Wall Panel 15B Light Grey: panelling one wall of a grey room

A panelled wall almost never stands on its own. Three of the four walls stay painted, and the question that actually matters is how the panel sits beside them. The Wall Panel 15B in light grey is one of the quieter answers in the Slat & Acoustic Panels range: slats at 3.5cm with 1.5cm between them, on HDF with a felt backing.

Light grey against painted plaster

Matching a panel to a painted wall is harder than contrasting with it. Paint is flat and even; a slat panel is ribbed and throws a shadow in every gap, so the same nominal grey reads darker on the panel than in the tin. If you want the wall to recede, pick the panel first and have the paint matched to it, not the other way round. If you want it to stand out, a clear step in tone works better than a near miss.

The listing says light grey and nothing more: no shade name, no reference, no indication of whether it is warm or cool. That is the one fact worth settling before you buy, and photographs on a screen will not settle it. Ask us to hold a panel against your paint colour.

What is on the listing

• Panel size: 60 x 240 x 1.5cm per panel
• Slat width: 3.5cm, with 1.5cm between slats
• Pieces per pack: 4, covering 5.76m²
• Construction: HDF slats with a felt backing
• Trim named: Wall Panel PVC Trim Acoustic
• Code: AWS-WP024

Each face is 60cm wide, so a pack of four covers a 2.4m run at the full 240cm height. Divide your wall width by 60cm and round up for the panel count, then divide by four for the packs.

One batch, one order

Order the whole wall at once. Panels from different production runs can differ slightly in tone, and a light grey shows a small difference far more readily than a dark finish does. Buying two packs now and a third next month is how a wall ends up with a visible seam that nobody can fix. Work out the count, add a panel for the awkward cut, and place it as one order.

Where the panelling stops

Decide the edges on paper. The panel stands 1.5cm off the plaster, so every boundary is a small step that has to be dealt with somehow:

• At the skirting. Either the panel sits on top of it and finishes short of the floor, or the skirting comes off and is refitted over the panel.
• At the ceiling. A trim closes the top edge. The listing names the Wall Panel PVC Trim Acoustic, which is sold separately.
• At a corner. An internal corner is a straight stop. An external one is the detail to ask about, because the listing does not describe how the slats finish at a cut edge.
• At a socket. Faceplates need bringing forward onto the new face, which is an electrician's job rather than a fitting detail.

If light grey is not quite it

The same profile runs in dark grey for a stronger step away from a pale wall, and in oak where you want warmth instead. For light grey with a wider slat and a 1cm gap, see Wall Panel 17B. If you are panelling two different walls in one room, Wall Panel 01B in light grey is another light grey in the range; neither listing publishes a shade reference, so ask us to compare the two before you order.

On sound, the listing claims the felt backing absorbs sound and reduces noise transmission, without an absorption figure, an acoustic class or a test standard behind it, and nothing in it says the panel stops noise passing through a wall. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Photographs, the full size list and the current price are on the Wall Panel 15B light grey page, and we will check the tone for you before you order the lot.