A common device used in 70's-era suburban interior design. It involves the use of compressed wood pulp formed into panels printed with a design made to resemble a cross-cut from a single, large board. The intent is to lend a cozy, hardwood, oak-paneled feel to one's home at a minimum of cost. The actual effect is a cheesiness unmatched by any design standard of the seventies, with the possible exception of the combinations of green and orange found in the wallpaper, curtains, and linoleum of the day.
An interesting sidebar: In
television commercials and
print advertisements for
Calvin Klein Jeans aired and published during the mid-1990's, fake wood paneling was one of the characteristics cited that gave the impression the ads were intentionally reminiscent of
child pornography produced in the basements of suburban homes during the
1970's. The ads were discontinued due to numerous outspoken critics of the
campaign.