Walls are the largest canvas of a home, use it wisely

What are the largest canvases of your home? The floors and the walls, of course. When it came to walls, paint and then wallpapers and textures were the extent of innovation. No longer. We’ve noticed that interior designers are using panelling, wainscoting and texture finishes to really transport interior design of a space to a higher level of sophistication and finish. Mumbai-based designers Mangesh DL and Sarah Sham, Bangalore favourites Vinithra Amarnathan and FADD Studio, Hummingtree Studio in Kerala are some of the many designers that have really explored the possibilities of wall treatments.

A word of caution, though. Wood-based finishes like panelling and wainscotting are done on top of a concrete wall base and often need high levels of maintenance, depending on the location of the home. So decide on the treatment based on the climatic conditions of the city and the rigours it will place on your interiors. For instance, in sea-facing spaces that have to deal with high levels of humidity, wood-panelled wall-finishes can get easily corroded. While locations without such conditions won’t have to deal with the same issue.

When it comes to textures it is simply a matter of aesthetics and talented craftsmen. Designer Shivani Dogra, with studios in Delhi and Goa, works with talented painters to achieve the distressed, uneven textures that are a signature of many of her projects. Choose what works for you and your home, so the walls can speak. Or even better, they sing!