Nashville interior designer Amanda Burdge on Paneling

I was recently hired to help a client redo her dining room, and expansion to the front of her house. The house, built in the late 60's, was being expanded and to my great happiness the husband gave us carte blanche on the project.

.... But there was a catch. Damn their is always a catch! His only request, "please leave the paneling in the dining room." What!? Are you kidding me? Deep breaths; Ok no reason to panic. I will put together the design plan and he will see the light. He will come to his senses...he will come to the understanding that there is no need for PANELING! Right?

Nope.

Ok back to square one. Thinking, thinking,.... ok paint the paneling! Yes thats what we will do!

NOPE.

"we will stain the paneling and we will stain it darker!" he tells me.

Holy cow I am going to have premature, unnecessary heart palpitations. I'm not going to live through this experience, kill me now!

So I did what any good interior designer would do; freaked out, had unnecessary heart palpitations, and regurgitated my irritation to all my staff; but smiled to my client and said " of course it will be fabulous!" All in a days work!

Ha! Well to my surprise, the paneling was stained darker, but it wasn't worth all that anxiety. Despite my frustrations we worked around the walnut elephant in the room and I was quite pleased with the turn out. I still think it makes for a dark room. But I lightened the room with travertine floors, nixed the idea of an area rug, and put every light and bright thing I could in the room to brighten it. The best part of the project? The client not only gave us unlimited funds for the rest of the house, he is smiling from ear to ear because it is exactly what he wanted, and more! And that is why I do what I do!