How Lex used Akupanel three ways in one Dubai home

Lex is the interior designer behind Interiors with Lex. This is one home in Dubai, and three of its rooms: the stairwell, the smallest bedroom and the main bedroom.

The brief came from the client, and Lex sums it up in two sentences:

“The client for this project wanted to use the WoodUpp panels in quite a different way. And the brief was basically just to get rid of certain things that happened in these Dubai homes.”

It starts on the stairwell landing.

On the landing, the Akupanel doesn't cover the wall. It hangs on it.

“…we did a panel that we kind of framed so it looked like an art piece rather than just sticking it straight onto the wall.”

Vertical slats run down the left side. A diagonal run fills the top. Lower down, the slats turn vertical again. A slim wooden frame runs around the edges.

“…we didn't just do straight slats. We cut 3 or 4 different angles that we merged together and then framed it around the edges.”

It earns its place twice: “And at the same time, we've used the Akupanel to help with the acoustics.”

From the top of the stairs, the piece runs alongside you all the way down.

A stairwell is somewhere you pass through, not somewhere you furnish. So one strong piece on the wall does a lot of work: it gives the walk up and down something to look at.

“So, this bedroom is one of the smallest spaces in the house. We chose to do a feature wall with the rustic grey Akupanel.”

One wall in Rustic Grey Oak, topped by a run of wooden cabinets. Three black Norr shelves from the Create range clip in between the slats.

In a small room, one finished wall does the decorating. Nothing else has to compete with it.

The air conditioner is still in this room. You just don't see it anymore.

“This house has ACs that are built onto the walls that obviously protrude out the walls and are not very pretty.”

Lex's answer was to build around it, and then to cover it with what was left over:

“We created a customized unit with shelving on the left and the right and in the middle where the AC goes, we used the offcuts for the grill that goes over the AC to conceal it and it also lines up with our panels so it looks beautiful and seamless. And in that way we also avoided the wastage.”

In the main bedroom, the Akupanel switches to Black Ash and stops at half height.

Above it, a wallpaper of big looping black lines takes over. The slats give the bed a dark, calm base to sit against, and the pattern gets the rest of the wall.

Lex's account of the install is short:

“So using the WoodUpp panels has been a really easy experience. It was super easy to cut, very easy to install.”

“We went with the silicone and glue option because it was installed within 15–20 minutes.”

And the offcuts went back on the wall one more time:

“So we also used the cut offs to add a finishing strip at the top of the panels to do a beautiful ending piece just to avoid the wastage.”