If you're hesitant to paint it and don't want to change the windows, maybe you could hang a bright tapestry on one wall?

ETA: did a quick search... like this would give you a lake view! :)

You could also post this question on the Home Decorating forum... they're wizards.

Sweet! Seems to have a dual personality - your older more historic exterior and the interior a more generic, mid-late 1900s cabin style. Nothing wrong with that, just that thats what it is. Agree with the above that since interior panelling is not historic, you would not offend the old house gods by painting or a whitewash stain.

You could take it in many directions. If it was mine Id research colonial colors and furnishings of that era - not to do a full on, museum-like restoration but just use it as starting point for inspiration. One school of thought about furnishing and decorating old houses is to be eclectic and take from styles from the time it was built, on up to present time, using your design sense to choose things that fit together well so you dont have too much of a visual hodge-podge..

In other words, it doesnt have to look 1795 but it could be taken back to some imaginery point in say 1934 or 1958. Heck, take it back to 2017 if you want - the idea is that these later periods would still have some older pieces mixed in with the new. Hope that makes sense - Im cutting down caffeine so the writing doesnt flow as well as it did!

Properly painting all that knotty pine will be a HUGE job. It must first be painted with a shellac-based primer such as BINS. It smells to high heaven! Then the knots must be filled, then spot primer over the knots, then two coats of finish paint. If done properly, it will look great, but this is a huge job for DIYers and having it done professionally will cost you a fortune. My painter is pretty cheap and I live in a LCOL area, but 3 walls in DD's small den, cost nearly $2000. She left the bookcase wall in knotty pine - it would have been an additional $1000 as shelves were fixed. It looks great, but it was pricey and just one room.

Probably the most cost effective thing to do is to remove the knotty pine and put up plasterboard. You can have a rough plaster finish put on it that might look nice in a cabin.

Whatever way you go, you're talking money and a big job.

Very nice house. You will enjoy it. I would either remove or embrace the pine paneling. I do like the pine. As Palimpset said, it is not original to the cabin. Of course, in over 200 years you would expect changes! Painting will look fine, but as Anglophilia said, it is a huge job. I did it and it wasn't the real pine boards you have. I had the 4ft by 8ft paneling. If you paint yours, be aware that they can expand and contract, which will affect the paint. My son painted some a light green in their last house and it looked great. Paint when the room is very dry, so that the gaps are at the widest.

I, personally, would change out the overhead light fixture. Even a paddle wheel fan with a light would be better than the current fixture. Get some great art. Prints and posters are fine if you don't want to spring for original art. What ever you do don't use browns as your main color. You already have a lot of brown with the walls.

ETA: Don't paint if you are not sure! It is very easy to paint later, but very hard to remove if you don't like it!

Lots of great ideas! Thank you all for responding.

Running the knotty pine horizontally rather than vertically would have reduced the claustrophobia.

I agree with not painting. It’s not original but it’s nice. How about faking a big window and pastoral view on the headboard wall? Center the bed, hang a false window frame above with a poster or picture mural of a field of wildflowers or cows grazing. Then hang off white drapes high and wide to the window add other light accessories, pillow shams. See what the home decorating folks think.

Even BINS might eventually bleed through. (Please don’t ask me how I know. I hate learning things the hard way.). I would pull it off and drywall. I don’t think it’s nice. :)

I helped a friend tear down a family house a few years back and we salvaged the T&G knotty pine from the living room walls. He thought it had been put on the 40s-50s. So it could date to mid-century at least as far as style goes. Although the material looks newer than that.