Ask a Designer: Getting creative with wood can add interest to walls, ceilings, floors

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This photo provided by Betsy Burnham shows a classic board-and-batten treatment, that illustrates how you can change a room or stairwell by adding decorative wood overlays to a plain wall, in a stairway. (AP Photo/Betsy Burnham, Max Humphrey)

Working with wood comes naturally to New York interior designer Dan Faires. He grew up in an old farmhouse and has been developing his carpentry skills for much of his life.

So in any house or apartment he occupies, he finds creative ways to decorate with this natural material. To rehab an apartment in Arkansas recently, he covered the dark pine floor with coats of glossy white paint, instantly brightening the room and making it seem larger.

But many homeowners have no experience working with wood, so they don't realize, Faires says, how easy it is to make a home more beautiful by improving the existing wood or creatively adding new wood to walls, floors and even ceilings.

Designer Brian Patrick Flynn, creator of the Flynnside Out Productions design blog, agrees: "While different materials come and go with trends, wood is here to stay. Whether it's for a home's exterior, bedroom walls or for adding shade to your yard or deck, wood is an investment that will never go out of style."

Here, Faires, Flynn and Betsy Burnham of the Los Angeles-based Burnham Design share their favourite ways to decorate with wood.

FEATURE WALLS

"Creating interior feature walls with soft woods is an amazing way to add a focal point to a room otherwise considered a 'basic drywall box,'" Flynn says.

You can add decorative wood to a wall from floor to ceiling, Burnham says, or just part of the way up. Options include tongue-and-groove panels, bead board or traditional board and batten.

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Ask a Designer: Getting creative with wood can add interest to walls, ceilings, floors