About Interior Walls
An interior wall serves as more than just a place to hang a dartboard. Walls serve several functions around the home, one of which could be vital to the house's overall construction. Interior walls are often created from a fairly cheap and ugly material, but that doesn't mean the wall itself has to remain an eyesore. So many different decorating ideas can turn a wall into a wow that you may end up wanting to add more walls just to try them all. Does this Spark an idea?
Function
The main purpose of interior walls are to separate rooms. They offer privacy and create an interesting and useful floor plan for the resident. A secondary function of interior walls is to showcase artwork, photographs or serve as a backdrop for televisions, stereo systems, furniture or other home accessories. Some walls, known as load bearing walls, have a function far more important than either of these: They support part of the home's structure, taking on tons of weight in the process.
Types
One of the most common materials for interior walls is drywall. Walls made with drywall are lightweight, easy to use for building but also incredibly easy to accidentally puncture with minimal force. Older homes may contain interior walls made of rock, wood, adobe or wooden frames covered with layers of plaster. These walls are much heartier than their modern counterparts, but drywall is cheaper and much quicker to put up.
Features
Interior walls don't have to be a big, boring white slate. Interior paints now come in so many colors, tones and textures that any wall can become a masterpiece with a paint roller and a little time. Wallpaper is still a popular wall covering, as is wood paneling, while other wall coverings include faux marble pieces, velvet appliques, wainscoting, stencils and wall words, which are stickers that spell out a particular word or phrase.
Considerations
Interior walls are not always permanent. A wide variety of temporary walls are available, allowing homeowners to change the layout of their floor plan on a whim. Room dividers can be made of wicker, decorative jigsaw-like cardboard puzzle pieces, silk on a wooden frame, wrought iron, stained glass or just about any other material that can be propped up to serve as a wall.
MIsconceptions
Other wall functions are equally as important as separating rooms and hanging artwork. The load bearing wall, for example, may look identical to any other wall in the house, but it could bring the house down if removed or damaged. Walls are also filled with some of the home's vital necessities. This includes fireproof materials, insulation, plumbing and wiring for the electrical and other systems. Unwanted things may also end up in the walls, such as hordes of insects or their eggs, dead mice or a lost gerbil.
Tags: About Interior, About Interior Walls, floor plan, Interior walls, load bearing, material that, walls have
