I love the shutters and the beams. If you paint the ceiling white, but not as stark as "ceiling white" and paint the brick fireplace a light color (not sure what you want your color scheme to be), that will be a good start. It's difficult to see the other details of the room with all of that stuff - looks like a Cracker Barrel store! If it's yours, I'm sorry if I've offended you :)

Thank you both for the help, the whole house is like this so we have a lot to do. The person that lives there now just loves it the way it is :) I think my husband is against painting the fireplace but we're considering it. Nanlu, we aren't sure what our color scheme is going to be either, I hate choosing paint. I will definitely repost when we get started.

I would paint the ceiling a soft white. I wouldn't touch the paneling or the fireplace, but instead, brighten it up with glass shelves in the cabinets, painting the shutters and adding a bit more lighting. If those beams are faux beams then indirect lighting can be adding to them as well. I think keeping some of the wood look will help you keep the rustic look you want.

I would definitely paint the ceiling but leave the beams. I would not paint the bookcases. Question- is the paneling the old fashioned 60's kind from Home Depot. Then I would get rid of it totally if you have the money and use regular walls. You might want to just start with the ceiling and clearing the area. Reshoot pictures and think again.

If you own any of the items in the picture, recycle them. Start an Etsy store.

I am really trying to be kind here, but this reminds me of one of those Where's Waldo puzzles where you have to find hidden objects. A butter churn, George Washington's head, tin milk can, American flag, dolls randomly stuffed in the bookshelves and blue elephants on the ceiling. I agree with most . . . clear out the room, repost the picture and then we can be more objective.

SS, Painting the brick isn't a necessity. I only suggested it because you are going for a look "a la pottery barn" which is generally lighter and more neutral. The red brick is rather dark and not updated - more of a 60's or 70's look I think. As long as you try to brighten things up a bit with paint and some carefully selected accessories, your room with look beautiful! : )

Thank you for showing this room - it reminds us that people actually live-in and love this home dynamic. Like the rest - clear it out, strip the ceiling and see what you have to work with - look forward to seeing it -

After the house is cleared out, I suggest you dismount the wood shutters temporarily to let in more light, remove the wallpaper from the ceiling and paint the ceiling some off white or white. I agree that it would be good to remove very cheap panelling but not very good panelling, so find out which you have.

Don't paint the fireplace or the panelling or the shutters for now. Check to see if you can use brighter light bulbs in the ceiling and bookcase fixture. Leave the shutters off for a month or two. Then move in your furniture and live with it for a while. If the sofa and chair are plain and dark, then the rug you choose will set the tone for the room. Some panelled rooms with shutters have sheer white or off white curtains over the shutters so that the shutters can be open in daytime but you can still have some privacy.

Here's a photo of dark wood panelling with light curtains: http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=22678

I wouldn't paint the wood, but this is one situation where I recommend painting the brick. I bet there is a problem with the ceiling, which is why is is covered.

rip it all out and prime everything white - open canvas!

Holy moley! I'm sure I saw this house on Hoarders once. I pretty much agree with apple pie - tear out that ceiling but until this room is empty, you don't really even know what you have. This is Americana gone wild.

There must have been a reason why you purchased this home - location? schools? It was free? That second picture, the one in the dark, is just plain scary. What eagle?

just painting the ceiling and getting rid of the old shutters will change the room dramatically.

I cant tell from the photo but the brick on the fireplace reads as fake. It looks like it could be old brick paneling. Regardless, covering the brick will also change the room right off.

Paneling is always scary because you dont know if its just decortive or hiding something. The one photo I can see it well in looks like they might have paneled the room first and then added the other beams and what not over it. Just going over it with drywall may be the easiest thing.

I agree with painting the ceiling a lighter color and leaving the beams. Another great thing that I always love is when the back of a bookshelf is painted a color. It could be a great way to add a bit of color and update the room. Also glass shelves would help brighten up the bookshelfs.

I agree the brick on the fireplace looks like inexpensive brick veneer and should either be refaced or painted. From the photo it also looks like the louvers on the shutters are all broken and need to go. The photos remind me of a cottage we purchased years ago with red plaid papered walls AND ceilings, dark wood beams, dark cabinets and dark paneling. We painted everything a soft white with the exception of the beams and it was unbelievable how much lighter, more open and spacious the room became. We felt like we could actually breathe. It was like lifting a ton of "blue elephants" off our chest! :-)

Clear the room, examine the ceiling for underlying damage. If the brick is veneer, remove it. Check behind the paneling (is it hiding cracks in the walls?). Take down all the shutters on the windows. Make any needed repairs. Do not paint the woodwork or bricks (if they are real ones) just yet. Instead, paint the walls and ceiling with primer. Clean the floor thoroughly. If the previous owners had pets and there is carpet in that room, take out the carpet. Move in your furniture. Live with it for a few weeks. With primer on the walls, you can try color swatches anywhere! You can also mark locations of any new electrical outlets you might want.
Repost when the room is cleared out and repaired.

Are there any photos of the rest of the house? Someone must have loved collecting because these items look carefully displayed despite crowding.

Are the wood shutters good enough to keep, perhaps after painting white?

If this was the home of a relative, my condolences. Once everything is sorted as to value and category and removed from the room, and the shutters are all opened, you will feel you can breathe again. You may want to keep some of the bookcases (minus the lights) and paint them a contrasting color to the wall color. If you prefer to put paintings and photographs on your walls, tear them out and repair the walls. I have taken photographs of my rooms, printed out copies, whited out the colors, recopied them, make multiple copies and colored them with colored pencils to figure out how things would look. Computer savvy readers could probably make even better suggestions.

this keeps popping up in featured and ive looked at the photos again. On a second look, i really dont think there is really anything worth keeping. The beams look like they are simply stained 2x4s. Its a look you could easily recreate later. I think you will end up having to remove most of it regardless. Like to do A, you'll have to remove B and C. Or getting rid of C messes up A & B. I think the room was contructed in a specific order. Like paneling and cloth and brick veneer, then beams and trim over it.

Just got home, thanks to everyone for the suggestions!

First, to clarify, these are photos of the home while the current owner is still living there. We are not related to her, and shouldn't have to deal with or go through any of her many interesting items. She appears very attached to everything, so I don't anticipate her leaving anything behind (which is fine with us!). And I can promise I will be posting for more help on other rooms, more photos to come...

As far as the advice, I think it will be helpful to have everything cleared out and prime the walls. The paneling seems to be good quality, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to leave it as is. Unless it's damaged in places we can't see (imagine that), we will paint over it with some kind of a neutral-ish paint. I like the idea of leaving the beams and trim and painting the walls and fireplace. ANy suggestions on color schemes? To be honest, I'm not sure if the fireplace is real brick or not. If it is, I would definitely consider painting it to lighten things up. And I like the idea of the glass shelves, I'm undecided on painting the wood on the shelves or not. The floor is actually wood, not that you can see it, so we'll have to see what condition it is really in when everything is out.

And for those who are wondering why we bought this house- no, it was not free. It's in a great neighborhood in a great location with great schools, and it has a lot of character under all the red white and blue decor. The floorplan is nice despite a wall we plan on removing. And my husband and I (especially my very handy husband) like DIY projects. So we will have plenty to keep us busy for a looooong time :)

And any a suggestion for a really good off-white paint?

I suggest you find a pillow or a rug you like, then use its color scheme for paint colors. There will probably be an off white that will look good with it. I like the oil based ZInsser primer because it covers water stains on ceilings really, really well. People often use the same trim color throughout a house which is easy if you choose an off white or white for trim. If you will be refinishing floors, you might take their color into consideration when picking an off white. On the other hand, you have so much to do, it might be easiest to prime the ceiling and then use any manufacturer's "Ceiling White" -all have very high reflectivity.

Paint formulation can vary by state if there are air quality regulations the manufacturers must follow.

Choosing paint can be a nightmare. Most paint stores have brochures with coordinated colors that are put together by experts. Choose one color scheme with a lighter base to brighten the room and then use the exact accent colors on the brochure. You'll be surprised by how great it looks

For me, if you don't paint that brick, you might as well leave the whole room as is!

Aptly said by Bobby ,Holy moley! This is America gone wild.

S S - I have a question for you - when you were looking at this house to buy, how did you see past the clutter? I'm not sure I could have done that. It's very distracting! Kudo's to you!

OMGosh . . . I simply cannot imagine - this would give me a headache! Yes - take EVERYTHING out - we really cannot see the room. BUT - please do not paint beams until we can look at everything. And please do NOT paint fireplace - there are SO many more things than painted brick - yuck! I think I can tell about that paneling - probably needs to come down. But save that too for another day. Clear out - then repost. good luck.

Choosing paint colors can be tricky because so much depends on the light in the room during the day and at night. I have had the most luck with getting tons of paint samples and taping them to the wall to see how they look during the day and at night. Often what I thought would work, didn't. In my living room, the walls ended up being a whitish-pink (yes, pink) because the light at night turned the walls gray. (The color is Benjamin Moore's Downy) The rug is light tan and you can't tell the color of the walls has that slight pink cast. I wanted a warm glow in the room because it gets only light from the east in the morning. I painted the ceiling the same color to complete the glow. This worked very much like the old pink light bulbs worked at warming up a room. Also good quality paint gives a luster that you can't get any other way. Once the room is cleared and the fabric on the ceiling comes down, you will have a much better way of judging everything else.

One more thing - the rug or floor covering will have the final say because that is a large permanent surface that you have to coordinate with the rest of your choices. You can lay your final choices down on the rug and see which ones really clash - before you paint the room. Saves a lot of mismatches.

The realtor should have asked the owner to pack up their things. They want to move.....right? Most people would NOT have been able to see thru all their STUFF. But some listing agents will not make suggestions and some home owners are just to hard headed. Shame. Good Luck with your project!

melibd - I'm willing to bet this house was on the market for a while, and the homeowners knew it would be a tough sell, and wasn't willing to pack it all up til they were forced to! I'm ever so grateful I don't have to pack this home.

Benjamin Moore white dove is a versatile and classic white/off white for shelves and paneling.