Everyone wants to add a little oomph factor to their living rooms, after all, that’s the first place your guest and neighbors walk through when they come to your home. Making a room look fabulous can be expensive, especially if you aren’t aware of the little tips and tricks that can revamp your home. Drawing attention to one wall of your home is a good way to make your home look good, and adds a little something to offset the single colored walls. Paneling is one popular way to change up the look or space of your living room or any other room for that matter. Most professionals and interior designers charge a lot for something as simple as this. All it takes for you to do this yourself is knowing how to! And by the end of this article, you will surely be on your way to making your walls and rooms look better than they were before.
Step 1: Measuring the wall you want to panel
Of Course, this is considering you already know which wall you want to panel. If you want your wall to be the center of attention, pick one that is mostly at the middle of the room, or the one that faces the seating area. Measure the wall that you have chosen by width and length. If you only want to panel some part of the wall, be sure to take that into consideration and only measure the length and width of the paneling part.
Step 2: Choosing Your Panels
This would require you to get out of the house and make your way to a hardware store that sells boards or wooden sheets. Hardware stores usually have a wide selection such as faux stone panels to choose from, which differ in look and material. A handy tip is to pick something that would offset the colors that are on your other walls so the panel can stand out more. You could also take a sample photograph or color of your current walls and try looking at the panels against that to see how well they would go together. Be sure to give the measurements of your wall to the people at the store, so that you don’t end up with a piece that is too small, or too big.
Step 3: Prepping the panels
Keep the panels in a room for around 2-3 days, depending on the humidity levels of the room. This will also allow the panels to expand or contract according to the room that they will be placed in. This also is necessary to ensure that the panels don’t shrink or expand once you install them and leave them up for a few days.
Step 4: Placing the panels
If you have one large sheet of panel wood, you can put it against the wall and see if it fits right and if you need to cut any part of it. If you have smaller, longer faux stone panels, place them in the way you would want them to be placed, one by one, and see if you need to make any alterations to the boards. Cut the panels accordingly if need be using a saw with a fine but strong blade.
Step 5: Fixing the panels
Using a drill and a nail gun, bolt the panels into place. If you don’t have a nail gun, using a hammer will also do the trick!
