if you keep the paneling- i would paint it the same color of your walls-- Prime with kilz sounds like kill it works wonders over paneling- I like the suggestions to paint the beams a darker color, a nice black fire screen too

I agree, probably easiest to remove panelling, fill the nail holes and repaint...assuming it's not glued on. Paint the beams. Don't think I would paint the ceiling darker. I would leave it white between the beams. What a great room this will be! Kudos to you for seeing beyond that nasty carpet and vertical blinds!

First and foremost....STAIN the beautiful ceiling wood beams a couple shades darker than paneled wall......I promise, once stained, the whole room will pop with opportunity.

I agree, remove the paneling. Don't make the beams too dark. Go with a medium depth of color.

Ditto what others have said about removing the paneling. I bought my house 12 years ago and it was all paneling. Unfortunately, all of mine was glued on, which meant eventually pulling down everything to the studs. We FINALLY have it all done, but had to do it in stages due to the expense. It was well worth it!

If you cannot afford to replace it right now, please be advised that painting paneling correctly takes a lot of elbow grease. I painted all of mine at first and figured out that I had to go over every wall 7 times before it was finished: 1. Wash with something like TSP to remove furniture polish/wax, 2. Rinse, 3. Sand lightly to rough surface, 4. Wipe clean with tack cloth, 5. Prime with Kilz, 6 & 7. Paint two coats. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

Good luck!

We have a 1959 house with wood panelling of that era, although we have decided to keep and enhance it through-out the house. In fact we are replacing some which had been painted over. I am all for KEEPING the wood and working with it, you have an awesome high ceiling and a lot mid-century remodelling is looking very contemporary today.

We have only just started so there is still a lot to do, you can see some more pics on my profile plus images I've put into ideabooks with timber walls. I am also tracking our progress via my personal blog.

I think a wood accent wall would be a great contrast to the painted surfaces you are proposing for the room. However, the existing wood panel wall is much too flat and dull. Here is a textured wood ceiling that I designed for a renovation project in Seattle. I could imagine a wonderful wood textured wall bringing a very elegant touch to the space.

I'd remove the paneling on the wall. IMO, it's too much wood if putting in wood floors and staining the ceiling. Removing the paneling and having one consistent wall treatment will heighten the room by putting more emphasis on your vaulted ceiling.

I would paint the cabinet by the fireplace the same color as the paneling or stain the floor to match the cabinet.

Not sure what you're planning to do with the space or how you want to arrange it, but I think that would make a great feature wall. I would suggest installing wall mounted shelving. It could be multi-use like the one with the built in desk or something decorative like the one in the bedroom pictured below. Think about leaving in a section of paneling (painted or unpainted) to act as a backdrop for the shelving. This would give the room some added depth and character. What I would do would be to carefully take it all down, replace with drywall, and inlay the paneling where needed. I'm all for preserving the character of a home, so this could be a neat nod to an outdated trend that was popular with homes of that time.

Hope this helps!

thank you all for your comments!

1. yes, I plan to stain the beams a dark stain, but not super dark. and the in between boards slightly lighter. something like the photo i just attached.

2. and YES creamcity, I plan to do a feature wall later on. I've been spending so much money already. the wall is slightly indented. the top of the 'wood wall' comes out a bit. i can actually put drywall on top of it and there would still be space. I am thinking once I decide to do the feature wall shelves, I'll go ahead and remove the panneling. or maybe putting it over like one of the photos.

3. that cabinet next to the fireplace will go. i will replace it with something nicer. I am even considering refacing the fireplace. It's a shame that the previous owner decided to paint the brick. behind that cabinet on the right, the brick is in it's natural state. it looks so beautiful. too bad it's practically impossible to remove the paint off the bricks. :(

btw. this is my first home. :) I love this website and am so glad i found it.

Under paneling is probably drywall. Would rip it off.

Would you please share your method for stripping the existing paint and staining the beams?

I think replacing the existing paneling with a horizontal lap board would add interest and texture to the wall. It cane be painted or white washed as the designers (they'll be here soon) suggest. Stripping the beams....just had a long and contentious post about the advisability of painting an old houseful of maple trim and the horrendous cost of taking it back to its original state in the future...and your beams future is now. There are many stripping products available. Is this a DIY project for you or are you considering having a pro do it? If the latter, it will be expensive, but they will show up with the tools, hi-reach equipment and he chemicals to get the job done. If this is your first adventure with stripping, do some research on line. We used to use a VERY caustic stripping product called Peel-Away. It would be very effective on the wide, flat areas of your beams.

I am fortunate that my dads friend is remodeling the big stuff. he is a licensed contractor and if giving me a great deal. once the ceiling is done, I am going to take a second look. I doubt the wall has drywall behind it because one room had it too but painted. we removed it an had no drywall.

With the help u have, I would remove it and sheetrock it! Good luck! Show us what u do!! :)

small update:

turns out that there is no drywall behind the paneling.
I really do like the feature wall with paneling (Arnold Schulman) by creamcity. def a thought.

I've been spending so much already that I may do this wall in a later stage. they stained the ceiling. the beams are a darker shade than the middle wood paneling. I took it when it was dark so it may not be AS noticable. but with light, you can def tell.

Wow Sam! That ceiling looks fantastic! I'm actually surprised it turned out that good. And it's definitely darker. At first I was thinking about only staining the beams, but that is a great stain color. Really brings out a lot of character. So we need to do everything possible to compliment that ceiling. Are you still doing the floors the same color as the ceiling?

Also, two things before we move forward: 1) What would you say is your style and 2) what are you trying to do with this room? Because if this is intended as a cozy den-like area, that wood paneling wall could probably stay as is and eventually have that shelving added. The more deep wood tones, the cozier! But if this is going to be a living room where you have family family and friends over, maybe whitewashing that wall to brighten up the room like Ironwood suggested is the way to go.

I don't understand how you could STAIN beams that had been painted without stripping them first. Please explain your process and products!

I would embrace the wood accent wall. I see on this site people adding them everyday. They usually use wood flooring to achieve the look.

Looking at the second picture it seems you have the same panelling elsewhere in the room. And it seems like an original feature of the house. Perhaps the photos are not doing it proper justice as it comes across as very cheap looking in the original picture but looks much better with the new ceiling. I would def keep it for now. Great job! It looks fantastic. Please share pics with the new floor and do tell us how they stained painted wood...did the have to strip it?

I love this forum because you learn something everyday. I would never have thought the ceiling would come out so beautiful and I now think the paneling is a wonderful counter balance. I would finish this out in a mid-century modern-contemporary style. Love it.

The newly stained ceiling makes a huge positive difference in this room! :)

What about putting open-backed bookcases along the paneled wall? The bookcases could be painted the lighter color you desire, but would have the depth of color and texture peeking through from the wood paneling.

If you can't remove the wall, just paint it. The panel lines add character and even more if you paint it a bold color (that works with your color scheme, of course).

I've painted paneling, and I was very surprised how nice it turned out. I would stay with a light neutral color. Hey if you do not like it, you can replace it.

hi all. thanks for the feedback.

this will be my main 'den/living room'. my tv will go on the fireplace wall. and I may get a nice sectional.

I believe they sanded the beams a little bit an then primed it. then they sprayed this stain on it. it's not 100% the same as natural wood but pretty damn close. took a day to do and I think it was around $800. I can ask him exactly what he did.

yes. I do think adding shelf paneling will be an option I'm considering heavily. I will wait till the floor is in and I paint my walls. and i can always try painting or removing it. its been a fun project.

I'm planning a light grayish. like this. I really like the colors. http://m.benjaminmoore.com/paint-colors/color/mountain-air. which I think is this.

I like the modern look. but am a fan of earthy/cabin type cozy. :) with white trim.

I want to put track lighting on the top. something like this. or this but slightly different lights.

Who knows how accurate the color is on my monitor, but I like the wall color better in the living room with recessed lighting. The other looks a little cold and dreary looking, again, probably my computer. LOVE what you are doing!

Mary, it's the same. the ceiling with recessed lighting is the dinning room. other with bigger wall is living room.

HI Sam, I am talking about the color in this room. However, you are doing a great job.

oh! oops! thanks Mary. yeah, I think I'm going to go with a light tan or very light gray for the livingroom. if i feel the need, maybe accent on wall later. the good part is that it's only paint. :)

here are some BEFORE images. yes, those are some funky custom cabinets

Marvelous job! Love love the ceiling!

current progress.

my next steps are.

1. finish the kitchen (obviously haha). installing stainless steel appliances/chimney range hood. I would have LOVED if the old range hood was copper, but it was brass and HUGE. and in rather bad shape. put some glass 'brick' style backsplash (if i have time and MONEY).

2. paint the rooms. thinking of a green for my room, light brown for my bathroom, and blue for the other room. possibly just accent a wall since too much blue/green may darken the room too much. keeping all ceilings (recessed ceilings, i love) white. and for now keeping the dining room this off white.

3. paint the fireplace (for now). and maybe reface later. I saw some paint online (brick-anew.com). not sure how great it is, or if i can achieve this 'look' myself.

4. get some horizontal blinds. a friend showed me some horizontal sheer shades that are installed inside the frame and when pulled up, are hidden. looks super sleek.

5. paint exterior. going with a dark gray. i always loved the black roof, gray paint, white trim look surrounded with green plants/trees.

6. MOVE IN. (waiting for this for quite a while now)

I have a question to you all about interior paint. I was considering painting the inside of the recessed ceiling the same color as my main wall. you can see it in the kitchen (the recessed ceiling). but im not sure if that's a great idea.

sorry if I'm posting more questions/comments not having to do with the original post (wood panel wall). Hope I'm not breaking any rules.

Hi Sam,

I really would suggest not using glass for the backsplash, as in my years, I hate to say years, but it is true, of experience in design, I believe the glass is too much of a trend. I would choose something more classic and standard and more readily affords changes, as you will want change from time to time.

I think the fireplace will look nice painted white, but you should get rid of the cabinet to the left. If you need to put something in its place but an iron fire log holder. Then paint an accent wall, and the ceiling two different shades of the same color and I think it will be wonderful..

Hey Sam, just did some rough visualizing with Photoshop on painting the paneling wall or leaving it natural. I also put the paint you picked out on the walls. Hope this helps.

By the way, what color were you thinking of painting the recessed ceiling? Or by "main wall" did you mean the living room wall color? And were you planning on just repainting the fireplace white?

oh wow creamcity, you are a genious. why didn't i think of using photoshop!

I'm considering going with a lighter living room color (sandstone cliff http://thd.co/Zj45i4).

I was thinking of painting the recessed ceiling just an off white so that it's not too bright. by 'main wall', i meant the bedroom wall that would be an 'accent wall'. and by (something like this ). but i think for now I'll just paint all 4 walls one color.

what colors would you guys recommend for my living room walls? will be my media/living/main room that i'll spend time in. I like warm/cozy but also enjoy simple and sleek (think apple/audi). have been considering a light gray.

It did wonders in helping me make decisions when remodeling my mom's kitchen.

And that color should work just as well, if not better. Looks good.

Well, the good thing with paint is that it's the quickest and easiest fix. Not to mention the cheapest. I would almost wait 'til the kitchen is finished and then that could be the last thing you do. I've seen that ceiling portion painted like your picture above and I have also seen the sides of the recessed area painted like I've attached. Both look good in my opinion. They just have slightly different effects.

Also found this. I wouldn't recommend the design they made, but painting the entire recession actually looks pretty good. Again, these are all easy fixes if you find that you don't like it. Keep us updated!

you can use gell stain right on the beams without having to strip them.you could paint the beams a brown color and follow up with the gel stain to bring in the texture. as far as the paneling i would just cover them with 1/4 inch drywall. the paneling is probably glued on and would be a mess to try to get it off. the thin drywall would be easy to install and finish.

creamcity. i saw that green room with the ceiling fan. funny story, i wound up doing almost exactly that! here's a photo.

gizmo, I believe that's exactly what they did. I saw them sand very lightly. then cover the ceiling with a primer. then painted on this fine stain/pain. then colored it some more. I almost couldn't tell the diff.

the entire house is more or less done for this initial move-in round. Thanks all for the ideas. I'm fairly happy with the results. :)

and here's my kitchen. just because I feel like showing off. im proud of it! :) before and after.

Take it down. Don't paint it.

I'm having the very same issue, although the room I have wood paneling in is not nearly as gorgeous as yours. I've bookmarked this thread and will follow your progress. Thank you for posting updates!