I am not a decorating guru by any means, but I'd take down a panel of that paneling and see what's under it. If it is drywall or sheetrock or whatever, I'd take all the paneling down. Then, do some kind of "tuscan" faux plaster finish and paint. If there isn't any drywall underneath, you can DIY drywall but it is a lot of work or you can get a contractor to do it, but it will be expensive. If there isn't any drywall underneath, and you can't DIY or hire a contractor due to cost, my sister once spackled over all the "seams" in some ugly paneling and then hung wallpaper over it. It was some kind of wall paper you can paint and it ended up looking really nice. I don't know what advice to give you on the fireplace. Over on the Old Houses forum you would probably get a lot of advice not to change it but work with it... Some people paint brick too, but once you've done it it is very difficult to undo. Just thoughts.
-Kim

If pulling the paneling does more damage than good with whats behind it, i have had luck pulling all trims,sanding the paneling to roughen it up,then finishing similar to drywall.You use self adhering mesh for the seams and simply mud over the grooves to fill in.Two coats are generally needed for the grooves, as mud shrinks.The third coat is actually a sizing coat similar to skim coating, only you are just skimming and wiping down the entire area.If you texture doing a knock down type, the mudded seams will dry faster than the surface of the paneling, so you have to be careful when knocking down, Any other texture type is basically the same as drywall texturing.Instead of using paper tape at the wall to cieling and corners, i had better luck caulking in these areas before priming and paint.

Thanks for weighing in-yeah, we pulled a piece of the paneling off and it looks like just framing-no sheetrock-we talked about doing something like mudding in the seams but I just think it might be too messy and might not end up being that smooth-the walls are not the biggest problem-husband still says he can hang sheetrock (and have me tape and mud of course!) but we'll see if he actually get around to it.
The question is still there as to whether to remove the beams-I was totally convinced I was going to rip those suckers out-in fact-my neighbors did it-piece of cake-however-I'm thinking it might look kind of rustic to keep them-now if I can just figure out how to make the fireplace look like some show piece instead of the dark red drab brick it is. I contacted one tile guy who did our backslash in the kitchen-he said that we might want to rethink tiling over with travertine-that brick is making a comeback of sorts. I saw some really cool stacked looking travertine at the Tile Shop that looked amazingly like real rock. Has anyone ever used this product?

Sheet rocking the walls would be best. You might want to pull the paneling where there is insulation and upgrade as well as check out the condition of wiring ,etc.Shouldn't be any problems being a 70's house. It's not that old a home.You'll have to extend the electrical with extension rings,no big deal.Any door and window openings will have to be addressed as well.Mudding's the fun part,imo. I hate hanging rock!

If you are into woodworking, you could make a nice mantle piece coupled with travertine or stone work hearth. You could veneer over the beams with wood that matches the mantle.

actually i shouldn't be chiming in here being a sixties throwback kinda guy still stuck in the sevnties.Never was into that polyester/bell bottom crap, though. Denim rules!

Yeah, I can hang with the denim-just not the harvest gold explosion my kitchen once was. So are you saying, sheetrock over the paneling? I've heard that you can do that but, like you said, would have to extend the electrical outlets-the paneling is like 3/4" thick-heavy duty walnut or something like that. I think my husband was thinking of taking the paneling down but if we didn't have to do it and got some thin sheetrock (like 1/8"?)and were careful about the molding-do you think this would be doable?

I thought you had paneling as in 1/4"paneling. You have hard wood. I think it can still be done going over, but you might as well bite the bullet and remove the hard wood.That way you can check your insulation and electrical and any other concerns. The hard wood should come off fairly easy, whereas sometimes 4x8 1/4"paneling is glued, making removal a little more difficult.

Another advantage to pulling it is that you can easily add any more electrical or other types of lines such as speaker wires,(for that eight track!), or anythijng else you can think of before covering back up with wall board.Your gonna need that extra receptacle for the lava lamp!

1/4" is the smallest sheetrock you can get. It is real hard to work with as it splits easy.

I think the paneling should come off pretty easily since it's the tongue and groove kind. Thanks for the advice.

If you pull the paneling, and it's that thick, is it something you could sell to someone else? it sounds like it could be quality stuff.

I don't know if anyone would want it but I'm willing to try-any takers? It is a shame that something so loved in say, 1978 should be so hated in 2007 but it is dark, dark, dark-it definitely had its day though.

I don't know if this is what you mean or not, but my little hearth room that is attached to the kitchen is painted paneling and a painted fireplace. The paneling was early 70's and very dark. The fireplace was the standard red brick and the beams on the ceiling were very dark also. It has all been done in white and off white and I think it looks pretty good. I also painted the fireplace doors and got rid of the shiny gold around it.

{{!gwi}}

Wow-sounds like mine exactly-In my kitchen-we had the old paper kind of paneling on the lower half of the wall and we just primed it and painted it white (or Dover white) like the rest of our trim. If you have any pictures of yours-I'd love to see how it turned out-especially the beams and fireplace. Thanks!

First off, I'd call some recycled building supply places, those are usually around in every metropolitan area, or on the net and see if there's any market in the paneling. People are paying for 70's period stuff, so don't knock it cause someone else may covet it and it could defray some of your costs.

With that in mind, I'd very carefully denail and detach it from the walls, piece by piece in the fashion in which it was put up. Use blocks under your hammer to not scar the wood finish as you pull out nails, etc.

I think by doing this, like others have said, allows you the opportunity to upgrade and checkout your wiring and especially your insulation as often the effectiveness of insulation degrades with time.

Also, prior to going through all that, call some drywall contractors --- I mean contractors that specialize in drywall application and get some quotes for hanging and taping. You might be surprised as a good professional team can come in and whip out a room in no time and with good results.

Also, if you want to go for a textured finish, you can do a mix of sand with your mud (about 1/2 to one part to three) and trowel it on, sponge it on or roll it on with a brush. You can also tint the mud as well. Your options are endless.

A rough textured ceiling finish to match would set off your beams nicely and give a rustic overall feel which seems to be what you want to arrive at. Acid washing brick will clean it up if you want to 'brighten' it up. I'd recommend against painting brick as its kinda permanent.

Thanks-will check out the used building supply-in the meantime-have you or anyone else ever done the acid wash of the brick and have a pic, possibly, of what it looks like? Sounds like it might be a way to go. Thanks

i had to read your post twice, when i first saw it i thought my wife had joined this forum! you have our same exact problem. we have not updated the kitchen yet, other than new appliances, still has the old yellow linoleum floor, but the den we just installed a tile floor. now i think the dark panel walls have to go. still undecided on the beams and how to update the FP, but the walls HAVE to be redone. at least i got rid of the 1977 brown shag carpet!

i only have regular panelling though, not the good stuff you have.

See, I knew there were a few of us out there-I've been googling 1970's rooms for about a year now and there is slim to no information-If you can lay your hands on a copy of Creative Home magazine from Fall of 2005 (a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest mag) they have an excellent makeover of a 70's room-they painted the paneling a warm yellow color and decorated with greens and rusts-looked really great-they sheetrocked the top part of the fireplace and left the beams s/o paint. Of course-they had designers to help them and it looked fab. Just remember-even the paper kind of paneling can be painted-we did it in our kitchen and it just looks like wainscoting or something like that. I agree-the walls are the biggest issue as far as making it a lighter and brighter place-good luck on your project-and remember (I keep getting reminded of this in this forum) the yellow vinyl flooring might be back in before this discussion is over!

I pulled off all of the dark paneling in my family room added a sliding door and a nice big anderson sliding window. Drywalled the walls and painted them with a light color. You wouldn't know it was the same room.

Oh ya, I brought the washer and dryer up stairs and built a room for them and redid the bath next to it.

Scott

Ok-so we've finally made some decisions albeit-1 year later. We have decided to remove the rough hewn ceiling beams. We had originally thought we might be able to use them for sort of a tuscan feel and you see beams everywhere in the new houses. However, after consulting with a decorator-she informed me that those houses usually have ceilings much larger than my own and our typical 8ft ceilings with the beams made everything feel sort of caveish. My husband will take a reciprocating saw and remove them Sunday. After that, we'll remove the paneling and at that time, have some additional can lighting added. Then, we'll put sheetrock up paint and move on. I think with smooth walls and ceiling, no beams-the place will looked transformed. Especially when we install hardwoods. Nice-warm-not caveish and although it will be the hardest room we've done, probably not that difficult. I say that now......

Just an FYI -- if you have insulation behind your paneling or around your electrical (or if there are pipes in the wall), asbestos was still used in mudding, tape and insulation compounds in the 1970s, so you may need to check with a local abatement company to make sure you're not disturbing something.

A bit late to the party here, but just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. I love painted paneling. We've bought two homes with cheesey, dark paneling that we were *delighted* to have because the rooms looked so nice after painting them. It's an informal, slightly rustic, architectural look as opposed to faux finished or plain walls.

We just removed our rough hewn faux ceiling beams. What a difference! My only regret is that I waited so long!

We pulled the beams on Sunday-darn that was easy. We probably spent several hours discussion and mulling and once we made a decision-they came down in an hour. The ceiling looks great underneath-only a few nail holes to patch. Now as far as the asbestos-there won't be any taping, mudding etc because there isn't drywall underneath-it's just studs. No pipes. I've got a quote from an electrician on the installation of six can lights-500.00 and that includes putting them on a dimmer. Coming back to this reminded me of why I don't want to install sheetrock over the paneling-because of the electrical outlets. The trim will have to come off either way.I'll keep you updated

OK-decided to pull some paneling off to take a look. It appears that the paneling was nailed to horizontal boards at the top, middle and bottom of the wall. In other words-it wasn't nailed to the studs. We had kind of measured for the drywall from where it was screwed onto and now we have a bigger gap. Wondering if drywall can be screwed to these horizontal boards instead of the studs? The boards are about 1/2" thick and there are probably 2 at the top (the place where the beams were nailed) 1 in the middle and maybe one at the bottom. Any thoughts on this? Gee, this is a blast so far!

Hi, so glad to find this forum. Help! I guess you would call my husband and I 'gluttons for punishment', as over some time, we've restored an 1898 Queen Anne Victorian 3-story gingerbread home, redone a beautiful 1980's home (pretty structure but awful 'cosmetics'), and now are working on a 1971 roomy home on a big treed lot, the lot being the reason we bought the home. The room I'm thinking of has dark, dark paneling in the room the former owners used for a game room; we've used it as my husband's study but are about to turn it into a media room. The paneling is DARK, but it is that good, high quality dark walnut...I've really gone back and forth about what to do with it. The house has straight modern lines but really, with a few major changes, could look very '1910 Arts and Crafts/Edwardian', so my goal has been to add much wider baseboards, wider and 'crowned' window & door trims and eventually transform the whole house. The home's original 'bones' lend itself to that nicely...AND I have so many antique furnishing from our Victorian house days, that I needed to figure out a look in which my things can work. 1971 doesn't do it, and since the Edwardian Era followed the Victorian, I figure, why wouldn't that work for me now? Our lot is gorgeous, and houses can always be changed.

I've really debated about what to do: paint over the paneling, OR mud the seams and paint over it, OR take it down and dry-wall then texturize it, and more...BUT knowing it's quality, I'm now thinking of 'white washing' or 'glazing' it with some type of colored wood-stain/or light glaze that would let the pretty quality of the wood come through, yet give us a lighter look. I'd LOVE to know if anyone knows of a good product to use/ or knows how to do this or has seen this done. PICTURES WOULD BE SUPER if anybody has any! It's dreadfully dark in that room. The room is also our main computer/office room, so even though the dark paneling could come in handy for watching movies (once it's a media room), it is drearily dark for any other purpose. Any feedback or ideas are WELCOMED! My dilemma now is, since we're shooting for that Arts/Crafts 1910 look, which the bones of the house can well adapt to...1970's paneling doesn't do the trick.

I started a thread just like this today before searching--sorry!!

My problem is that the paneling only extends a little over half way up the wall from the floor. The walls are normal walls, then there is this horizontal panel about 2.5 inchs thick, then vertical paneling of various widths to the floor. It sounds hollow behing the paneling when I knock on it, so I know there is no drywall behind it. The depth of the panels are probably 1/2 inch-ish thick. I don't think the panels are real wood because they are very smooth. Maybe a wood composite of some sort, with some kind of faux wood design. I was shocked the first time I knocked on the paneling and heard that hollow sound.

So, if I take down the paneling, I don't know how to fix a wall that is 1/2 drywall and 1/2 nothing. We are probably just going to paint the paneling.