Wall Panels for Living Rooms in Goa

The best wall to panel is usually the one you look at most: behind the television, or behind the sofa as seen from the entrance. Avoid panelling every wall; one strong wall makes a room feel finished, several can make it feel boxed in.

Check whether the chosen wall is external and which way it faces. In Goa, south- and west-facing external walls take the driven rain of the south-west monsoon and are the most likely to be damp on the inside.

PVC and WPC panels tolerate moisture; natural wood and MDF don't, unless the wall is internal and dry. On older houses with lime plaster or laterite, a battened installation that leaves an air gap behind the panels is safer than gluing directly to the wall, because the wall can still breathe and dry out.

Before any panel goes up, find and fix seepage — a cracked parapet, a failed window sill, a leaking pipe. Covering a damp wall only hides the problem until mould or a tide-line shows at the joints.

Decide the screen size and mounting height first, sitting on your own sofa, then the positions of sockets and cable entry. A panelled wall can include a recess for a set-top box or speakers, a floating shelf, and concealed lighting along a fluted edge. Changing these after the panels are fixed means taking them down.

Leave access: one removable panel or a service hatch behind the screen saves a lot of trouble when the router or the cables need changing.

Matte finishes hide fingerprints and don't throw window reflections onto the screen; gloss shows every wave in the wall behind it. Wood tones warm a room with white lime-washed walls; pale stones and greys keep a sea-facing room calm.

Grazing light from a strip at the top or side brings out fluted and textured panels in the evening. Plan the light at the same time as the panels so the wiring can be hidden.