I had the same exact paneling in my family room. I ending up painting it. It was a good decision.

I painted this kind of wood panelling in a previous home. Looked sooooo much better. Just paint with a good primer then a couple of coats of your paint of choice. You will be so glad you did.

Plus, it would really constrain your decorating options, which paint will not!!

It looks too raw to leave. Needs to either be painted or stained. But be careful about staining, I don't know how much of the room it's covering, you don't want to make the whole room too dark. Unless you want that effect and have lighter furniture to counter act it.

Staining it, would be a nightmare. Go for paint!

I would have it ripped out and replace with sheetrock. If you are remodeling room, now is the time to do it.

Rather than thinking paint or not paint, what is your vision for the whole room? Figure that out and then maybe the choice will be more obvious to paint or not. Send us some pictures of the layout, furnishings, and the rest of the room. That will help.

Here is some inspiration from a recent Houzz article:[Not your grandfather's pine walls.[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/these-are-not-your-grandfathers-pine-walls-stsetivw-vs~56838401)

It is much better than most wood paneling we see! We like the grey making it look a bit more expensive. It also looks like bead board which is a plus and especially for a laundry room. It makes it look beachy, rustic. I agree with carolbrandywine above-try to focus on the whole room. We would like to see some pictures as well to help envision the dining room section. LSE Builders group are licensed general contractors specializing in large renovations and remodels. You can email or private message us on Houzz to see some remodel project pictures and ideas.

It could look nice if going for that feel like LSE pro said. I would paint that brown trim piece, at least, to blend it in. That makes it look cheap?

Remove it NOW it is ugly and really not woth keeping men are so weird about wood but this is not wood so lose it , he can argue about replacing with actual wood if he wants. Get rid of all the phony stuff and start with a clean slate.

Painting out the paneling is an affordable way of updating the look. I wouldn't recommend staining it as the chances of the stain absorbing unevenly is pretty high...

Cancel it out! My in-laws cottage had something similar, suggested they prime and paint it, results were a lighter and airier space! If money is no object then tear the sucker out.

Stain it white or whatever color you select with a opaque stain to keep the grain. It will stain evenly if you stay away from Semi Transparent stain.

However, I believe what is on your walls is exterior plywood 4x8 siding.

Your ceiling might be beadboard, not breadboard.

I painted my brown (!!) panels

Used Accessible Beige SW for kitchen and den and Balanced Beige SW for the living room. Dover White SW for trim (Dover White was something that either SW itself or some interior designer blog recommended as a trim color and it indeed worked really well with both beiges).

I was extremely pessimistic about the outcome at the beginning of the project and truly believed that the only way to change the look of the panels is to rip it off and to install 'normal' walls. Or cover the panels with wallpaper. But the difference the simple painting did was stunning. I even started to like the panels because of that little texture they add to the otherwise totally neutral colors.