Add curves and texture to your walls with 3D wall panels

Walls provide the perfect blank canvas to add architectural interest to a home, and the products available today mean the options don’t stop at just a coat of paint.

Take the pre-primed Adorno wall panels range from Prime Panels, for instance.

They are decorative panels of 12mm thickness with a melamine back and Prime Panels’ Desiree Keown says they can offer a quick refresh to an existing room or bring the 'wow' factor to a new-build project.

“They’re ideal for a renovation because you can pop them over what’s there already. It’s a very affordable, instant way to completely transform a room.

“There’s no limitation in terms of creative possibilities. The main thing to understand is they are only suitable for interior walls as a decorative panel and not a structural wall lining, and they need to be painted. They are pre-primed with a quality zero-VOC primer, but then need to be sanded before you paint in the colour of your choice.”

Eight contemporary profiles are available in the Adorno range: Random Batten, Batten 25, Batten 60, Batten 100, Wave 40, Arc 20, Arc 40, and Ridge.

Random Batten

“This is a design that’s bound to be extremely popular, because random battens are so easy to work with and you don’t have to worry about cutting the sides to get a perfect pattern match,” says Desiree.

“The good thing about all the batten profiles is their flat face means they can be easily nailed or screwed in, then gaps can be filled before painting. Though the use of glue on the back of the panel is still a requisite for solid fixing.”   

Batten panels are also available with grooves repeating at 25mm, 60mm or 100mm.

Desiree’s advice for choosing between these is to consider the scale of the room they will be used in.

“You might find that a wider scale batten is going to be better in a larger room, but if you’re only going to have a small piece of it, and you want a bit of impact, you might find the Batten 25 works better for what you want.

“The bigger you get, the more it looks like a standard tongue and groove.”

“We’ve seen an explosion in demand for 3D surfaces,” shares Desiree. “There are a lot of interesting things you can do with our Wave or Arc profiles.”

The Wave has a pattern repeat of 40mm with a 5mm deep scallop shape. The Arc 40 is the opposite of this, with 40mm half rounds that are 5.4mm deep. Similarly, the Arc 20 has the half rounds 20mm apart.

Exclusive to Prime Panels, Desiree says the Ridge profile has been a popular choice.

“The Ridge profile we already knew was successful. We put it into our Dezignatek showroom at the Home Ideas Centre and we’ve had so many comments and so many people asking where they could get it from. So we knew that we were onto a winner with this one.

“Why have 2D when you can have 3D? And with the use of either split battens or a Fastmount system, you can have them pre-finished off-site by a coating professional and then install them without needing screws or nails.”

Desiree encourages designers to get creative with how they use these panels in projects, saying that it isn’t only walls they can be used for.

From bedheads, to adding interest in a kitchen as an underbench feature, or to provide focus at an entranceway, the lightweight material can be used for a wide range of applications.

“The panels can be used anywhere your imagination takes you,” says Desiree. “Except for curves, they just aren’t designed for that.

“Additional confidence in regard to the performance of these NZ-made panels comes with Environmental Choice NZ accreditation, and a seven year warranty.”   

Learn more about the Adorno wall panel range from Prime Panels.