A trend that I continue to see burgeoning is wood flooring making its way onto walls.  I was in Beijing last week at the Penta Hotel, a chain owned by SwissAir, Lufthansa and British Airways.  The hotel had great looking 5″ white oak floors that were black-washed and wire-brushed.

I would have thought having a similar texture on the walls might be a bit much but instead of a black-wash, for the walls they switched to a white-wash and wire-brushed 5″ white oak and it turned out great.  Wood floors on walls is a design element starting to pop up in a lot of commercial settings.

These walls were covering vertically oriented wood flooring planks. The effect was natural, clean and had the effect of making the ceilings feel taller.

The Penta Hotel exudes a modern/contemporary setting but also had that natural feel that only wood can bring to a interior.  For commercial settings that are concerned about the wear and tear that traffic can have on a wood floor, adding wood flooring to walls is a great way to have a natural visual element without the worry of wear and tear.