is the part worth getting right.
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