Topic summary
Wainscoting
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Panelling.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make rooms in stone buildings more comfortable both by insulating the room from the stone and reflecting radiant heat from wood fires, making heat more evenly distributed in the room. In more modern buildings, such panelling is often installed for decorative purposes. Panelling, such as wainscoting and boiserie in particular, may be extremely ornate and is particularly associated with 17th and 18th century interior design, Victorian architecture in Britain, and its international contemporaries.