Wall panelling in two period rooms

The job was to fit framed wall panelling to two period rooms in an upper-floor flat, working around original cornice, a ceiling rose and existing sockets. Both rooms had been stripped of old wallpaper back to bare plaster, with patched repairs still showing on the walls and above the picture rail. Floors were covered with hardboard and protective sheeting, furniture was wrapped and a mitre saw and extractor were set up in the hallway so the mouldings could be cut on site.

Setting out came first. In the second room, timber battens were tacked to the wall as datum lines so the panel heights and spacings ran level around the room and lined through at the door openings. The panel mouldings were then pinned and glued to the plaster, working panel by panel along each wall, with the layout set out so socket positions and skirtings were left clear and the existing picture rail and cornice were not disturbed.

Both rooms are now fully panelled, with tall panels above and a shallower run beneath, and are ready for filling, caulking and painting. Skirtings, architraves and the original plasterwork have been kept in place throughout, so the new panelling reads as part of the original room rather than an addition.