The Merchant Magazlne

accent lights, can dramatize a room. Use a video or pictures to demonstrate how a simple wainscoting and plate rail can add visual stability to small rooms. Illustrate how, on the other hand, diagonal patterns give the illusion of greater height and width.

Along with application, also suggest style. Solid wood panels are available in a variety of patterns including channel rustic, beaded ceiling, V-joint rustic, and standard flat boards.

Numerous profiled patterns are made in tongue and groove. Such profiles have contours that are rounded, grooved, or a combination of both. These designs can lend a handcrafted appearance to a room's decor.

Remember to suggest rooms where solid wood paneling can be applied effectively. Unlike the '50s and '60s, when knotty-pine boards were used primarily for the den or basement, today's solid wood paneling makes a dramatic statement in almost any room.

For instance, beaded wainscoting with a chair rail is now fashionable in dining rooms. Ceiling panelings combined with exposed beams are becoming increasingly popular for living rooms, family rooms, and studies.

Point out the numerous possibilities for finishes, all of which leads to the possibility of add-on sales. These include stains, sealers, paints and glazes. (And remember that sandpaper, steel wool, brushes, tack cloth, and rubber gloves may also be required).

For a pale, aged effect, suggest the do-it-yoursefer try painting with a thinned white oil-based paint and wiping dry. Or, explain, to produce a durable, clear finish, a polyurethane varnish will suffice. Tell customers how, with added pigment, the varnish can be tinted to a light tone.

Rather than just explaining patterns and finishes, you'll find an instore wall display of various patterns and colors will go a long way in attracting customer attention. Displays of the product application can be fronted by bins or shelves where customers can select the paneling by the piece or by the package.

To complete the display, and the sale, a stack of how-to literature can help guide the unsure do-it-yourselfer.

1987 VOLUME: WESTERN LUMBER SPECIES

(Ercluder Redwood)