The Timeless Technique Joanna Gaines Uses To Transform A Lifeless Room

Whether you watch her HGTV show, "Fixer Upper," or flip through her design book, "Home Body," for inspiration, you can count on Joanna Gaines' creative intel to liven up any boring space. The self-taught home design expert and HGTV star is known for her signature rustic and farmhouse design styles and her creative methods of adding texture to homes, like installing shiplap walls or exposed beams for a lived-in, warm, and cozy aesthetic. Another architectural detail Gaines suggests to spruce up a space with texture and give a plain home an old-charm feel is wainscoting. In Season 5, Episode 8 of "Fixer Upper," Gaines adds wainscoting to what she called a "Plain Jane" house, making the rooms feel more elegant with this timeless feature.

But what is wainscoting, and how does it work in certain interior design styles? Wainscoting is a traditional architectural detail that involves lining walls with trim paneling or decorative boards typically installed on the lower third of a wall. Wainscoting became a popular detail in eighteenth-century Europe and New England for its practicality and visual intrigue, and today, people opt for the wall treatment to embrace a classic look while also protecting the bottom half of a wall from scuffs and other damage. Given its historical significance, wainscoting a room can complement many different decor designs, especially those that mirror a classic style. However, by blending modern and vintage touches, this traditional detail can also work well with more contemporary styles.

There are plenty of reasons why Gaines adds wainscot when redesigning spaces, especially ones that seem boring. "I use this material a lot in my designs because it's such a simple feature to install and makes a huge statement in any room," she explained on her Magnolia blog. Before you go all out with wainscoting on your walls, consider a few design elements of your home. The overall design style of your home, for instance, is key when deciding how you want to employ the wall treatment. For classic design styles, such as Colonial, farmhouse, Victorian, or French country decor styles, wainscoting can look natural and seamless throughout the home or even in one room. "Typically you see wainscoting in older and more established homes, so adding it to this room adds in that classic timelessness we were going for and helps define the room," Gaines added. 

If your home veers more modern, though, wainscoting can still be impactful. If you were to ask Gaines, she'd probably say wainscoting is smart advice for blending different styles, including classic and modern styles. In fact, in Season 5, Episode 7 of "Fixer Upper," Gaines added custom wainscoting to a boring office in a cottage-style home, making it feel more lively. "Now Kim's cottage is filled with light, color, and a lot of natural textures that make her home feel fresh and updated while still capturing the nostalgia and charm of the original house," she wrote in her Magnolia blog.

When it comes to assigning wainscotting to a room in your home, it's worth noting that the treatment can work in many different areas, especially in those spaces that seem to lack texture, consistency, or flow. For example, the simple yet gorgeous trim is an excellent living room paneling idea to add timeless flair to your space, but it can also work in other rooms designed for entertaining or connection, such as dining rooms, for added visual intrigue. Plus, since wainscoting isn't just an aesthetic addition, but also a practical one, it's a smart addition in hallways, entryways, or other areas with heavy foot traffic to protect against scuffs, bumps, or other wear and tear over time.

Wainscoting can also be used to emphasize the natural flow and transition of different rooms. Because of how it adds texture to a space, it's important to keep in mind you don't want to overwhelm a space with too much texture, or overdo wainscoting by plastering it all over your home. Stick with the areas in your home that seem bare without it, or opt to install it in smaller rooms that could use a bit of an uplifting push. In Season 3, Episode 9 of "Fixer Upper," for instance, Gaines added wainscoting to a fireplace, a kitchen island, and the entryway to create cohesion.