I would keep the celling beams and paint the wooden wall panels white or cream.

LOVE this place...Your gorgeous furniture is also dark...making it more dark. It seems too cool to paint. I would get lighter furnishings and add a light area rug/rugs...light art...

The beams are beautiful and could be stripped (sanded down) and restained. I did this to my entire cabin last year. While it was hard, hard work, the results were amazing. You could paint the paneling, but you could also strip that and restain. Take a look at permachink's website. They have guides, great products and materials. If stripping and staining is too much, just don't paint those beams!!! Good luck.

Paint all the wood white or beige to lighten and brighten the room!

You can also staple fabric or paper to the walls. Textured lincrusta-type wallpaper is designed to cover up lumpy surfaces. Some of it may be strippable.

Brighten the floor with something bright, you could paint inbetween the log floor trusses, instead of track you could if your electrician is good and crafty log guy add some halogen or new led puck type lighting in the logs with a dimmer, I life in an area where this is vintage hate to have lots of paint tossed on wood its a sin in my area. :) although you have to live there.. good luck it looks great the swinging door that you could sand down and dial in some color in that match it with the floor area rug ...

You could do a white wash on the paneling and between the ceiling beams to lighten the wood, but you need to read up on it and make sure you follow the steps or it may not turn out well. I also like the idea of painting everything white or a cream color. It would look fresh. I would paint or replace the chandelier with something simple. I am not sure what the yellow lights are. Are they colored lenses or yellow bulbs? I would try to get something with a crisp white, maybe even frost the glass lenses over those lights running along where the wall and ceiling meet.

wow! what did u end up going?