Like the top.

the darker color like the trim. you can use the same paint finish, satin or semi-gloss, to keep the paneling easy to clean.

i would agree with judyg above if there was no paneling, only drywall/plaster.

consider painting the radiator cover the darker color, too.

Paneling is beautiful painted! I would go with a darker color at the bottom, but not too dark, like a pastel blue or mint green.

You can paint the paneling almost any color you want. What are the colors in the rest of your house? Do you love the color of the candels? Paint the paneling that., The chandy is a a bit dated looking. Paint the trim/chain any color you want for an instant update as well. Do you love the chair fabric color? Paint the paneling and chandy the color you love in the chair upholstery.

The house is on the market to be sold, so I don't want to go to drastic. We have kept the colors in the rest of the house more neutral for that reason. I would like to have it appealing to the eye, because when you walk in the front door, your eyes take you right to that room.

I would paint it the same color as the window treatments, very neutral and pretty. Remove the tv and stand, also the bookcase. Put a coordinating table runner on the table. The ceiling looks dark to me. If so I would paint it the same as the window treatments too. A small area rug, if it's in your budget, will complete the room.

I would paint it all one color because of the size of the room. I would then change out the current curtains and add a pop of color in there.

Paint the panelling the same color as the walls... Radiator too. Ceiling needs fresh paint in ceiling white color. Darkness of ceiling makes room appear compressed. Here are some other things to consider depending on your time and budget ... Chandelier is too high and should be lowered to make the room feel right. I think the standard for lights over a dining table is about 26 inches or so.. Look up on web. Get rid of TVs (actaully both rooms) and book case in dining room. Put a fresh plant or flower on the table. Find a couple of inexpensive pictures and put them on the wall for color. 3M makes picture hangers that are easy to remove and won't damage the wall. Fix the curtain rod ...it is too long and looks bad. If you can not fix it then i would take it down altogether.

As it is on the market, keep it neutral but warm in all one color. Add a pop of color with the curtains and consider using a complementary pattern on the chair seats. Please remove the TV (too cluttered) and find a piece of lively artwork to add some life to the room.
In order to sell a home you need to grab the buyers as soon as they walk in the door. No offense intended but there is nothing that would interest me.
Send me some more pictures and I will give you some staging suggestions. I am a renovator and stager (forgot to mention that!).

HI --- I am not a fan of panelled wainscotting and would prefer to remove it . Because your room is small it would look better in just one color , not three.

I love the paneling! I would color the panels white or a light color and the upper walls something darker. Right now the room seems so "bottom heavy". If the paneling is white, the radiator would blend in much better. Darker walls and lighter paneling would make it more airy, in my opinion.
We have just finished remodeling our dining room DIY style and we added the paneling ourselves. Looks much better than just a wall without it. Also, do you see another similarity to your dining room? We have the same light fixture!

Connie, love what you did with the color scheme's. This house is old and this room use to be a bedroom, that the previous owners turned into a dining room once all the kids were gone (my parents house, that are now passed.) It hasn't been updated in years. We are trying to sell it with no luck so far, so the colors we pick have to be kind of natural for potential buyers. We recently stripped the wallpaper (orange floral) off the top part of the wall and painted it. We were going to take off the paneling, but were not sure of what was underneath it! So we decided to paint it instead. It definitely needs some kind of picture on the walls....yours are really nice, where did you get them? Your light fixture is the same as mine only (it looks) silver where mine is brownish......nice choice! Once we get it painted, we will add some color by using a colorful table runner or table cloth and some colorful dishes. I also plan on re-doing the chair covers. We don't want to put a lot of money into it, because we dropped the sale price to the lowest possible in order to break even.

Darker color looks good

The artwork on our walls are $1,99 prints from original oil paintings my artist brother is selling. He gets to sell the originals and I just get prints and frame it in store bought frames. You could watch even for a nice calendar with nice photos or printed art and frame it (I love it cheap, what can I do....).
As far as redoing the chair covers goes... some foam, some heavy fabrics and a staple gun can be your best friends! Houzz, although it features often high end houses, also has a DIY section where people show off what they did themselves. I came upon photos of a DIY upholstered bench which a lady made out of a board of wood and 4 small store-bought feet. Her materials cost her $65 in all, but the bench was comparable to a bench the Ballard store is selling from $250 up.
It was a beautiful addition to her room and it was a project she did with a screwdriver, 4 screws and a staple gun. Easy peasy.
I would also suggest you remove the TV out of the room. Too much clutter, and while dining one shouldn't watch TV anyway:-) With autumn on its way, you might want to buy tiny little pumpkins ang gourds and put them in a box/bowl on the table. Thats better than flowers you have to tend to, and you certainly want to have something nice sitting on the table while showing the house.

Here is the link to very easy and cheap bench making: http://221vision.com/2010/10/21/diy-ballard-designs-bench/

Before painting the paneling, make sure you prime it properly. If it is a stained wood veneer versus inexpensive plastic coated paneling, you need to seal in the stain and ready the surface for paint. The KILZ brand has some high quality primers that would seal the paneling before painting.

I would paint the paneling the same color as the wall color as prospective buyers may not notice it as much. Yes, you are wise to leave the paneling in place because there's no telling what horrors are hiding behind it and painted paneling looks OK to my eye.

Switch out the outlets and the plates to a lighter shade - light almond looks nice with the off white trim Or, paint the plates to match the paneling. If it were me, I would take down the drapes and go for a roman shade or blinds with a small, plain valance, or if you really like curtains, I would have them end at the window sill.

The photo is of a valance I made to go on my breakfast room window. The green and white fabric was a scrap and I lined it with an old sheet. Then I stapled the valance to a 1 inch square piece of wood. I put three finishing nails into the top of the window trim and drilled three holes in the fabric covered board. So, to put it on, I just push it down so the nails go into the matching holes and remove it just as easily. I wasn't sure I was going to like it, so I made it easily removable, but I decided it looked pretty good and I haven't taken it down. The only cost was about an hour of my free time.

i don't think that type of valance would add value to your resale efforts

Since it is a dining room, it is better to paint the entire room in bright colors like orange or shades of green. I like the concept of Connie. The Orange paint on the top half and white paint on the bottom half which is the panel. It really makes the room look amazing and attractive, enough to ignite any deteriorating appetite. :)

I'm back....we have finally finished painting the paneling in our dining room. We are not done yet, but wanted to get some feedback on what we have done so far.

Love that you painted the paneling, but the new curtains are too heavy for the room. I really like the first curtain, maybe in a different shade, but keep the colors light.

Nice job! Really, really looks good.

I would recommend raising up the rod it should be about 6'' above the window. I would also add chocolate brown drapery it will make a really nice statement. As for the window I would recommend putting a Silhouette type blind it will make the room alot more formal for a dining room.

http://www.blindsdirectcanada.com/drapery-toronto/panels.html

http://www.blindsdirectcanada.com/blinds-toronto/silhouette-sheer-blinds.html

Looks nice. The dapery is heavy for the room. You could balance this by painting the top of the room in tan or another color that you like. I would place all 4 chairs under the table also.

Here is the final re-do of the dining room. Again, we didn't want to put a lot of money into this house, because it went up for sale April 1st. (for the second time...was taken off for a few months to do more work on it)