As someone who has painted the walls of almost every apartment I've lived in as an adult, let me just say that painting sucks. I've learned tricks over the years to complete the job faster (I even own a set of painting tools!), but it's still a long and boring process that can take longer than expected.
Last year I had the privilege of becoming a homeowner and naturally the Great Algorithm took notice and started featuring all sorts of home improvement projects, products and services on my Instagram. (Did you know you can replace your roof for free? Yes, it sounds too good to be true.) One caught my eye, though:Wood veneer hub. I've seen ad after ad come across my feed featuring home setups with a cute wood slat accent wall. It was exactly my kind of aesthetic.
The company promises easy installation, a room transformation that won't take a laborious day of painting, and it more than delivers on its promises. As a WIRED home office product tester, I decided to try these panels for my office. I did standing desks, office chairs, webcamsdesk lamps and even filing cabinets, but I've never tested anything that would drastically change the look of my space.
Fairly easy installation
Wood Veneer Hub's slatted panels, as they're called, feature strips of medium-density fiberboard attached to a recycled felt material with sound-deadening properties. Each box contains two slatted panels with approximately nine slats per panel: you'll need to measure your walls (or ceiling!) to find the required size. You can choose between an unfinished option or an oiled finish option, and I suggest the latter: it costs a little more but saves you having to apply a finish and protects the wood.
I decided to try them on a wall in my home office, as an accent wall. It took about 13 slat panels (I was sent seven boxes, meaning I had one spare slat panel left) and I screwed them into the studs. You can install them on your baseboard, but I decided it was better without my baseboard, so I removed it. There is a small gap between the panels and my floor, but it is barely noticeable. This also meant I didn't need to cut any panels (except for the outlets and switches).
This is the tricky part: cutting holes. I needed to cut a few holes for outlets, a switch and my light fixture. If you have an electric saw, you're already in a much better place than I am. I had a simple handsaw and no workbench, so it was difficult to get straight lines when sawing the pieces. I used my Milwaukee Fastback knife to cut from the felt side first, and it did a surprisingly good job. Be smarter than me and use a long level or ruler and tape it to the panels to keep those lines straight. Luckily, you have to look closely to see how irregular my holes are, or at least that's what I keep telling myself.
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