You can keep the floors and paint the pine. That's what I would do. If you keep the pine, I think tile is your best option. It would be a lot of work, but maybe you could sand down the pine for a lighter, more natural wood tone. Whatever you decide, get the lighting changed first so you see what you are looking at more clearly.

Yikes! I had to edit your photos just to see into the black hole! Yes! Paint it. I can hear your husband screaming in the background but you will retain the character and texture that is there and create a whole new feeling of light! I like your floors; they look to be in good condition and once the walls are painted will really look great! For all those don’t paint wood people... pine isn’t a precious commodity!!

Not a Pro.

Keep the walls and keep the floors.

Here is some inspiration:

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Thank you all for your great input! Here is a picture with blinds open. I think just adding that natural light already made a difference, lol!

Btw, these floors don’t look like run of the mill parquet floors to me. They look more like wood tiles. Am I seeing this right? I think they are very nice!

I don’t want to paint it. I am too nervous about the knots bleeding through and having to touch up frequently. My friends in the neighborhood with the same paneling say the knots bleed through. They may have not prepped correctly, though. I got a quote for painting it and the contractor was honest and said painting knotty pine has some of the highest dissatisfaction rates because the knots eventually bleed!

My parents had a similar room years ago ... they had a very skilled painter glaze the pine paneling You could see through the creamy glaze ( knotholes & all ) but it lightened the room & the effect was beautiful. I haven’t seen much of that done lately, I suppose it’s similar to whitewashing brick.

You have to use a shellac based primer. If you are worried about the knots bleeding through then remove the paneling or just do a whitewash so you can see the knots. It’s part of the charm of pine;)!

The knots don’t bleed if properly prepped - the shellac primer is the only way.

If you keep the pine, at least consider painting the fireplace surround and bookcases a warm white. Put white roman shades on the windows so you can have them all the way up during the day.

Your parquet floors are great. I'd paint the pine walls in a heartbeat (or drywall over them) before touching the flooring.

wouldn't you rather have this?

what you could do is compromise and leave the pine behind the fireplace. (just get some high heat black spray paint for that gold box insert/surround)

Once you remove those dated mini blinds and heavy drapes, the room will look lighter and brighter. bring in some warm woven wood blinds, roman blinds, or even something like the Silhouettes.

for the oak parquet, get it refinished in a walnut shade. It will look beautiful against the white walls.

this parquet is so expensive to do now, pulling it up for ceramic tile would be a huge downgrade. You could always get a large are rug.

Beth, I do like the way those rooms turned out. Thanks for the ideas! I love the Roman shade look and I never thought about refinishing the parquet. Those pictures of the floors are very nice. This is a tough decision!

I have to agree with the "paint the paneling and keep the floor" folks. Love Beth's ideas about the walnut stain and perhaps keeping the wood surrounding the fireplace.

We painted our knotty pine.... and it was a diy job. The secret is in the prep. 12 years later when we sold the house and no knots had bled through...

Whitewash the walls and stain the floor. Black parquet can be stunning.

I would keep the floors for sure. While i would join the paint the paneling chorus, I live with a don't paint my paneling husband. I can offer a few ways to lighten without painting. Keep furnishings in light shades. Lots of lighting and sheer window treatments, I envy all your windows. You can paper or paint card board or foam board to line shelves in a brighter color. If you have the budget for it light stone or tile on the fireplace wall would brighten the room. Once you change the lighting and furnishing it may be cozy and bright enough that you don't need to paint anything.

I LOVE THE PANELING!!!! It looks like a treasure, to me. It has character and it gives the room a ton of personality. Although I do also like painted paneling/shiplap and understand the desire to brighten things up, I really believe the paneling (as it is now) could become the star of the room. So before painting over that beautiful patina, maybe try some less drastic measures first.

For example, maybe change the fireplace mantel and perhaps a new fireplace grate. Different window treatments might also help, although if you do the white replacement windows you mentioned, that would really change the look. As far as lighting, some wall sconces would really play up the warmth and texture of the wood.

Another option if you replace the windows - perhaps keep the paneling on the lower part of the walls below the windows, but drywall above the new windows. I'm not sure how that work with the book units, but maybe somebody else would have an idea.

For the floor, ceramic tile could be beautiful. The parquet floors look nice also, but I'd probably add a lighter-colored rug if I kept the current floor.

I'd love to lounge/watch TV in a cozy room with those beautiful walls!

I had the EXACT SAME knotty pine walls in my ENTIRE HOUSE. I was afraid to paint for 12 years, but the house was so dark it drove me nuts. Finally, I tried it. We have now done EVERY room: living room, dining room, master bedroom and two kids' bedrooms, and the bedrooms included knotty T&G ceilings, too. Now... I LOVE IT. I even told my husband if we ever move, I'd be sad to have just 'plain, flat drywall walls'... I'd miss the character of the tongue and groove painted walls. They are SOO charming, and the house is so bright! I used Zinser BIN primer (it's lethal: get a good quality mask and be prepared to leave the windows open and fans on. Takes about a week for it to 'mostly' go away.) Did two coats, then paint. It was time consuming, yes, but we did it over time and I'm so happy with the results. Also, I'm a mom of four kids, and I did much of it myself during nap times or after bed time, so it's daunting but doable. Been over 2 years for several of the rooms, and the knots will never bleed through I'm sure of it. They haven't so far: that Zinser BIN is no joke. But I really love how it looks, and wish I hadn't been so scared for years.

Kids rooms after.

These are photos from our porch (cats' room), showing how we kept a feature wall of old paneling, but added drywall to the top portion of other walls after we replaced all the windows. White plantation blinds on the windows, and ceramic tile on floor (for easy tracking of cat litter!).

The trick to using BIN for knot holes is to allow the bin to fully cure before topcoating with paint. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours. Keep in mind too that sometimes there’s a bit of texture to the knots.

I like the paneling and the floors, although I agree that you might want to get the floors refinished. I have a similar situation and we consulted a few professional painters and found that the cost of correctly painting the paneling was prohibitive for us. So I started looking at other options. A designer friend told me that painting the trim white was a nice look and I started collecting images to get ideas for that option. Doing white trim, brightening up the fireplace, light, airy rugs, and doing white matchstick blinds with a good layout of lamp lighting is a great look.

Keep the walls and the floors, and accessorize!!

This way you can change a rug, and pillows and the whole decor is updated with your tastes as the years go by.

Paint the paneling a laquered dark blue. Keep the floor but add a vintage rug.

No recessed lights, except for highlighting artwork. Use lamps.

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It’s beautiful as is. I’d just get new blinds, a decent rug and some better lighting. Maybe paint he ceiling a touch warmer (it seems so stark).

Once the rug, furniture and a few wall hanging are in the room, the wood won’t look so domineering.

Don’t paint quality wood. Stop watching HGTV.

I am really enjoying the feedback. Thanks, all.

i took ours down to chair rail height, so there is drywall/painted surface above, and knotty pine paneling below. One day I may paint paneling white to be more of a wainscoting, but for now the pine/painted surface works for us

Update: We got the dimmable LED recessed lights and we had the knotty pine painted. I am SO happy with how it looks and can’t believe we waited this long. I actually don’t mind the floors now that everything else is lighter and brighter. We may redo them down the road. Brown windows are staying for now since they are in good shape. Hopefully they won’t look too bad once I get the blinds up. Still need to swap out the AC grilles for white. Any recommendations for area rug and/or sectional sofa color? Can’t wait to use this space!

Lights on

floors look great w/the white!

don't know about a sectional. I don't think you have enough width.

tape out the measurements on the floor before you buy

those bookcases really eat into the width space. can you remove one side?

where is tv going?

you can use the bookcases in another room.

if that's too much trouble, then nix the sectional idea and just do a single sofa that faces the FP.

Definitely remove that mantle if you're hanging a tv there. otherwise the tv will be too high.

see the sofa set up on this one: ?

You could do a larger one that faces like this, maybe you could do one with a small chaise at one end.

if those bookcases allow you, maybe a chair placed like one of these.

if you didn't have the bookcases, I was thinking a set up like this

this room looks pretty narrow. perhaps you could find two sofas like this

I like this rug and sofa. and the soft woven wood blinds.

Looks really great! I would stick with a solid rug, a textured rug, or one with a very small subtle pattern. You have a lot of lines between the siding, shelves, and floor squares, so keep it simple and muted. Choose your seating first so you know what size rug will work. You could put the TV in one side of the shelving unit, keeping the main frame, and mount it on an arm that allows you to pull it out and angle for viewing. Or remove the shelving completely above the lower base unit to mount the TV on the wall. Use the lower base with doors for your equipment/cords. That's what I would do. Then your sectional can face the TV and fireplace, with the remaining shelving behind the sectional.

The TV over the fireplace is too high even with the mantle removed if those vents cannot be removed.

Removing the mantle would be too much trouble. I can actually take one of the bookshelves to another room. For some reason I thought the workers had attached them to the wall but they’re not. Starting to like the idea of putting it on the wall vs. over the fireplace, however I feel like the couch would end up being awkwardly close to the fireplace since there is not a lot of wall length where the tv would is and where the windows start. The mount with an arm could work, I suppose. Why do you say the tv would be too high over the fireplace?I think it’d be lower than the inspiration photos above.

Loving those soft woven blinds, Beth!

Thanks for all the input folks!

they're high in the inspo photos too.

.As a rule, a 42” television should be mounted about 56 inches from floor to TVcenter, a 55” TV should be around 61 inches, a 65” TV should be around 65 inches' floor to center, and a 70” television should be mounted about 67 inches to the center of the screen

You'll also have to figure in code allowance for the firebox is you use it.

as for removing the bookcase, I think you'd have a hard time mounting the tv over there since setting up your sofa to view it would be difficult. (given the other bookcase directly across from it).

Given what you have to work with, over the mantel is the easiest solution.

Wow that came out great!!!!

You have lots of room for a sectional. Set it up like this (your fireplace replaces the artwork), and use an arm for the TV where you currently have the shelves.

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#RetroDen progress! My next plan is to repaint the brick around the fireplace and maybe have doors put on the bottom part of the book shelving. I am wondering if I should paint the red tile in front of the fireplace black. The teak chairs are actually for another room and I want to get a lounge chair for that corner. Excuse the wrinkles in the couch slipcover and cords from the tv (trying to figure that out).
Looking for ideas for fire place decor. I was thinking a screen for the front and either a log holder or a basket with some blankets and pillows in it. I would also like to add throw pillows to the couch. What colors do you guys think would work? Appreciate any and all input.

Lights on

https://www.westelm.com/m/products/streamline-coffee-table-wood-h5772/?pkey=s|streamline coffee table|27

Maybe this coffee table

Great improvement so far! I would leave the fireplace hearth as is since it blends into your hardwood floors. For pillows, you can either remove the bolster pillows to use two large pillows on each end of the sofa, or just have covers made for the bolster pillows in another fabric. I would use navy blue or fluffy white for pillows. I like the teak chairs in the room, but an armchair could also work. Try to find a simple, short enclosed shelf to use under your window to block the outlet, cords, and equipment rather than the tall end table that is there currently. If you have to keep the tv there, you can get white cord concealers to run the cords down the side of the fireplace so they aren't so noticeable.

I'd leave the tiles. they are original red quarry tiles. If you really dislike them, remove them and inlay a solid piece of black slate, quartz, marble or granite.

Otherwise, I think the room looks great as is.

can't see the coffee table. Look at Article. they have some good deals.

Or, maybe do a couple of leather poufs for the coffee table spot

Thanks, Beth. The coffee table I picked is almost identical to the rectangle one you posted. Do you know where those leather poufs you posted are from?

u can find the white one (comes in the leather too, as well as other colors) on wayfair or amazon. I think I ordered mine on amazon. Looks like this:

just search ' moroccan leather pouf'

Beautiful change.

Amazing progress! Since you have a lot of cool gray, blue and white colors in the room, how about a warmer color for pillows?

Just a few ideas.

Light floors, furniture and curtains