Purotouch is a high-density polyurethane developed for fine design detail and a sharp, precise finish. It's lightweight, water-resistant, and cuts and installs like timber — without the weight, moisture sensitivity or fitting time of solid wood or traditional plaster mouldings.

The material holds detail well across both crisp contemporary profiles and more intricate period-style mouldings, and arrives pre-primed and ready to finish in any colour. See the Signature Range section above for the manufacturer's current environmental certifications and sustainability commitments.

Duropolymer is made from a blend of natural gypsum and polymers, giving a lightweight material used for mouldings, skirting boards, ceiling roses and select wall panels. It's durable, water-resistant, and installs the same way as Purotouch — cutting cleanly and fixing with adhesive — while sitting at a different price and density point within the Signature Range.

Where Purotouch offers the most premium, dense feel and the finest detail, Duropolymer is a lighter-grade option in the same range, suited to projects where budget or weight matters more than achieving the finest surface detail. See the Signature Range section above for the manufacturer's current environmental certifications and sustainability commitments.

Yes, Duropolymer is eco-friendly as it is produced using 100% renewable energy, and 12% of its raw materials are recycled or bio-based. Additionally, it contains no toxic products and is free from asbestos, cyanides, and formaldehyde.

Easy Installation

Attaching wall panels is simplicity itself - the products are lightweight and installed using adhesive making installation easy, simple and quick for any DIY project.

Easy to cut

The material cuts just like wood which means you can cut all the products to the exact sizes that you need onsite.

Ready to paint

The products arrives pre-primed in white, ready for you to paint. Once installed you can either paint the mouldings by hand or with a spray gun.

Water Resistant

The material is water resistant, which means the products can be used in areas with high moisture or damp areas, thus making them favoured by many homeowners as ideal bathroom wall panels.

Studio Polymer is a high-quality polymer material developed for fine design detail and a clean, precise finish. It's lightweight, water-resistant, and cuts and installs like timber — without the weight, moisture sensitivity or fitting time of solid wood or plaster mouldings.

Studio Polymer sits within the Studio Range as its premium material, offering excellent detail and finish quality at a different price and density point to Purotouch — noticeably lighter in the hand, though both are built to the same standard of precision. See the Studio Range section above for the manufacturer's current environmental certifications and sustainability commitments.

Studio Duropolymer is a lightweight material used for mouldings, skirtings, cornices and select wall panels within the Studio Range. It's durable, water-resistant, and installs the same way as Studio Polymer — cutting cleanly and fixing with adhesive — while sitting at a different price and density point within the range.

Where Studio Polymer offers the more premium, denser feel and the finest detail, Studio Duropolymer is a lighter-grade option in the same range, suited to projects where budget or weight is a bigger consideration than achieving the absolute finest surface detail. See the Studio Range section above for the manufacturer's current environmental certifications and sustainability commitments.

Easy Installation

Studio Range panels are lightweight and install using adhesive, making fitting straightforward for both trade installers and DIY projects.

Easy to Cut

Both Studio Polymer and Studio Duropolymer cut cleanly with a fresh-bladed saw, so panels can be cut to exact size on site.

Ready to Paint

Panels arrive pre-primed, ready to paint by hand or with a spray gun once installed.

Water Resistant

The material is water-resistant, making it suitable for areas with higher moisture, including bathrooms.

No. Both are used in interior architecture to create decorative elements like cornices, skirting boards and ceiling roses, but they're different materials with different properties. Polystyrene is a synthetic material made from styrene, a petroleum-based chemical — lightweight, but less durable than Duropolymer, and typically used in packaging and insulation rather than architectural mouldings.

Duropolymer

• Lightweight
• Easy to handle
• Time saving 
• Sturdy and durable
• Recyclable
• Water resistant
• Ready primed
• Easy to paint 
• No cracks
• Can be installed in humid areas

Plaster

• Heavy and fragile
• Requires expert craftsman skills
• Custom madeFine detail, made to order
• Very fragile
• Drying time approx 2 weeks
• Dusty and difficult for refurbishment
• Surface not very smooth plaster absorbs paint need more coats 

Preparation

When your panels arrive, unpack them and lay them out flat so you can check you have enough for the project. Store panels and adhesive at room temperature and allow 24 hours before installing. Sand down any obvious imperfections on the wall, wipe away dust, and make sure the surface is dry and grease-free before you start.

Mark Up

Plan and mark the panel or moulding position using a spirit level. If you're installing a skirting board, always start with this and work from the bottom of the wall upwards.

Cutting

Both Signature and Studio panels cut cleanly with a fresh-bladed saw — measure carefully before cutting to size.

Glueing Up

Apply the adhesive recommended for your panel range to the rear face — a bead along the length for mouldings, or a bead around the perimeter plus a central bead for larger panels.

Fitting

Line up the panel or moulding against the wall, press firmly, and wipe away any excess adhesive with a damp cloth. If fitting panels side by side, make sure you're using the correct adhesive for the join — see all adhesive products. Leave a 1mm expansion gap around panels.

Finishing

Use a decorative filler to smooth any joints, working it in with a finger or lightly damp sponge. On vertical panels, run filler along the vertical seams and smooth upward. Leave for 15 minutes, then lightly sand any areas that need it.

Painting

Once installed, panels can be painted by hand or with a spray gun in any colour to suit the specification.

Colour is only part of the story — the real character of a room comes from the profile you choose. For a period look, our ceiling panels and taller wall panels suit Victorian and Georgian proportions well. For something sleeker, our geometric and decorative profiles offer visually interesting grooves and ridges without tipping into ornate.

Our 'Bar' No. 111 panel is one of the most popular in the collection, working equally well in contemporary and traditional settings — particularly paired with our sliding barn door kit. Whatever the brief, from classic wainscoting to contemporary 3D wall panel profiles, this collection is built to cover it.

Yes — all panels in this collection are lightweight and straightforward to handle, whichever range you choose. Signature Range panels (Purotouch or Duropolymer) and Studio Range panels both cut cleanly with a fresh-bladed saw and are thorough with your measuring up before you start. Panels are fixed with adhesive applied to the rear face, then pressed firmly into place — wipe away any excess glue before it cures.

Top tip: measure twice, cut once.

Panels are lightweight and straightforward to install using adhesive, and are equally suited to DIY installation or fitting by a professional joiner or fitter. Trade accounts installing at scale can contact us for specification support and volume pricing.

Absolutely! Though decorative wall panelling dates back for many centuries, interior wall panels remain a popular interior design trend even in modern times. Property owners continue to invest in wall panelling for the unique character it brings to their homes.

Painting or wallpapering plastered walls is still a common aesthetic fix, but it doesn’t come close to the quality and durability that the decorative touch of wall panelling can add to a room. As panel production evolves, more affordable yet reassuringly strong materials are available, with wall panels becoming ever easier to install wherever you want them.

Wall panelling isn’t just something you see in historic stately homes – though you can use it to emulate such styles if you wish. The variety of wall panel textures are the perfect primed canvas for any paint colour, allowing you to create versatile modern looks with relatively little effort. The possibilities are endless with interior wall panelling.

There are many ways to use wall panels to your advantage, both practically and aesthetically. They're a popular alternative to tiles in kitchens and bathrooms, provided the panel is rated water-resistant for that use — both our Signature Range (Purotouch and Duropolymer) and Studio Range materials offer water-resistant options suitable for these areas.

Panels can be used almost anywhere — some designs are also available in a flexible version, so they can be wrapped around curved corners. Beyond feature walls, panels are commonly used to disguise utility boxes, frame windows and fireplaces, dress up built-in storage, or refresh cupboard doors and drawer fronts.

Whether it's a bedroom, dining room or a busy commercial space, panelling adapts to the room and the brief.

As wall panelling ventures out from your base wall, many people worry that this will make the room look much smaller than it actually is. However, this is usually not the case – the layout of the room and the amount of natural light often contribute more to the visual sense of space than wall cladding.

If you still have concerns about the confines of your room with wall panels, the solution is to select your panelling height and paint colours carefully and space them evenly. Panelling halfway up walls can make ceilings feel lower, so it’s better to go up to a third or two-thirds high instead. For example, a dado rail about 1 metre from the ground is a great choice.

Lighter colours are also best if you’re worried about the spatial consequences of panelling a small room, especially for floor-to-ceiling panels. Even if you paint everything in the same colour, the structure of the panelling will create areas of light and shade, which provides more depth and creates the illusion of more space.

When carrying out a wall panelling project, we understand that you don’t want to end up ordering too much or too little.

At the Library Ladder Company, we provide premade wall panels in set sizes, with each dimension listed on the dedicated product page in centimetres. This includes the projection measurement, which tells you how far the panel will protrude from the wall.

You can compare these measurements to the dimensions of the room you plan to install the panelling in. Use this information to calculate not only how many panels you’ll need to cover the desired area, but also how much of your budget this will cost, and you’ll have a better idea of the scope of your project before you purchase.

It’s essential to ensure that your measurements are as accurate as possible before you buy, as we wouldn’t want you to order the wrong size or number of panels. You’ll need at least two people and a reliable tape measure that’s long enough to assess the height and length of each individual wall you want to put panels on.

Take notes of the measurements as you go, measuring from floor to ceiling and left side to right side on each section of wall. This includes any protruding or inset sections that you intend to install panelling over. Also measure any windows, doorways and radiators - so you can subtract these from your panelling requirements. 

Next, think about where you want the panels to be, and measure from the ground up to the desired height. Multiply that height by the length of the wall, and that’s how much panelling you’ll need for that section.

Repeat this for each individual wall and add up every figure to get the total amount of panelling you’ll need. Round up, allowing for around 5%-10% of wastage, to prevent ordering panels that are too short or not ordering enough. When measuring up, you’ll need to take plumbing, electrics, and any skirting boards into account. If anything needs to be re-sited, you must hire a professional to do this properly to prepare for installation.

Please contact us if you need further assistance to work out how much panelling you will need.

In addition to the profile of the wall panelling itself, the height of the wall panels also has a huge impact on the overall visual effect. Whether you panel a section of the wall or go up to the ceiling, around the room or just one wall, keeping this feature in proportion to the rest of the room is key.

Though there are no strict design rules for wall panelling, most people prefer to stick to the ‘rule of thirds’ – which simply means capping the panel one third of the way up the wall, and leaving the upper two thirds unpanelled. For example, a three-metre wall would require one-metre panelling.

Of course, the most suitable height can vary depending on the particular room you’re panelling and its specific features. Things like windows, fixed cabinets, and plumbing can affect the symmetry if the heights aren’t compatible. Floor-to-ceiling wall panelling only tends to look good in larger rooms with more light, or on one ‘accent wall’ only, while eye-level wall panels are a safe fallback for most rooms.   

Another safe option is ‘dado rail’ height, which is usually around one metre tall (regardless of the ceiling height). The original purpose of dado rails was to protect the walls of dining rooms and sitting rooms when people pushed back their chairs to stand up, so you can also achieve this effect by pushing your own chairs against the wall (gently!) and measuring a few inches above their backs. 

If you’re looking for something different, panelling two-thirds of the way up the wall can give the room a stately appearance. Alternatively, you could ‘extend’ the skirting board by installing low-height wall panels as a baseboard for enhanced kick protection, and match them to door frames. 

Yes, you can use the decorative wall panelling for staircases, too. As busy thoroughfares in most buildings, areas such as hallways, stairs, and landings need durable walls that also offer some visual interest as people pass through. Installing wall panels is a convenient way to achieve both at once.

The thick and sturdy wall panelling will resist knocks and bumps in high traffic areas of your home, while the patterns and 3D textures will capture everyone’s attention. Your choice of paint colour also affects the impression your home or business gives, whether that’s a clean, refined white or neautral shade or perhaps a darker tone. Even painting your wall a different colour to your panelling to add further interest.

Visit our dedicated page by clicking here to find out more about the wall panelling for stairs and entryways. We provide a selection of stunning wall mouldings that you can combine with the wall panels to create a dado rail effect along your stairs and landings, connecting your décor throughout.

One of the practical advantages of wall panelling is that it can go over walls in a range of existing conditions without extensive preparation. It's preferable for the wall to be in good condition, but panels can be installed over most surfaces — plastered, wallpapered or tiled — as long as they can be placed evenly with an appropriate adhesive.

The best base is smooth and even, without cracks or bumps — sand down and fill any imperfections, and make sure the surface is clean and dry. Where panels go over old wallpaper or tiles, cut away any peeling paper and fill tile grouting where needed.

Use the right adhesive for the surface: a polymer-based adhesive typically works best over tiles, while a water-based acrylic adhesive suits standard plaster or drywall. See our adhesive range for options.

We would advise you to consult an electrician if you
intend to relocate your socket or if you are not comfortable with removing and replacing the front plates of sockets or switches. In order to fit your panel, you will need to remove the front plate of the switch or socket.

Offer your wall panel up to your wall in the location of where you are installing the panels and review the location of the socket. You may want to tweak the overall location of the panels once you see where the sockets sit in relation to panel edges. Once you are happy with the location, mark up the location points of the socket onto the panel.

Take the marked-up panel to your cutting area along with the front plate of the plug socket or switch and mark all around the size of the socket or switch plate onto the front of your wall panel.

Using a fresh bladed saw make a plunge cut into the centre of the panel and cut the shape of your socket or switch out of the material. You are nearly ready to install.

Apply adhesive all around the rear perimeter of your panel and along the centre line and you should apply a modest amount of adhesive along the inside edges of the hole you have created. Mount your panel to the wall in the marked-up location, apply pressure. Reconnect your wiring (or have your electrician do it) and slide the plate back into the hole and fix.

This depends on what you're comparing it to. Against wallpaper, decorative wall panelling is the pricier choice upfront. But factoring in visual impact, durability, and — where relevant — acoustic or thermal properties, panelling can be the better long-term investment, particularly if you're only panelling a feature wall or working to a third-height scheme rather than a full room. Panels start from under £35, making it accessible to specify at a range of budgets and project scales.