Wood Paneling, Wainscoting and Boiserie: Wall Covering Ideas Revisited

The first time I saw wood paneling was in a room encased in carved oak linenfold paneling aged to a deep brown. As a lover of fabric, it was difficult to tear myself away from a wall of rippling wooden “fabric”. This post will be a gathering of ideas about wood paneling, wainscoting, and boiserie and how it inspired me to repurpose leftover building materials.

There are different types of wood wall ornamentation – wood paneling, wainscoting, and boiserie to name a few. The common element derived from my readings is that wood is used as insulation or protection of the walls and the living beings within the walls. Interestingly, my latest issue of Frederic magazine (Volume XIX) includes a piece titled “Wonder Walls” with photos and examples of artisans currently creating fabulous wall treatments. It seems the attention is once again focused on walls!

Haute Bohemnians by photographer Miguel Flores-Vianna is one of my most cherished books. Through his work, Miguel Flores-Vianna takes readers inside the homes and lives of some of the world’s most fascinating individuals.

Miguel Flores-Vianna’s visit to studio/office of Guillaume and Delphine Feau in Paris, France is an example. The company, Feau Boiseries, restores, manufactures, and trades wooden boiseries, some dating back to the 17^th century. Boiseries are French in origin and are typically wooden panels carved in low relief and may be painted, gilded, or inlaid. They are usually designed to cover an entire wall from floor to ceiling.

These two photos were taken in the glass roofed courtyard and studio where boiserie panels are restored.

This panel is one of four carved panels in the entry room of Feau’s home in Versailles. The panels are attributed to 18^th century architect, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and represent the four continents. This panel with an alligator featured represents the Americas.

If you look closely at this framed print “Napoleon Dictating to His Secretaries” (from the Aquarelle of P. Grollebon) you can clearly see the carved wood boiserie paneling on the walls. This is one of four different prints purchased at different times from the same shop on Magazine Street in New Orleans. One of my favorite things was to search through the cardboard boxes stacked on a table in the back of the shop looking for prints of Napoleon.

Wainscoting in its original form was typically oak paneling with some raised panels or wood trim. During the English Renaissance the wainscoting might rise to a height of 8 to 10 feet. Paintings, sconces, and/or hunting trophies or swords might have been mounted on the wainscoting. These scenes from the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice show the Bennet’s dining room where family portraits and candle sconces are mounted on the wainscoting. Many of us have watched this film numerous times in order to absorb these interior design details!

Luxurious Minimalism Elegant Interiors by Fritz Von Der Schulenburg includes this photo of fashion designer Bill Blass’s apartment where the windows of the bedroom/library are sheathed in shutters made to look like wainscoting. They block out the view and provide a place to hang pictures.

New Orleans Elegance by Kerri McCaffety includes these photos of a French Quarter apartment designed by Thomas Landry. One wall is covered with a large folding screen made of wooden paneling, Long ago, this apartment was featured in House Beautiful and I saved clippings of this room and the toile bedroom in the adjoining space in my inspirational clippings folder.

The New Eighteenth Century Home by Michele Lalande includes many examples of wooden panels used in contemporary interior design.

Here is a smaller folding screen made of repurposed wooden panels which might have once been wainscoting.

Photo credit: matthewseyeart

The New York apartment of John Derian, artist, designer, and shop owner, features an entire wall of wooden paneling which includes some raised trim portions and some carving. In a Youtube interview with Susanna Salk he talks about purchasing the wall from a shop in Antwerp and storing it until he had a place where it could fit. He describes the feeling of being in the room as if being on a stage set.

Antiques dealer and designer Axel Vervoordt collects these wood panels and puts them on trestles to create tables. As seen in Luxurious Minimalism, planks like this were used as tables in the Middle Ages.

When we were dismantling some folding wood screens we made during the pandemic with wood ordered online it occurred to me that we could recut the wood and add some wood moulding we had to create the look of wooden panels or wainscoting. There was enough wood and trim to make 8 panels and three sets of shorter folding screens to go between the glass front cases in the upstairs studio.  Here are the concept sketches from my journal.

Once the wood mouldng was attached the panels were painted with Sherwin Williams Mega Griege in a matte finish.

The knots, cracks, and fissures in the wood were intentionally left as is, to exemplify the re-use of wood and perhaps, to give them a worn look.

The painted wooden “wainscoting” panels propped up against the wall in the entryway of our studio.

The three-panel wainscoting screens between the glass front supply cases. The hinges were also reused from the original wooden screens.

So, there is an even greater feeling of peace in the room now. The panels propped against the wall in the entryway echo the selection of empty frames across from them. The three panel screens tie the cabinets together and have space behind them to tuck away reference materials and supplies. There is something immensely satisfying about making something beautiful and useful from materials you already own! They are more meaningful to me as they represent a long- held interest in wood paneling, wainscoting, and boiserie.