Hi Jenny! What a unique panelling! It could be fun to work with. Personally, I think changing the curtains to a white roman shade or solar shades would do a lot to update the room. This may sound silly, but you might want to give the ceiling a fresh coat of white too, just for crispness. I wouldn't paint the moldings myself. The bookshelves on the left look to be pine and added later. You might paint those white or pull a brown shade out of the new desk. Toss a white or off-white rug under the desk and I think you'll be well on your way to an updated modern look. Best of luck!

Do you like all the bookshelves? It’s a shame one is built in and the other was added on and looks a bit wonky in my opinion.
I think if you remove the wonky ones, you could do black curtain rods and white linen curtains, white ceiling, and for a pop of color paint the built ins. I think the mounding should be white.

An area rug can def cover the floor to wall diff textures!

I definitely think it has potential, just hard to see it at the moment 😜 those built ins could be a great bold bright color! Hot pink, or bright blue! With the white desk it could be lovely. Add some plants! What color is the fireplace?

We changed the light and already the rooms looks lighter in tone. I will test both white and a bold dark blue on the bookshelves. Great idea on the Roman shade- will definitely do that. Thank you guys!

(The fireplace has sandy red marble on it)

Can’t wait to see updated pics!