Wall Panel 36WT Walnut: matching the walnut you already own

The Wall Panel 36WT in walnut is the dark end of the 36 group: HDF slats on a felt backing, 2.5cm slats with 1cm between them, four panels to a pack at 60 x 240 x 1.7cm each. Most of the decisions on a walnut wall are about colour, so that is where this starts.

Judging a walnut match honestly

Walnut as a furniture word stretches from a mid chocolate brown to an almost purple-brown, and takes in everything from a tight straight grain to a wild figured one. This listing gives the name and nothing else: no grain description, no sheen level, no indication of which end of that range it sits at. That is the thing to settle before you order, because a walnut panel next to a walnut sideboard is a comparison the eye makes instantly, while the same panel next to an oak floor is simply a contrast and looks fine either way. Ask the shop what they can show you of the actual finish, and judge it in the room's own light rather than under a shop light.

The figures this listing gives

Close slats on a dark wall

With 1cm between slats you see the backing in every gap, all the way up the wall. On a pale panel that reads as a light stripe; on walnut the gaps go nearly black and the wall turns into a dense, even texture that absorbs the light in the room rather than bouncing it about. Two consequences. First, a walnut slat wall wants light on it, from a wash down the face or from lamps nearby, or the detail disappears after dark. Second, the listing does not say what colour the backing felt is, and on an open slat panel you will be looking at it, so ask before you order if the gap colour matters to you.

How much to buy

Panels first: wall width in centimetres divided by 60, rounded up. Then packs: panels divided by four, rounded up. A 2.4m alcove is one pack exactly. A 4m wall is seven panels, so two packs with one spare, which is the comfortable position to be in because the spare covers a damaged corner or a cut that goes wrong. Keep the offcuts until the job is signed off.

Where the description stops

The acoustic wording is the supplier's: slats on felt backing that absorb sound and reduce noise. There is no absorption figure, no test standard and no indication of how much difference it makes in a room, so treat it as a description of the build. The finish, the backing colour and the number of slats per panel are all unstated too. None of that makes it the wrong panel; it just means the questions are worth asking first rather than after.

If you want the same colour with a bolder line, Wall Panel 37WT is walnut with a 4cm slat and a deeper 2.2cm panel. For a wall taller than 240cm, Wall Panel 02WT is the 280cm walnut panel, three to a pack. The strips that close the corners are in panel trims and fittings, each listed against the panel numbers it suits, so ask which fits this panel; the rest of the range is in slat and acoustic panels.

Settle the colour question, count the panels, then order the Wall Panel 36WT walnut acoustic panel as one batch. Delivery is free within 50 miles of the Glasgow store and £50 beyond.