Boiserie: instructions for use
Boiserie and wooden paneling are charming ways to decorate our homes, but how exactly do we combine them with our style and needs?
Boiseries are sophisticate, charming, they are able to give every room that old-fashioned touch that is synonym with elegance. That said, it is also true that sometimes it’s hard to integrate this decoration in a contemporary home, to combine it with the furniture that normally fills our rooms nowadays. How do we use boiserie without overdoing our interior design? Here is a quick guide for you, on how to take this charming decorative element to 2018.
What is boiserie?
First things first: what is exactly a boiserie? Boiserie – often used in its plural form as boiseries –, is a term used to define inlays and engravings on wooden panels. The first examples of wood paneling were actual marquetry works, but later there were often painted panels, instead of inlaid. The boiserie style was very popular in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to decorate the houses of middle class and, mostly, of the aristocracy. In the Palace of Versailles there are numerous examples of this type of decoration. The panels were often not meant to decorate walls but also for doors, partitions and ceilings. Very often, boiserie was an unusual frame for true artworks painted in the wood paneling niches. Boiserie was not like other types of wood paneling: from its birth, it stood out for the craftsmanship abilities necessary to manufacture it, and the great deal of taste of the woodworkers who were the authors of these beautiful decoration. Today, boiserie has become a versatile element: do not get tricked by its ancient origin, for this type of wooden paneling can be the most contemporary and avant-garde piece of design. Shabby chic? Modern? Contemporary? Rustic? Boiserie can be the cherry on top for each of the most popular furnishing styles. The results will be unexpected!
If you like this most classic side of this decorative element, take a look at all the creations by Turati Boiseries: you will travel through time, to the most elegant parisians homes.
From aristocracy to middle class
Smooth or decorated, carved or inlaid, covering your walls walls or fixed on the ceiling, the boiserie is an element that can enrich the potential of every room of the house. Tied in the collective imagination to the sumptuous interiors of noble residences or to the representations of kings and queens in their private rooms, the boiserie is seeing an unexpected success in contemporary home décor trends, entering the middle class world. The traditional use of wood claddings, which are precious but in some cases more expensive, has gradually been combined with more modern materials, such as plaster panels, of lesser weight, easy to assemble and equally versatile. The eclecticism of the boiserie is easily combined with interiors of different styles, managing to give more personality to walls, in large or small environments. Boiserie is the perfect decoration for everyone who is looking for something unique in their home décor, without fearing to look old fashioned.
A modern and functional office
When you think of boiseries, forget the interiors of the '80s, with heavy wood paneling on dark and weighty walls, that often also include libraries and doors. Minimalism took over in boiseries too, with sober and light solutions, which can mark the surface of the wall thanks to its refined rhythm. Modern workplaces and offices often choose this decoration for its high functionality: boiseries decorates, separates and defines spaces, without being as invasive as a normal wall, and providing much more flexibility and freedom to choose unusual shapes and solutions.
When the boiserie becomes a piece furniture
Boiserie is not simply a wall decoration: it can be used for so much more. It offers a valid support for ornaments, photographs, books and other decorative objects. Especially for offices or study rooms at home, it is a wonderful way to get some additional storage space for small objects, and add a touch of uniqueness to the interior.
Create connections
Do you want your home décor to be a sophisticated game of colors, connections, and volumes? Boiserie can be a great factor in the construction of such a home décor: its hybrid function of wall covering decorative element, makes it perfect to create unusual connections between the wall and the ceiling, or drawing a link of colors between two different areas, or between a room and a hallway. Boiserie will help you create your very own domestic itinerary of style, made of wood and color.
Between classic and modern
So far we have showed you modern versions of boiseries, with shapes and designs that are very far from the original look f this decorative elements. But even the most classic wood paneling can look wonderful in a contemporary interior. One of the most trendy interior design tendency, in fact, is to combine classic and old fashioned design with modern furniture: look at the marvelous effect of this eclectic bedroom. Wood provides the warm and welcoming feeling every bedroom should have, the decoration of the boiserie gives a touch of high elegance, the contrast with the bed makes the environment dynamic and interesting.
Do you like the style of this bedroom? Find out more about Golden night, click here.
Boiserie in the bathroom… Why not?
The use of parquet in the bathroom has become quite common. However, wood coatings distributed over entire walls are still not widely used. Yet, as this example shows, the results can be very modern and cool, without tripping over the “cabin in the woods” effect. If you are worrying about the amount of humidity and water in the bathroom, don’t worry: wood is today treated with modern techniques that prevent it from getting altered or ruined by external agents.
What about small spaces?
Let’s get rid of one last prejudice: most people think that boiserie is not the best decoration for small room or narrow areas of the house. Well, as it happens often in interior design, there is always some truth in common places, but everything can be done with the right amount of taste and style. Entrances, corridors, small rooms are the areas of the house that is most difficult to decorate with personality, because their shape and size holds us back from making unusual choices, fearing we will make them look even narrower than they are. Even in these cases, the use of a boiserie, perhaps with an important decorative charge, can be useful. You could also use the paneling only for the lower part of the wall, or for only one of the sides of the room: the effect will not be as invasive, but the decorative pattern will still be there to make the area stylish and elegant.
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