Horizontal Wainscoting Widens Wall Appeal
Turn beadboard or paneling 90 degrees and watch it wake up your walls in a whole new way
Not long ago I toured a bathroom where the contractor had the idea to turn the tongue and groove wainscoting on its side. Rather than running vertically from the floor, the grooves stretched around the room in a horizontal path, and I couldn't get over how fresh and up-to-date this treatment made the bath feel. It inspired me to search for other spaces with horizontal wainscoting, each with its own distinctive style. Here are my favorites.
In most rooms, wainscoting ends midway up the wall. This one flips that approach by taking the boards close to the ceiling. They draw the eye upward to give the illusion of height, while their horizontal orientation lends the impression of width — a skillful double play.
Wainscoting preserves this bathroom's simple cottage style, yet its positioning feels more contemporary than conventional beadboard.
In this bedroom, the wall planks reinforce the strong horizontal structure of the room (lampshades, floating night tables, twin vents).
In a monochromatic color scheme, texture is vital for visual depth. Turning the wainscoting 90 degrees gives this bath just enough of an edge to provide interest.
This bedroom would have felt old-fashioned were it not for the unusual ceiling and wainscot treatments. Painting the wainscoting a few shades darker than the walls helps to ground the space.
So much wainscoting is painted white that it's always fun to see a different take, such as this richly stained wood. While mounting it vertically would have given the feel of traditional paneling, its horizontal placement makes it modern.
The wainscoting helps to pull together this open-plan kitchen and living space and suits the transitional feel of the design.
More:
The Wonders of Wainscoting
Beautiful Details: Wainscoting and Paneled Walls
More:
The Wonders of Wainscoting
Beautiful Details: Wainscoting and Paneled Walls