[mudworm]

I never thought this through until it's time to install the cabinets in a room that has (knotty pine) wood plank walls and ceiling. We'll have a filler piece between the wall and our tall cabinet. With a regular wall, I know how to trace the contour of the (uneven) wall and make filler piece to match it closely using a saw. But with these horizontal wood planks that have grooves, what's the best way to fit the filler piece? Both my hubby and I are total newbie to woodwork, but we did purchase a table saw, a miter saw, etc. and are willing to learn. What we are looking for is a solution that does not involve a lot of hand carving because we are short on time, but still provides an acceptable look and seal. Any suggestions?

Here is how our cabinet run will look like:

And this is how our wood planks look (although the ones we are working with are in a different room):

 

[bob22]

Could just butt it against the pine, I doubt most people would object.
Alternative, cut the pine boards in a straight vertical line and inset your filler piece in the gap (pine boards now but against your filler strip). Downside is you're likely to have some splintering and pretty tough to keep cut line as straight as your filler strip.

 

[user1007]

Could just butt it against the pine, I doubt most people would object.

Or even notice in the first place. Especially if you add one more cat.

I think the more you mess with this the greater risk you run of making it more noticeable.

 

[mudworm]

We first thought about cutting a groove in the planks to insert the filler, but vetoed it right away because it would completely ruin the wood wall if one day the cabinets were removed (say, by the next owner). Now, when you butt a filler piece against a straight wall, I thought the practice is to caulk the seam. In this case, do you think caulking would make it look bad since the seam is quite irregular?

The reason I ask is I have three cats (no more please!), and I'd like to caulk any seam to spaces that I can't reach to clean.