With the addition of simple strips of wood—molding—walls can go from basic to incredibly ornate. Does this new look mean you have to forgo hanging artwork? A deep-dive into the AD archives tells us, thankfully, no. Especially when hung picture frame–style to give the illusion of wood paneling , molding can be the perfect three-dimensional backdrop for your favorite pieces. Your first thought might be to center a painting within a panel, but you can also think outside the box—literally. Quite a few spaces in this roundup feature artwork that spans across the molding, almost as if it wasn't there. Read on to find more ideas for mixing art and molding in your own home.
In a London townhouse designed by Hubert Sandberg, Jacobean-style paneling lines the dining room, which is anchored by a bespoke rosewood table by Jonathan Baring and chairs covered in a Lelièvre fabric from Stark. The sconce is by Hervé Van der Straeten, the tabletop sculpture is a 1970s piece by Jean Camuset, the drawing over the fireplace is by Matisse, and the abstract painting is by Mustafa Hulusi.
For the oldest house in Washington, D.C. , designer devises Mariette Himes Gomez devised elegantly edited decor that enlivens the home’s Georgian architecture. Dominated by paneling painted in a Donald Kaufman hue that recalls Wedgwood drabware, the library's neutral color scheme is warmed by the ruddy tones of a carpet from Doris Leslie Blau and Fortuny-fabric pillows from David Duncan.
Rift-sawn white oak panels the library of this California home , decorated by Miles Redd. Stools in a Moore and Giles fabric stand before the fireplace; a framed textile by Natural Curiosities is displayed near the French doors.
Portraits are hung over the elaborate moldings in the early-1700s Château de Digoine , the recently restored Burgundy home of French collector and television producer Jean-Louis Remilleux.
In the legendary Gritti Palace hotel , which occupies a 15th-century palazzo on Venice’s Grand Canal, exquisite foliate moldings form cartouches that are painted in contrasting colors and inset with artworks and decorative objects.
Decorator Jean-Louis Deniot employed crisp white moldings throughout this Paris home . In the bath, he filled the architectural framing with butterfly specimen found at the local curiosities shop Deyrolle.
At Marella Agnelli’s estate in Northern Italy , decorated by Stephane Boudin in the 1950s, the Bishop’s Room features antique paintings set within carved moldings.
In this Mark Gillette–designed master bedroom at Burley on the Hill, a 300-year-old English country estate , a centuries-old portrait and a gilded mirror are framed with powder-blue molding.
At Oyster Harbors , a gated community in Osterville, Massachusetts, Bunny Mellon’s dining room showcases a Raoul Dufy sailboat painting perfectly framed in molding.
In a 1920s San Francisco–area home built by Arthur Brown Jr. and updated by Douglas Durkin Design, 18th-century singerie panels are hung in the picture frame moldings that flank the doors to the dining room.
In the sitting room of the Southampton home of Hilary and Wilbur Ross, designer Mario Buatta glazed the paneling pistachio-green and hung an Impressionistic painting outside of its lines.
In the study at Laura and George W. Bush’s Texas retreat , pet portraits painted by the former president are framed with gridlike molding.
On the back wall of the dining room in fashion designer Adam Lippes’s 1830s New York City apartment , small artworks are hung inside the ornate restored molding.