Touch and see: How colour and texture can be the secret weapon to elevate your interiors

Using wooden panelling and slats, paint and rugs to good effect

Sat, 20 Apr, 2024 - 12:38

Carol O’Callaghan

A combination of colour and texture to bring a new feel to a space is one of the go-to trends this season, with three elements to consider — wooden panelling and slats, paint and rugs, the latter being perennially popular for texture underfoot, as Tracy Sheridan, colour and interior consultant at flooring specialist Matt Britton, tells me.

“Rugs can soften a room and transform it and bring a bit of your own personality,” she says. “They’re versatile and can be moved around the house, but if they’re too big they’re overpowering; too small and they’re lost.”

Colour drenching over walls, skirtings and ceiling gives a seamless finish, and helps to open up the space when using neutral colours.

She maintains, too, that not every rug suits every location, taking into account the impact footfall across it can have and the importance of considering composition and style.

“Aesthetically, you might want something softer in a low-traffic area like a bedroom with a light colour and luxurious feel,” she says. “In a living room, which is more functional, I’d recommend something with a subtle pattern like herringbone. Durability is really important in high traffic areas where a very low pile works best rather than something like a velvet which would show up footprints.”

Retro-fit wall panelling is having a moment as are wooden slats as design features cropping up in both new-builds and renovation projects across residential and commercial interior design.

Rugs can add comfort, texture and colour and be moved with ease to other rooms when a change of look is needed. Image: Matt Britton.

“It’s always been ‘in’,” says Genie Griffin of hardwood flooring and panelling specialist, The Wood Genie. “Rich people used to have panelling in Georgian times. Now people are putting it into three and four-bed semis. We want that bit of luxury.”

It’s also turning out to be a trend where you can get a weekend project going with a visit to the DIY shop to pick up what Genie describes as plant-on beading to apply to walls and give the notion of panelling without the labour of installing panels.

It’s the budget-friendly option,” he says, “but there’s also waist-height panelling and tongue and groove which can be painted.”

As an illustration, he cites his work in the home of Rob Hennessy who participated in RTÉ’s The Great House Revival. Interiors enthusiasts will remember how Rob renovated a decaying period house in Passage West, Co Cork.

“I panelled the bathroom on the half landing for Rob,” Genie says. “He painted it Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue. It looked amazing.”

The popularity of panelling in halls is soaring, according to Genie, and it’s popular in living rooms too but this is a space where he recommends a less is more approach. “Don’t do it on all four walls in the living room. There’s a line between overdoing and underdoing unless you have very high ceilings. Get your furnishings in first and see how that looks. Panelling is an add-on, you don’t have to do it straight away.”

Wooden slats form a bedroom feature set against Gris Verte walls by Colourtrend.

The other option is wooden slats which have suddenly boomed as practical and decorative installations but are suited to a more modern style of home in Genie’s view. “They can hide a door under a stairs or into a utility room,” he says, “but it’s on-trend so there’s a risk of it dating very quickly.”

Katie Walker, colour consultant with Colourtrend, suggests making a statement by painting wooden panelling and slats.

“People are always looking for something new,” she says.

“Slats can work as a focal point or define spaces between a kitchen and dining room, making it cosy and not one big space. If you’re not looking to have more wood but want the slat effect, paint it.”

Matt Britton’s Collage Modernity rug offers texture with a contrasting binding, set against a colour-drenched approach to room painting.

Fans of RTÉ’s Home of the Year will have seen this carried out effectively in episode seven of the recent series when Eugene McCarthy and son Alex’s chic Dublin home featured floor-to-ceiling slats painted white to help screen the kitchen from the living space without blocking the sightline or light.

Katie also proposes the now-established trend for colour on skirting boards and architraves and colour-drenching.

“People are looking for the seamless finish all over,” she says. “Colour drench the ceiling and skirting boards in darker, richer colours in the bedroom and sitting room for a cosy nook feeling. You can also do it with neutrals to make a space look bigger.”

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