Wood Veneer Hub Slat Panels are an Easy Home Office Upgrade

As someone who has painted the walls in almost every apartment I’ve lived in as an adult, let me tell you that paint sucks. I’ve learned tricks over the years to finish the job faster (I even own a set of painting tools!), but it’s still a long and tedious process that can suck up more time than you’d expect.

Last year, I had the privilege of becoming a homeowner, and naturally the Great Algorithm noticed and started posting all kinds of home improvement projects, products, and services on my Instagram. (Did you know you can get a roof replacement for free? Yes, it sounds too good to be true.) One caught my eye, though –Wood veneer hub. I saw ad after ad scrolling through my feed showing home setups with a beautiful wood slat accent wall. It was exactly my kind of aesthetic.

The company promises an easy installation – a room renovation that will not take a laborious day of painting, and largely delivers. As WIRED’s home office product tester, I decided to test these panels for my office. I did it standing desks, office chairs, webcamsdesk lamps, and even filing cabinets, but I’ve never tried anything that would drastically change the look of my space.

Install quite easy

Wood Veneer Hub Slatpanels, as they are called, consist of strips of medium density fiberboard attached to recycled felt material with sound dampening properties. Each box has two Slatpanels with about nine slats per panel – you need to measure your walls (or ceiling!) to find the size you need. You can choose between a No Finish or Oiled Finish option, and I suggest the latter – it costs a bit more, but saves you the hassle of applying a finish and protects the wood.

I decided to try it on a wall in my home office, as an accent wall. I took about 13 Slatpanels (I was sent seven boxes, meaning I was left with a spare Slatpanel), and I screwed them into the studs. You can install it on your baseboard, but I decided it looked better without my baseboard, so I stripped it. There is a small gap between the panels and my floor, but it is hardly noticeable. This also meant that I didn’t have to cut the panels (except for the outlets and light switches).

That’s the tricky part – cutting the holes. I needed to cut a few holes for the outlets, a light switch and my light fixture. If you have an electric saw, you are already in a much better place than I am. I had a simple handsaw and no workbench, so it was hard to get straight lines while sawing the pieces. I used my Milwaukee Fastback knife to cut from the felt side first, and it did a surprisingly good job. Be smarter than me and use a long level or ruler and stick to the panels to keep the lines straight. Luckily, you have to look closely to see how big my holes are, or at least that’s what I tell myself.