paint it!

and also clean up the fireplace or whitewash it also!

Paint it!!! Pull the trigger! And go with the dark hardwood! Will look amazing!

I would have painted it right away personally! It will really open up the room and give it a very nice feel. Do a nice soft white tone. The fireplace also needs work, love the whitewash idea ^

Clean with TSP (tri-sodium phosphate,) rinse, let dry, lightly sand, tack off sanding dust, prime with 2 coats KILZ or Zinzer, paint with 2 coats of paint. This is work you will have to do, even if you have a painter in to paint. He might be willing to do the priming, but basically, they want it ready for color.

Paint it! Beware.....dark hardwood floors show EVERY speck of dust. They are a major pain to keep clean.

I was thinking that I wouldn't go as dark as espresso, maybe just a medium to dark color OR the exact opposite, light/bright floors or something a little natural/distressed.

@emilyljohnson I had thought about that. I'm probably not going to go down the drywall route, but I think I will start by painting all paneling but the built-ins to see how it looks.

Thanks all for your feedback!

in the shelf areas of the cherry wall..you could cut foam core boards to fit and cover them with wallpaper or fabric.

in the shelf areas of the cherry wall..you could cut foam core boards to fit and cover them with wallpaper or fabric.

Gorgeous pictures emilyjohnson sent. If this was my project, I would change out the original windows to larger floor to almost ceiling windows and add light concrete floors. (Picture 2 shows flooring to match the cabinet - also looks great). Drywall over the wood except for the wall of built-ins. Please don't paint that beautiful cherrywood. White paint and cleaned fireplace... Lucky you!

Keep the wood and redo the carpet! White wash the fireplace. Do a mid century modern look!

iladesigns2...has it right....keep the wood built in!!! Whitewash the brick fireplace...install a light wood floor or a beach washed wood plank floor...you will not see and dust or dirt and it will completely open up your space it is a perfect start to a mid-century modern space....add some contemporary to it and it will be fabulous.

If it were my home, I'd look into carefully ripping out the cherry wood, reusing the wood for shelves next to the fireplace and other projects perhaps, and drywalling the walls.