Solid Slat Panel Sample Kit

Yes — Solid American Walnut is solid hardwood all the way through. Every slat is one piece of American walnut, 13mm (about half an inch) deep, milled from real lumber — not a thin veneer skin wrapped over a pine or MDF core. Cut a slat anywhere along its length and the cut face is walnut too.

Many slat wall panels are built on an MDF or composite core with a thin decorative surface over it. Solid American Walnut has no core at all — each slat is a single piece of hardwood, 13mm deep, the same wood front to back.

The differences show up over time. A cut edge on solid walnut is walnut, so trimmed panels look finished instead of revealing a pale core. A scratch can be sanded out and re-finished, where a thin surface layer can't be sanded at all without going through it. And MDF swells permanently if it ever gets wet, while solid hardwood doesn't.

The honest tradeoff: MDF is very dimensionally stable and costs less. Solid hardwood costs more, carries real grain variation, and moves very slightly with the seasons. If you want a highly uniform surface at a lower price, our Solid Bamboo panels are built on exactly that idea.

Each box of Solid American Walnut covers 23.62 inches (600mm) of wall width and contains two panels. Measure your wall width in inches, divide by 23.62, and round up. A 10-foot wall is 120 inches, so it takes six boxes.

Height doesn't change how many boxes you need — it only decides which panel length you order. We do recommend buying the whole wall in one order: walnut is real lumber, and boards from a later production run won't necessarily match the tone of the first.

Yes. Solid American Walnut panels cut like timber — a fine-tooth blade on a circular saw, track saw, jigsaw or handsaw all work. Because each slat is solid hardwood the whole way through, a trimmed edge shows the same walnut rather than exposing a pale core, so cuts look finished without an edge strip or trim to hide them.

Yes, a little — and it's one of the ways you can tell it's real walnut. Unlike most hardwoods, which darken as they age, walnut lightens under UV light, easing from deep chocolate toward a warmer honey-brown. Most of that change happens in the first year and then slows right down.

Three coats of polyurethane slow it, but no finish stops it completely. If one part of a wall takes strong direct sun and another doesn't, expect that to show over time — exactly as it would on a walnut floor or table. Moving artwork and furniture around occasionally evens it out.

It isn't a fault and it isn't a finishing error. Printed and laminated surfaces don't do this at all.

Solid American Walnut panels are built so that wood movement stays invisible. Each slat is only 27mm wide, so seasonal movement across a single slat is a fraction of a millimeter — and the 10.5mm gap beside it absorbs that easily. The slats sit on a PET felt backing that is dimensionally stable and keeps each slat independent, so movement never accumulates across a panel the way it would on one wide glued-up board.

Where you install them matters more than the panels do. Interior, climate-controlled rooms are what these are made for. Spaces that swing between extremes — an unheated cabin over winter, an unconditioned garage, a three-season porch — will move more than any wood wall should have to.

Letting the panels sit in the room for a few days before you fix them also helps, so they settle to your home's humidity before they're on the wall.

Yes, and this is one of the real advantages of solid hardwood. Each slat is 13mm of walnut all the way through, so a scratch or a dent can be sanded out and the spot re-finished — the wood under the surface is the same wood as the surface. A thin veneer can't be sanded at all without going straight through the face.

For light marks, fine abrasive paper and a wipe of polyurethane is usually enough. For anything deeper, or if a slat has taken a real knock, get in touch and we'll help you sort it out.

Solid American Walnut is built to outlast the room it's in. There's no veneer to wear through and no composite core to swell or crumble, and because the slats are solid hardwood, a wall that's picked up scuffs after a decade can be sanded back and re-finished rather than replaced.

Treated the way you'd treat wood furniture, and kept in a normal interior environment, there's no wear-out point designed into them.

Yes — Solid American Walnut panels match. Every slat is the same American walnut, finished the same way, so a wall reads as one continuous surface rather than panels in different shades.

What does vary is the grain. Real lumber means one slat may carry sweeping cathedral figure while the next runs quiet and straight, with the gentle tonal shifts you'd see across a walnut dining table or a hardwood floor. That's the character you're buying — it's what separates solid hardwood from a printed or repeating pattern, and it's the reason no two walls look quite the same.

Two things that help: order the whole wall in one go, since boards from a later production run won't necessarily sit in exactly the same tonal range, and stand the panels up side by side before you fix anything so you can arrange them the way you like. And if a panel ever arrives looking genuinely out of step with the rest, tell us — we'll sort it out.

Each slat of Solid American Walnut is 27mm wide and 13mm deep, milled from solid hardwood, with a 10.5mm gap beside it and eight slats to a panel. The backing is 9mm black PET acoustic felt.

A panel measures 305mm wide and covers 300mm of wall — the extra 5mm is the lap where panels overlap. Panels come in three heights: 94.5 inches, 106 inches and 141.5 inches. Each box holds two panels and covers 23.62 inches (600mm) of wall width.

The finish is three coats of polyurethane in a low satin. Indoor use only.

Solid American Walnut is sold by the box — two panels per box, covering 23.62 inches of wall width. We don't list single panels on the site.

If your wall works out to an odd number of panels and you'd rather not buy a whole extra box for one, get in touch before you order and we'll see what we can do.

Yes, panels can be stacked to reach a taller wall, and the join is worth planning rather than trying to hide. Butting two panels end to end leaves a horizontal line that's very hard to make invisible — and because this is solid wood, that line will move very slightly with the seasons.

Two approaches look intentional instead of accidental. Run a deliberate shadow gap, leaving a small even reveal between the upper and lower panels so the line reads as a design feature. Or break the wall with a horizontal trim piece at the transition. Both beat a butt joint fighting to disappear.

Our tallest panel is 141.5 inches — 11 feet 9.5 inches — so walls up to that height can be covered in a single run with no horizontal join at all.

Partly — it depends on the curve. Solid American Walnut panels have some horizontal flex across the slats, thanks to the felt backing, so a gentle sweeping curve in a wall will work.

What they won't do is wrap a column or a tight archway. Each slat is 13mm of solid hardwood and doesn't bend along its own length, so anything with a tight radius is out.

If you're not sure whether your curve is gentle enough, send us a photo and a measurement before you order and we'll tell you straight. For columns, arches and tight radii, our ULTRALIGHT panels are built to flex in both directions and are the right choice for that.

Solid American Walnut panels install with screws or construction adhesive, straight onto drywall or into studs.

For screws, use #6 or #8 wood screws 1.5 to 2 inches long, driven through the felt in the gap between slats. Trim-head screws have a smaller head if you'd rather not see them. Work across the wall in one direction so each panel laps over the one before it — the 5mm overlap only closes the seam if every panel goes on the same way round.

Indoor use only.

Yes. Let the panels sit in the room where they'll be installed before you fix anything. Solid hardwood takes on and gives up moisture depending on the air around it, and installing panels straight out of a cold delivery truck into a warm dry room is what causes joints to open up weeks later.

Lay them flat in the room, out of their packaging, for 48 to 72 hours before installing, and keep them clear of direct sun and heat sources while they settle.

It's a weekend of patience that prevents the single most common complaint about any solid wood wall.

Yes. Solid American Walnut panels run horizontally as well as vertically — the slats simply lie the other way.

Two things change. Your coverage math flips: a box covers 23.62 inches of wall height rather than width, so work from your wall height instead. And getting the first panel dead level matters more than usual, because a small drift is far more visible along a long horizontal run than a vertical one.

Run horizontally, our 141.5-inch panel covers just under 12 feet of wall in one unbroken length.

Yes, with one firm rule: fix into the joists. Solid American Walnut is heavier than a veneered panel, and construction adhesive on its own is not enough overhead. Use screws into structure, with adhesive only as a supplement if you want it.

Locate your joists first and plan the panel layout so every panel catches at least two of them. Work with a second pair of hands — the longer lengths are awkward to hold overhead alone.

Everything else is the same as a wall: the same lap between panels, the same cutting, the same indoor-only rule.

Solid American Walnut panels overlap where they meet, rather than butting edge to edge. Each panel measures 305mm wide but covers 300mm of wall — that extra 5mm is a lap, and the next panel sits over it.

That's why a run reads as one continuous wall: the join closes tight instead of leaving the open line, with felt showing through it, that you get where panels simply butt together. Work across the wall in the same direction so every panel laps the one before it.

Yes to both. Solid American Walnut panels carry three coats of polyurethane, which seals the wood against humidity, steam and the occasional splash — so a kitchen wall behind a dining table or across from a range works, and so does a bathroom vanity wall, a powder room, or the wall behind a freestanding tub.

What to avoid is direct, repeated water contact: inside a shower surround, along a tub splash zone, behind a sink where the wall gets wet daily. The finish handles moisture in the air and the occasional wipe-down, but these are solid hardwood, and standing water is a different problem to humidity.

Indoor use only — never outdoors.

Where a run of panels ends mid-wall, the cut edge shows the ends of the slats and the edge of the felt. Because each slat is solid walnut all the way through, that edge reads as wood rather than as an exposed core — plenty of people leave it exactly as it is and it looks deliberate.

If you want a finished return, here's what we'd recommend: take a slat off one of your panels and use it as your trim. Carefully release it from the felt backing, then fix it vertically against the exposed edge to close the end of the run. Because it came out of the same batch, the color, grain and finish match exactly — which is something no bought trim piece can promise.

The same idea handles an outside corner, where a wall turns away from you: run a slat down each side of the corner so the joint is covered in matching walnut. If you'd rather have a mitered corner, cut the last slat of each run at 45 degrees so they meet cleanly — it's fiddly, so measure twice and cut a test piece first.

Plan for it when you order. Slats taken for trim come out of your coverage, so pull them from an offcut or from the last panel in a run where the loss won't show — or add a box if you have a lot of edges to finish.

Solid American Walnut panels are backed with 9mm acoustic felt, which softens echo and takes the hard edge off rooms with a lot of bare surfaces — much like a rug does on a hard floor.

No. Solid American Walnut panels are not fire-rated. If fire performance is a requirement for your project, check with your contractor or your local building code before ordering.

That depends on your lease, but yes — Solid American Walnut panels can be installed and removed. Screws leave small holes in the drywall that patch and paint like any picture hook. Construction adhesive is much harder to remove cleanly and will usually take paint and some drywall paper with it.

If you rent, use screws. When you leave, unscrew the panels, fill the holes, touch up the paint, and take the wall with you.

Solid American Walnut panels can be cut around outlets and switches with a jigsaw or handsaw — measure, mark, and cut. Because each slat is solid walnut all the way through, the cut edge looks finished on its own, so you don't need a cover plate or trim piece to hide an exposed core.

We wouldn't recommend painting or staining Solid American Walnut panels. Each panel carries three coats of polyurethane, so paint or stain won't take without sanding that finish back first, which removes the protection you paid for. If you want a painted slat wall, our Paint-Ready panels are primed and made for exactly that.

You can mount lightweight items directly to Solid American Walnut panels. For anything heavy — a TV, loaded shelving — locate the studs behind the panels and fix through into the framing.

Solid American Walnut panels need very little upkeep. Dust with a soft cloth, or vacuum with a brush attachment; for anything more, a barely damp cloth is enough. Avoid solvent cleaners, abrasive pads and silicone polishes — the polyurethane doesn't need them and they'll dull the satin finish over time.

Yes — Solid American Walnut panels can be removed and reinstalled, as long as you fixed them with screws. Unscrew the panels, patch the wall, and put them up in your next space.

Slats.co is a family-owned business based in Southern California, and all of our panels ship directly from our SoCal headquarters.