If you’ve been hanging around on my blog, you’ve seen these first two images before. I have been exploring DIY wall paneling treatments in my designs recently. I love this trend, because it’s super affordable, not totally permanent and makes a room look really elevated. While I know what I like when I see it, and I have a gift for figuring out how to recreate it, as a newbie in the “professional” world of interior design, I thought it time to learn the terminology and share my new found knowledge with y’all.

I also have a hard time imagining shiplap or bead board (and if you don’t know those terms, you will learn as you scroll) in a room that isn’t “farmhouse chic,” which is not my personal style. I have gathered images of these paneling treatments that are modern and fresh takes on treatments that are truly timeless.

MOULDING LAYERED BEADBOARD

This is the budget kitchen makeover I did for my mom last fall for the One Room Challenge. Full disclosure, I wanted to remove the bead board, but it was all glued down, really really well. So to freshen up the look I added applied moulding on top using a brad nailer.

Beadboard is a very traditional wall treatment but one that will always be timeless. It consists of a strips of wood with small “beads” in between each board. Beadboard which comes in a variety of widths as well as styles is often popular in bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways as it serves as a very durable option for your walls and you can accent above it with a different paint color if you decide to do it as wainscoting like we did above.

APPLIED MOULDING

This room is the most recent makeover I’ve tackled, the study. I have not shared the entire reveal yet, but it’s coming soon. I tore down the wallpaper and wanted to add some character to the walls. I thought box moulding was a little overboard for this room. I wanted to have interest, yet be subtle, but I wanted something a little more than board and batten, so I added a horizontal panel about 3/4 of the way up the wall. The spot was chosen purely on visual gut reaction.

BOARD AND BATTEN

Board and Batten is one of the oldest and most traditional types of wall paneling which you often see on the exterior of homes. The construction typically consists of a wide “board” and then a smaller more narrow “batten” that is installed over each of the seams creating a stronger structure. When used on interior walls like the example below you don’t need to have the larger “board” but instead can fake the look with small strips installed vertically.

APPLIED MOULDING

This is one of the most simple and easiest of the options that we have in this category. It consists of adding strips of wood to your already existing walls (either with glue or nails) and then painting the entire wall to match. You can customize not only the size of the boxes, to be squares rectangles or a combo of each, but also the thickness of the boards that you add to the wall to achieve just about any look. I love how Gold Ala Mode brought the look of a French apartment into her New Jersey home.

SHIPLAP

Or more broadly, horizontal paneling, is a series of panels stacked horizontally. Shiplap traditionally has a space in between the boards (and is designed to easily fit together) where as horizontal paneling can be installed butt to butt without a space. Vertical paneling can be any color or raw as shown here, mixed with beadboard in Michelle Adam’s home.

BOX MOULDING

V-GROOVE PANELING

V-groove paneling is a type of paneling where the edges of the boards have been shaved so that when it butts up to another board it forms a “V” shape in the groove. This is a more traditional look, and offers defined lines because of the grooves of the boards.

WAINSCOT PANELING

The term wainscoting refers to any type of wall treatment that goes a portion of the length of the wall. So while some people think wainscoting only involves beadboard or v-groove, the “half way method” can be used for any wall treatment. We love it here in a modern hallway with a box moulding.