Home Remodeling Association of Connecticut

New Ideas for Old Interior Walls

Published by: Cynthia Freeney
Published on: 2010-01-10 15:26:13

We all know that the main purpose of interior walls is to separate  rooms, provide privacy and organize the floor plan. However they are more than simple room dividers.They can provide a showcase for family photographs, artwork, serve as a backdrop for your furniture and other home accessories. Walls provide support for storage units, books shelves and flat screen TVs, which can save some space in the room.

New interior design trends call for smaller spaces, re-purposed, multi-function rooms, in which walls play an important role. In the next few decades of the new millennium walls, (or even the absence of them)  will literally define the tone, style and atmosphere of the whole room.

If you are planning to remodel and update your Connecticut home, start by looking at your existing interior walls and the inumerous possibilities they offer. Painting,moving, demolishing, cutting, building, re-surfacing or re-purposing them can, many times, create a whole new look, enhance functionality and define the style of your project.


Interior Wall Types

The most common material for interior walls is drywall. Walls made with drywall are lightweight and incredibly easy to puncture with little to minimal force. They are also easy to cut through, move and take down, provided they are not load bearing walls.

Some older homes may contain interior walls made of brick, wood, rock, adobe or wooden frames covered in layers and layers of plaster. These walls are made much strudier, which can be an advantage if you are planning to use them to support shelves and heavy fixtures, but they arenot as flexible as drywall. Building and demolishing them is usually more expensive and involve a messier, more disruptive process.


Re-purposing Walls.

Interior walls have potential. They don't have to be a big, boring or white slate. They can be turned into an accent, a decorative or functional element, a storage unit, a work of art. They can make rooms bigger or smaller, they can define task areas.

Before re-purposing walls, which usually involve cutting through, moving, demolishing or using it to suport another element, consider it's structure. Load bearing walls, which support the home's structure should not be modified or demolished without the help of an experienced wall remodeling professional, able to perform the task without compromising structural integrity.

When dealing with drywall, the frame and location of the studs, needs to be considered. It is also important to consider wiring and plumbing configurations, when applicable.

Creative ways to re-purpose existing interior walls include: moving them, demolishing them and cutting doorways, passages, and service windows. For example, a popular trend, which interior design specialists say will last way into the second quarted of this century, are family rooms with adjacent dining rooms and kitchens. Walls no longer separate the cook from the rest of the family at meal preparation time, or the busy host from guests at home parties. Kitchen walls are either inexistent or gained service windows.

Transforming the wall into a book shelf, storage or display unit is also great way to utilize an existing wall, and save some space. Instead of a bulky entertainment center, for example,  a wall-mounted flat screen TV and some shelves to store media and display decorative elements will save you some useful space in a Home Theater project. Modern electric fireplaces, which have designs made to match just about any architectural or decoration style, can be mounted in existing walls and add a cozzy, romantic touch to the room.

Painting and decorating interior walls

Giving your existing interior walls a a new color is probably the easier and most inexpensive way to completely update the look of your home. Today with the large variety of interior paints and wall covering products,  there are so many colors, tones, patterns and textures to choose from, that having the old plain, white or off white treatment is almost a waste of a perfectly good wall. With a little elbow grease, time and a paint roller you boring walls can be a masterpiece, and make the rooms come to life.

Applying texture with special compounds and tools, or using faux-finish techniques give interior walls personality and a one-of-a kind customized look.

Wall papers, and even more popular and very inexpensive wall decals can define patterns and themes for any room of the house. Try to elect a single wall in the room and transform it into an accent wall by applying contrasting colors, or eye catching textures and patterns by wainscoting, stenciling, faux finishing, using velvet appliqués and wall decals.
Make an statement with wall word stickers, now quite popular.

Don't feel like getting your hands dirty? If you live in Connecticut call one of our reputable painting contractors for a professional looking finish and none of the hassle. Or have some fun with your walls and hire a Connecticut mural artist to create a trompe a l'oeil.


Resurfacing and trimming walls

Adding wood, plaster or plastic trims and accents, such as crown molding, decorative baseboards and architectural elements gives walls a sophisticated, high-end finished look.
Modern wall panels, made with different materials can give walls a contemporary look. Wooden wall panels, which were popular during the 70's, were given an updated look and made a huge come back this past decade remaining as a big trend for the next. New materials currently being used to resurface walls include stainless steel, mirrors, tile mosaics, acrilic, formica and, another huge trend, panels made with "green" or recycled metarials.

Room dividers made of wicker, decorative jigsaw-like cardboard puzzle pieces, iron, stained glass, silk on a wooden or metal frame or any other material that can be used to serve as a wall are also growing in popularity.

Interior walls under a different light

Sometimes, the most creative solutions are also the simplest ones. Changing the lighting in a room and the way it shines upon the walls can give them depth, character and drama.You like your existing walls but feel like there is something missing? Install some new light fixtures that will enhance color, texture or create dramatic shadow effects and you wil have an instant upate without any of the mess!


What is important to know is that, no matter what you decide to do to update your Connecticut home , the Home Remodeling Association of Connecticut has the right and most reputable wall and ceiling contractors for the job. Contact us and let us help you make your remodeling dreams come true.

The projects featured in this article were executed by a Artizon Construction LLC, a trusted HRACT Member in Stamford.




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