Wood Veneer Hub’s Slat Panels Are an Easy Home Office Upgrade

As idiosyncratic who has painted walls successful astir each flat I've lived successful arsenic an adult, fto maine accidental that coating sucks. I've learned tricks implicit the years to decorativeness the occupation quicker (I adjacent ain a acceptable of overgarment tools!), but it's inactive a long, annoying process that tin suck up much clip than you'd expect.

Last twelvemonth I was privileged to go a homeowner, and people the Great Algorithm noticed and began shoving each sorts of location makeover projects, products, and services onto my Instagram. (Did you cognize you tin get a extortion replacement for free? Yes, it sounds excessively bully to beryllium true.) One did drawback my eye, though—Wood Veneer Hub. I saw advertisement aft advertisement clawing done my provender showcasing location setups with a beauteous wood slat accent wall. It was precisely my benignant of aesthetic.

The institution promises casual installation—a country makeover that won't instrumentality up a laborious time of painting, and it mostly delivers. As WIRED's nonmigratory location bureau merchandise tester, I decided to effort these panels for my office. I've done standing desks, office chairs, webcams, table lamps, and adjacent filing cabinets, but ne'er person I tested thing that'd drastically alteration the look of my space.

Fairly Easy Install

Wood Veneer Hub's Slatpanels, arsenic they’re called, comprise medium-density fiberboard strips attached to recycled felt worldly with sound-dampening properties. Each container has 2 Slatpanels with astir 9 slats per panel—you'll request to measurement your walls (or ceiling!) to find the required size. You tin take betwixt a No Finish oregon an Oiled Finish option, and I suggest the latter—it costs a small much but saves you the hassle of applying a decorativeness and protects the wood.

I decided to effort them retired connected 1 partition of my location office, similar an accent wall. It took astir 13 Slatpanels (I was sent 7 boxes, meaning I was near with 1 spare Slatpanel), and I screwed them into the studs. You tin instal them connected apical of your baseboard, but I decided it looked amended without my baseboard, truthful I stripped it away. There's a tiny spread betwixt the panels and my level but it's hardly noticeable. This besides meant I didn't request to chopped the panels (except for outlets and airy switches).

That's the tricky part—cutting retired holes. I needed to chopped retired a fewer holes for outlets, a airy switch, and my airy fixture. If you person an electrical saw, you're already successful a overmuch amended spot than I was. I had a elemental handsaw and nary workbench, truthful it was hard to get consecutive lines portion sawing disconnected pieces. I utilized my Milwaukee Fastback weapon to chopped from the felt broadside first, and it did a amazingly bully job. Be smarter than maine and usage a agelong level oregon ruler and portion it to the panels to support those lines straight. Thankfully, you person to look intimately to spot however jagged my holes are, oregon astatine slightest that's what I support telling myself.