Your home is very cozy and has wonderful character. I think painting the wood a creamy neutral will perk it up. Good luck in your new home.

Is all the furniture there staying? The black chair has sort of a vintage library feel... Ralph Lauren-esque. The settee is very formal looking. Cabinet is dark as is the FP. Light paint will bring a lot of contrast to their heaviness. If you like contrast, go for it, but if not, you might want more of a medium or dark tone and use a lot of mood lighting. Great room!

we spent our budget but really want to do a quick fix for our entryroom. Its fake wood panelling and darkish trim. There is nothing under the paneling either, no drywall etc. But totally removing paneling and putting up drywall would be too expensive this season (unless we removed paneling and out up new paneling like headboard and painted it).

Everyone always says paint is cheap, but if you've just spent a bunch on your first house, "cheap" is a relative term.

I'll be the odd person out here and suggest that you live with the entry room as is for a while, and save up your money so that you can fix it up properly -- drwyall etc. -- when you have the money in your budget. That way you can work on it once and have it done.

It actually looks quite nice and Ralph Lauren-y to boot, and much nicer than most befores and even a number of afters in this forum : ) . Waiting also gives you the benefit of learning how you want to want to use the space, and time to gather some more ideas for what you want to do when you have the budget. Do/will you have kids? Do you have pets? Will you want this to be an area where you and/or the whole family can keep all your stuff -- jackets, coats, bags, shoes, boots? Associated pet stuff? Or is this an area where company enters and you want it to be more of a sitting room? Or a hybrid? Do you want/need it to be a laundry room or a pantry for the nearby kitchen?

This would probably also be a good time to think about the kitchen -- are you keeping the red floor and ice blue backsplash? The answers to that will also affect what you do in the entry room, in the short term and long term. I'd suggest thinking about the house as a whole in terms of what you want to do, and then once you have the $$$ saved, break the projects down into manageable chunks.

Is the paneling true tongue and grove paneling, or is it big sheets of faux boards? If it's true knotty pine paneling, it can be painted, but it's an enormous job and one would only do so if they truly want a paneled room. It's its a 4x8 faux paneling board, then painting can be a quick fix until you decide what you truly want to do and can afford to do so. It will make it fresher and cleaner looking in the meantime.

If this is a pass thru room then I would leave it and save up to do it right. Could you take pictures of all four walls so we can get a better idea.....what do you want this room to be now and in the future.