Lath and plaster were the wall materials of choice before handy old gypsum wallboard came along. And now, in some homes, it's been revealed to show off the age and material of the structure. Here are a few examples of interiors where old wooden lath was unearthed to make its debut as an interior decor feature:
• 1 Designer Darryl Carter's modernized farmhouse in Virginia, via Elle Decor.
• 2 The bathroom from the same house.
• 3 The texture of lath is celebrated in this uplit bench/wall.
• 4 This isn't old lath, but the look is emulated in this vestibule designed by Bench Dog Design
Images: Simon Upton, chloe-a.blogspot.com, Kate Devlin
Veronica & Keith's Handmade Chic 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunslet Dinner Plate
A Beginner's Guide to Superb Stir-Fry: Quick, Healthy Meals from a Wok
Easy Pitcher Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Basil Margaritas
Comments (10)
It's visually interesting, but one wonders about the practicality. Without the plaster, I would expect the plain lath to be drafty and poorly insulating.
We were in the process of tearing down a plaster and lath wall when we had a dinner party. The plaster was off, leaving the lath exposed. Our friends joked that it was a "modern" look, and that we should have left it just like that.
I think they were only sort-of joking. It did look interesting: like an exposed brick wall or something.
I love this & it is going into my design inspiration file.
Anyone who would consider doing this has not actually seen, and smelled, exposed lath up close. It is dirty and nasty.
Funny, I just went through a home renovation & thought the lath looked really cool exposed...but it's VERY dirty.
Even multiple passes with the shop-vac didn't make much of a dent. The amount of dust only abated when I put drywall back up.
Agreed! I love the look, and found it under our plaster walls when we renovated. But not only is it dirty, they also used to use hair (cow? horse?) in there... well, at least it was in ours. After some digging and enquiring, that's what I found out. So, not sure how you would get rid of the hair...
My house was built in 1927 so I've encountered plenty of lathe when opening up and knocking down my plaster walls. As others have commented, I too liked the look of the exposed lathe, but didn't think it was practical to keep it that way.
I kept some of it around, thinking it could eventually be used in a project or two. A few weeks back, I decided to build a small console out of some unfinished birch ply shelves I was no longer using. I ended up sanding the lathe and using it as the backing for the console. I thought it added a nice contrast to the ply.
http://bit.ly/cHox9w
It's still a work in progress but I'm happy with the results.
Cheers,
Anthony
Anthony, that's pretty amazing! I like the contrast.
e_led - you were tearing out a wall and had a dinner party? that's brave! even braver if you served alcohol. after a couple of drinks my friends would have sledgehammers ready to go.
I lived with a wall like this and it's dusty and smelly...and not good looking
Hi, I'm a giant palmetto bug (some of you outside of Florida call my relatives cockroaches).
This is a GREAT idea.