Practical ways to make panelling look good

Robust and handsome, with a dash of period drama, panelling is a practical wallcovering for high-traffic areas of the home and the only acceptable face of the feature wall. Panelling will disguise imperfect surfaces, add an extra layer of insulation and add instant character to an uninspiring interior. It’s a classy architectural feature that interior designers use to bring warmth and texture to a scheme, but it can also be bought as inexpensive MDF panels from Homebase. In other words, panelling looks posh but it might be your perfect cost of living crisis update.

Panelling comes into its own in the kitchen. It appears frequently in projects by Plain English, the Suffolk maker of Georgian-inspired cupboards, often painted in one of the company’s distinctive colours,