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For decades, covering walls from floor to ceiling with wood paneling has been a popular decorating choice. Unfortunately, some wall paneling styles—mainly those prevalent during the 1960s, ’70s, and ‘80s—gave rooms a dated, dark, cave-like feel. Perhaps your home is one of the homes that remain plagued by the dreaded, dated panels that do nothing visually but continue to bring down the energy in a room from their existence alone.
Sometimes, you want to upgrade the look of your home, and doing something to modernize that outdated wood paneling can help. When planning a remodel for these antiquated rooms, homeowners should give modern paneling options a second look instead of shunning paneling altogether. Replacing the wood paneling of yesteryear with today’s paneling options can transform any room into a fresh, classic, or contemporary space.
There are several ways to renovate a room covered with old floor-to-ceiling paneling. The easiest option, of course, is to paint over the old paneling. However, if budgets allow, removing and replacing wood paneling with a modern treatment accentuated by lovely moulding options from The Moulding Company may give the most stunning and timeless results.
How Do I Decide on A Look Before Replacing Wood Paneling?
Before ripping out old paneling, homeowners should first decide what style they want the room to have. Do you want your room to be modern, classic, rustic, or something in the middle? Do you want to make a small space look bigger or make a large room cozier? You should also identify the current type of wall paneling already in place and how it was attached.
Wall paneling from past decades typically came in three varieties: shipboard, tongue-and-groove, or barn siding. Tongue-and-groove paneling is the easiest to remove, as it comes off in pieces. Shipboard and barn siding may be more challenging to remove if the contractor used glue rather than nails to attach the paneling to the underlying wall surface.
How Do I Remove Paneling?
If you are a DIYer and are not planning to hire a contractor to remove the current paneling in your home, you must carefully remove the paneling so as not to hurt yourself or others. Understanding how the existing paneling is in place can help you make more mindful decisions about how you’re going to remove it.
Using a pry bar to pull nailed-in paneling from the wall is best. Removing glued on paneling is harder and may require a heat gun, and it may cause damage to any underlying drywall or plaster.
Keep in mind that it was common for contractors to nail paneling directly to bare wall studs in the past. Once you’ve removed such paneling, those bare studs will need drywall coverage before applying any new wall treatment, including new paneling or painting the wall. The good news in this situation is that homeowners get a chance to add insulation to the walls before installing drywall.
What Are Some Modern Options?
Historically, paneling served as decoration, insulation, and protected walls from furniture damage. Paneling still serves these same purposes but is seen more frequently as a decorative element.
Modern paneling comes in a range of panel widths, groove shapes, textures, and compositions. Paneling can be solid wood, wood composite, or even plastic. Also, installing paneling horizontally or on ceilings will add dimension and grandeur to the room.
Perhaps the most enduringly popular option for updating plain paneling is wainscoting. Wainscot is a type of paneling covering the bottom part of a wall. Finish the covering off with a wainscot cap. Wainscoting has remained so popular because it protects walls and protects the homeowner’s options to change the room’s color and style.
Why Should I Choose Wainscoting?
Wainscoting remains modern looking despite being a historically used paneling option, and it looks great everywhere, from bathrooms and kitchens to bedrooms and living rooms. It even looks great in foyers and hallways, especially if you want to create visual excitement in those places in your home. When considering wainscoting height, separate your walls into thirds horizontally, with wainscoting staying in the lower third.
Wainscoting should be no higher than 32 inches in rooms with standard eight-foot ceilings. Rooms with higher ceilings can have wainscoting reach farther up the wall but no more than 48 inches. Essentially, the lower the wainscoting, the larger the room will appear.
Wainscoting adds definition and timeless style to any room. A plain, flat wall painted the same color from floor to ceiling—even a bright color—is still less exciting and visually inviting than a wall of the same color with a contrasting skirt of wainscoting.
Ready to Replace that Paneling? The Moulding Company Can Help!
Don’t let your home look drab and outdated because of wood paneling that’s seen better days. When you want to get rid of old, dark paneling on walls and transform your California home’s rooms to something that reflects your style, it’s time to give us a call at here The Moulding Company, or check out our free online catalog now!
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