Wow. Beautiful. But if you want to paint it, I would recommend going to a Sherwin Williams store and getting direction from them specifically. Sherwin Williams is my favorite paint, others prefer Benjamin Moore (and others).

Part of the reason I prefer SW is I have found for the most part that they always have someone very knowledgeable on staff and I find their products to be quite excellent.

We just did this in our 80s paneled den. We did not do it ourselves. We were told by many people to spray it. Our guys sanded-some, primed and sprayed with SW Emerald Eurathane. It looks great. We haven't moved in yet, so I can't tell you how it is doing yet.

The process begins with hiring a professional painter and choosing a color. Painting paneling is not necessarily so easy because of the possibility of a coat or two (or more) of a clear finish.

Paint the walls before changing anything.

Totally agree with Beth. It's just beautiful paneling and not dated or tired (at least per the pictures). I would not paint it. This could easily be turned into a show home. However, it's not my house :)

Hmm that is actually a good point. Nothing is complimenting the color of the paneling. I wouldn’t want to regret painting it. It’s all original to the house and very well kept. What color floors would you do?

what if you looked into staining it a deeper, richer brown? Like this? It would be worth the money to call in someone to help you do this instead of painting. I would paint your brick fireplace black if you want darker wood. a soft white brick could also work.

get some white oak flooring to match in the same walnut shade of brown, or you could go a little lighter. Paint the walls a warm cream, or soft blue tone. (don't know what furniture you plan on doing but blues look beautiful w/this color wood)

another pic of a darker wood tone. lighter oak flooring.

these are solid cherry panels, but look how nice w/leather furniture and some black accents.

darker wood and creamy travertine flooring would also work

Oak flooring on this one,

um, gorgeous,,,

you don't have to decorate in a dark, stuffy manner. bring in some leather sofas, soft creamy accent chairs, good lighting, some animal prints,,,and you'll have a cool sitting room.

if you want to paint the smaller panels, it would look like this w/light red oak floors

Those are all beautiful. I think maybe switching out wall paint and flooring first will help direct my decision on if I want to keep the paneling that same honey color. The furniture I currently own is a rich chocolate brown. I’m scared it’s going to look too contrasting.

you can't go wrong w/white oak flooring. either keep it on the neutral side or go w/a non-red tone stain. something like provincial is a good medium ashy brown.

^ this is red oak. cheaper than white, but has underlying red tones. w/this wood you don't want to pick a red based stain.

then you could bring in a nice area rug to break up all the browns.

Wow! That’s great info! Thank you so much

Painting that paneling white is an option,but not the only one....

......but painting it is not a job for most amateurs.

Keep in mind that the resale value of your house will drop the instant you paint that paneling. So, just kiss that money goodbye.

If you paint the paneling, it might as well be sheetrock underneath the paint, and that has no value.

Nobody ever advertised a house for sale by featuring "painted sheetrock walls". But "custom millwork" is a feature that people will go out of their way for. And spend extra for. And buy the house more quickly.

hollybar,,,i love that 3rd photo w/those colors!

your second photo is almost identical to OP's paneling. the brown velvet and orange/red accents are stunning! if she did the white oak wood flooring, I would love that combo together. Love the rug too.

Morgan,,,look at Hollybars 2nd photo. Do that!

and if you want all white walls, then just hang drywall over that paneling. at least it can be preserved.

I’m just not a white oak person. Beth, is there anything darker than a walnut color that I could do for floors or would it look strange?

If I stained it, would you recommend hiring someone to do that or is it a straight forward process?

morgan, you can do a stain on site red oak or white oak and go as dark as you like. java, espresso, even espresso and black will give you a very deep tone. (always test out on samples first)

have a pro do it. it's not a beginner DIY

here's red oak stained w/black/ebony stain

Jacobean:

A dark walnut stain

and stained w/Bona Ebony

how dark do you want?? if you want it black dark, then choose a pre-finished wood in ebony or java

This is the color family we wanted for floors. Won’t work with current color of wood panels, hence why we wanted to paint white. Definitely don’t want to disrespect the craftsmanship of this wood work, but need to compromise for my taste.

ok,,so that is wood look tile. yeah, not gonna work w/custom millwork panels.

If you just want that color on real wood, then look at the darker color stains I posted. a custom floor guy can mix colors and do anything you like. I'm sure he could match that color in the photo

it's your house, so do what you like. my advice is to go w/real wood oak floors. It will NEVER go out of style. while you're getting the floors done, ask what he can do for the panels.

If you think you want to paint the walls, but are hesitant, then call in a drywaller and put up drywall over them. you'll lose less than an inch all the way around. you can have your walls any color you like and persevere those panels. somewhere down the road you'll be glad you did.

I like the idea of staining a rich brown. I could modify the flooring a bit to match the hue of the stain. Definitely will use your advice on the pops of color.

Just out of curiosity, would a professional painter know how to stain wood?

he could, but I would stick with a pro wood finisher, specializing in flooring. a pro painter wouldn't know poop about that unless he was skilled in that trade too. Paint and stain,,,,they're two different animals. I wouldn't have a house painter paint my cabinets. that's a whole other skill level as well. (I do wood refinishing on dressers and antique wood furniture. that's why I say to get a Pro-wood floor person)

seriously, do your room like this. you can have chocolate oak floors w/this combo

OP, beyond the floors,what is your style? Maybe you have some inspo photos of where you are headed?

Beth,the third pic I posted above is designed by Sarah Bartholomew for a Belle Meade Georgian. Nearly the whole glorious house is on her site...that woman has mastered how to make a fresh,vibrant AND still sophisticated colourway ;-)

hollybar, being that I love blues/greens and natural wood, I would be totally happy to have that home. I'll have to check out the rest of it. that green velvet sofa! wow. have you ever looked at Addisons Wonderland? that girl can do color too. Her one house w/the black/white marble herringbone in the breakfast area of the kitchen is my fave.

https://addisonswonderland.com/our-final-home-tour/

This is my inspo for the formal living room, The room with the solid wood molding.

The last pic is actually the couch we bought. Was thinking of brightening up with some darker turquoise.

The room with the wainscoting is where we plan to put a pool table and pub table.

This is the pool table we have for the wainscoting room

Yum,that couch looks majorly comfy & would complement the wood in that room. Both so gleaming. Your inspo pics all contain a fair bit of natural,textural elements which,in effect,those wood walls are so maybe they can work for you. All that said,I can understand why you would want to change the wainscotting in the pool room. Decisions,decisions. But no matter what,you've a beautiful home. Enjoy!

in the pool table room, you could prob paint that wainscot since it looks to be in need of refinishing. fine sand, wipe clean, shellac (comes in a spray if you like. this will seal the wood pores and make it easier to strip if someone down the road wants to remove any paint). after shellac dries, fine sand again. you use a white primer if you like, but a good paint like BM Advance should be enough. SW Pro Classic in Base White is another nice choice. I like Advance.

If I paint the wainscoting, I would probably need to paint the trim as well? Or stain it the same color as the Millwork?

Door and window trim can be painted, along with the ceiling "beams" (which are too "wimpy" for the room size). I am not a wood person BUT, do not paint any of the paneling. Get a wood Pro to refinish it...please. Lovely and terribly expensive to duplicate.

PS I know a Pro who would, with great joy, remove all that paneling AND replace all the drywall under it - at no cost to you - if you gave him the paneling.

i agree,,the beams are wimpy. see if you can find some darker, beefier Faux beams to wrap those. look at this one and see the diff in how the beams and wainscot fit the room size

what you could do for this pool room is get the wainscot stained in a darker tone, and paint the walls a deep, rich jewel tone. you will need some better lighting. bring in a bar, stools, etc, and make it a cozy game room. something like this, but you don't have enough wood on the ceiling for this effect

or maybe you like this look better

Maybe you could do this wood yourself after seeing it done in the other room. I don't know what your skills are, or your budget. right now the room says 1980.

We decided to hold off on staining the wood until we got the new floors and a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Should I stay completely away from cooler grays and beiges and stick with warmer tones for that color wood?

Beautiful room

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