Pictures would definitely help. It wouldn't be that hard to drywall the room and then either paint or texture the ceiling. What is the rest of the house?

I tried uploading a photo but it seems it didn't work. I'll try that again. If I can paint a picture for you: Ranch-style house. Living room is earth-toned. Couch and love seat are a mocha color. The carpet is neutral (beige). Three of the four walls are also neutral (a shade or two darker than the carpet). The fourth wall is accented with a blood-colored red (best way I can describe). I can go into further detail of the house if you'd like. Thank you by the way. Here is a picture of the ceiling as well as a little bit of the what the walls look like. Unfortunately, this room has also turned into a "land of misfit furniture" if you will. Half of the room looks okay/good, the other, not so much. Furniture in this room has a couch and love seat (both the same color - a little darker than sky blue). Table is multi-colored (dark earth tones again). There's a huge black book case. The computer desk is of colonial color. And the same color (colonial) for our curio cabinet. The carpeting is very neutral. However, I'd like to either change out the carpet or remove it altogether. What's throwing the room off are these two recliners that my wife had to have. They're both brown. One is a very dark brown - the other is much lighter but has a hint of a gold-ish color.

I was able to get some pictures. Like I said, "land of misfit furniture". Don't mind the Star Wars game in the second pic. Hopefully this will give/show a better understanding of what I'm talking about.

Yes those look like a tile that is either nailed or stapled up they are definitely from the 70's. going back to my original comment I would remove them and drywall the ceiling and then either paint it or texture it. The cost would not be that great and it would completely change the look. I would do the same with the walls as well.

Thank you. Should I completely remove the wood paneling or drywall over them? Also, any idea on what color to use to paint the walls and/or ceiling given what this room is made up of in terms of furniture?

Not so fast on the ceiling tiles. They need to be checked for asbestos. If they DO have asbestos, you can't just pull them down. You can hire an asbestos abatement company (expensive) or encapsulate them (less desirable since the ceiling is already low). Your first step here is to have them tested before making any ceiling plans.

Thank you. I didn't even give that any consideration. Would it matter if the entire room was added to the house in '97?

Check out the link below and scroll down to the hallway/entry photo, I'm not sure of your style but I've seen where folks paint white over the wood paneling and it looks awesome! Immediately brightens it up and saves loads of money re-doing the walls, kind of a farmhouse or beachy style. Maybe it would work for you:)

[https://www.houzz.com/magazine/houzz-tour-some-old-tricks-for-a-new-atlanta-farmhouse-stsetivw-vs~56110764[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/houzz-tour-some-old-tricks-for-a-new-atlanta-farmhouse-stsetivw-vs~56110764)

If the ceiling is in great shape, do what madden slick said, but if it has a bow in it, take it down. The paneling can be primed and painted if you want a cheap way out.

Thank you all for the quick responses and advice. Yes, the ceiling does bow/sag in some spots. I was thinking about painting over the paneling as a cheaper alternative (which I may still do). It's about a 15' x 12' room (give or take). So, it would cost me between $150-$160 for the drywall alone. Not bad in my opinion. I have some homework/testing to do it seems. Again, thank you all for your input. It's very much appreciated.

Agreed on the asbestos issue. If it was done in 97 then unlikely that it would but doesn't hurt to check. If you decide to drywall as opposed to painting the paneling (which isn't a bad idea either) I would remove it if only because it makes the studs easier to see and attach the drywall to. Again if it was done in 97 it isn't likely an issue but if there is any concern about insulation it gives you an opportunity to check that as well. Some of the products used in the past have a tendency to slump over time or they just aren't as good as the products we use now.

Before you decide on paint and flooring color, you need to think about what furniture is staying in the room, and what will be replaced (or repainted or slipcovered). It sounds like you have a real mix in upholstered furniture (medium blue plus dark brown plus gold/brown) and hard furniture (black, earth tones, golden brown). Can you take some pictures that show the colors better?

There seems to be a lot of "stuff" in the room (curio cabinet, sports banners) that could probably be grouped more attractively, after being culled a bit.

@partim - Yes, I can definitely include better pictures. Unfortunately, it will have be done later in the day. I will get them posted as soon as possible. Thank you for your help.

It would be helpful to have the dimensions of the room. Also take a photo of a rough sketch that shows the location of the sliding door, window and any other doorways into the room. We'll need to know where to leave a traffic path through the room. Is there a fireplace? Can the TV be moved to a different wall if necessary?

The loungers don't seem to be used for TV watching. How are these chairs used today, and is that working well?

Your room looks pretty big, and you may have enough space to have a TV area, and also a separate area with a desk (computer games? paying bills?) and/or a games table.

Okay. I was finally able to take some pictures. Apologies for the extra flash, as well as lack of flash. The blue couches look dark blue and a shiny silver in these pics. They are not. I don't even know what shade of blue to even call them. The last three pictures of the room go left, center (sliding door), right. As you can see, it truly is a "throw it in that room"...room. The size of the room is 16' x 22'. The recliners/loungers are pretty much used as reading chairs and/or conversation chairs when the house gets a little too loud during "get-togethers". That ugly looking furnace will be a "fun" time to try and remove and will definitely be gone when I do my update to this room. Again, any help that you can provide would be better than what this room looks like at the moment.

The room looks a little better than I thought. The biggest problem here is the lack of light and the low ceilings, so first thing I'd do is test the ceiling tiles and then do whatever necessary to take that ceiling down. Then I would replace it with beadboard and paint the walls and ceiling all the same, some shade of white. A beadboard ceiling:

Here's a little tip: in a low ceiling room, keep everything--furniture and stuff hanging on the walls--low. That picture above the TV is a no-no. And you must declutter. That will totally open the room.

Painted paneling:

@groveraxle - Thank you for the detailed description. It's going to help me a lot. Question though. When I take the old ceiling tiles off and it happens to reveal that it could be cathedral ceilings, would what you describe remain the same?

we just removed a ceiling like this. It was tacked up on strapping which our contractor reused (after pulling out all the staples) to attach the drywall. So far, so good.

A few questions. Does this room have a standard 8 foot ceiling or is the ceiling low? What is the photo of the tiles - your coffee table? With the window and the sliding doors, is the room dark or is that just how your photos look with the dark paneling?

I can't imagine there would be a cathedral ceiling under there. However, I can imagine the tiles are attached to furring strips in which case, I'd remove those, too, and raise the ceiling as much as possible. If you DO uncover a cathedral ceiling, then you'll probably have to remove the paneling and do drywall. That would solve a host of problems, though.

It's standard 8-foot ceilings. Unfortunately it's the photos that make it look that dark. Yes, the tiles are of the coffee table. I figured I'd give all colors that could.

@groveraxle - I don't know how you made it light-colored like that, but it definitely gives me an idea of what it could like.

Some pictures from Houzz of blue sofas with brown chairs and light colored walls.

I see you have a lot of family photos in your room. How about scanning them and putting them on a digital photo frame? It would reduce clutter in the room. Also I find that we don't look at these pictures because they're always just "there", but with a digital photo frame it's fun to see what pictures are coming up. Then you may not need/want that big dark bookshelf, or the other shelves on the wall, and you room will look much more open.

Groveraxle, you are a marvel!

@partim - I have no problem digitizing our photos. It's my wife who likes the physical form of pictures. I guess it's a nostalgic feeling for her. :)

We'll see if I can convince her down the road. If I knew what program groveraxle used, I think I'd be stuck at my computer for days trying to see what my house could look like.

malek, I use Photoshop Elements, but it has a fairly steep learning curve. All I did was erase your curtains and photos and some of the furniture, install a beadboard ceiling I got from Google, then paint the paneling.

The white is a little stark, I think, so I might try another color. But I would paint the walls and ceiling the same. It will help to enlarge the room.

Oops. I just realized I quit my program, so the painting will have to wait for the morning. ;-)