What a lit panelled wall looks like with the lights off

If you are thinking about lights set into a panelled wall, it is worth asking what the wall looks like with them off. Here is this one both ways.

Lit on the left, off on the right.

Off, the strips are two plain brass bars on a dark wall. On, they glow warm and throw light onto the panel around them. Either way they line up with each other at the top and the bottom, and that matters more than the light. Two strips a little out of line would show all day, lit or not.

The wall

Dark panels run floor to ceiling, between the window and a tall bookcase. The panels are close in colour to the bookcase, so the wall and the shelves read as one piece. The light switch and the sockets come through the panel nearest the window.

How it went up

The first panels went up in the corner. The bookcase was already there, full of books, and the panels next to it are fitted tight against its side.

The two brass strips are set into the panels. In this photo they are in, and the middle of the wall is still bare, waiting for the next panel.

See every photo of this wall.

The job page has a 3D model of the wall as well, drawn in SketchUp at standard sizes, not measured. Take it apart to see the panels and the two strips set into them.