Custom Paneling Systems

Custom paneling has always been a luxury item. It is labor and cost intensive, since creating a profile means multiple components — baseboard, rails, stiles, panels, caps — to create a visually interesting or historically accurate look. Each component requires cuts and fitting. This work time is consuming and very precise. The margin for error is slim, and it isn’t a project that most homeowners undertake for themselves. So, paneling and wainscoting have remained a finish for the well heeled or the well trained.

Now, however, luxury has at last come to the masses in an affordable and customer-friendly package, with the advent of custom designed, ready-to-assemble paneling systems like those sold by New England Classic.

Redefining Custom with Ready-to-Order Systems

Most customers start with a vision of the finished room. Often they have photos taken from design magazines or historic homes. “Consumers come to us with an idea of what they want the room to look like,” says Greg Farr, vice president of New England Classic. “They give us the dimensions and then our inside sales people work with the consumer to come up with a design. We can send sample colors and pieces to help with selections.”

Customers first visit the website or work with their builder or designer to select among the designs and profiles. On the website, downloadable design forms ask for pertinent info, including room dimensions, wall measurements, locations and heights of doors and windows, and any irregularities. An in-house design team then generates a design, installation materials, a materials list, and a set of project drawings. The materials list is then taken to a local dealer or, for customers located 20 miles or more from a dealer, submitted directly to the company. A complete kit of parts is cut and packaged for pickup or delivery in two to three weeks.

Panels and components are available finished or unfinished, paint ready, or with a high-end veneer. Panels range in size from 30 inches to full wall height. Wainscoting comes in standard 30 or 32-inch heights and a variety of widths.