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Knotty Pine Dilemma

5 years ago

Okay guys, do I deface that beautiful original knotty pine by painting it white? What color do I paint the walls? TV moved to the pine wall?... HELP!


Comments (32)

  • 5 years ago

    I think so. 🤭 EEEK!

  • 5 years ago

    Embrace it - don’t follow the herd

  • 5 years ago

    In regards to paint what’s your style?
    I’d probably go white. Or blue. But hey that’s me!
    For the tv. Are you moving the couch? Do you want to rework the layout? Can you show the whole room. And more pics if yes. Please.

    Amy O. thanked HU-187528210
  • 5 years ago

    Hi! It's not my house for a few more months.. just planning ahead! We have a small sectional I think we would put where the couch is pictured. I'm really terrible with this kind of stuff and it's driving me crazy!!

  • 5 years ago

    TV goes in front of the pine--then both have reduced impact.


    The pine is pretty great. I'd do walls a soft yellow, like SW Creme, or any of a number of types of green. I am not fashionable.

    Amy O. thanked Fori
  • 5 years ago

    @Fori I agree... the pine is what we originally thought was so cool about this house. I want to leave it as is but kind of reduce the impact. Maybe put some of those mini mounted planters or something?

  • 5 years ago

    I think you should keep it, but only if it's in a northern state where it suits the context.

    Amy O. thanked tangerinedoor
  • 5 years ago

    You know, the white walls in there are pretty fine already. Move in. Get
    a colorful rug. Hang some art. I don't really think there is a problem
    here!


    I might consider replacing all the baseboard molding with stained wood--oak to match floor or whatever is on the windows. Or pine. Sweet orangey pine.


    Amy O. thanked Fori
  • 5 years ago

    One small wall is worth keeping. Much more and I could see needing to tone it down.

  • 5 years ago

    No, do not paint it. Ours was already painted in the kitchen. One wall looks really nice.

  • 5 years ago

    I love the single pine wall and would leave as is. With the front door location, if you put the TV on the pine wall, the sofa won't face the TV and a sectional would block the entrance or the breakfast nook.


    I would leave TV on its current wall, but don't put so much on the walls as it shows the seller has in this listing photo. Large single piece of art on the pine wall. At least 48" x 48" Fewer pieces, bigger impact. A pair of wood framed chairs with a fabric in the color(s) you like. West Elm offers several great choices in various price points. Here, here and their small space suggestions here. Also a larger rug, will 8' x 10' work? Could you use the sectional in another area (basement, playroom, etc) and get a sofa for the living room? Pieces don't need to be purchased at once, but having a plan is always a good idea. Hit sales during the year on holidays as budget allows.


    The pine trim around doors and windows does not bother me. If you want it to disappear, paint the same color as walls.


    Congrats on your new soon to be house.





  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    If you do decide to paint it, it will have to be sealed and primed properly. It might be best to just drywall over it.

    In our first house, we had a long narrow living room. We found it looked best to break it up into smaller spaces. We turned the sofa perpendicular to the long wall to create a TV/conversation area. You can use rugs to help define each area. It's hard to tell from the pic whether or not your room is wide enough to do that.

  • 5 years ago

    You tone something down by pairing it with similar colors. I love real wood. Pair it with earth tones. I would do a wood bark colored wall. I don't like orange wood. I have it everywhere in my house. There are LOTS of web sites recommending colors that "tone down" orange wood. Builder's white would not be one of them . . . depends on the color scheme you want in there. I tried all kinds of "putty" colored paints for our bedroom and light warm greys, but ultimately chose a slightly bluish grey. It goes with multiple wood tones.

  • 5 years ago

    I've never thought of knotty pine as geographically specific. We had it in a couple of rooms in our previous Texas home, installed in the mid 1940s. It's a classic element in many homes around the country, and if it's the real deal, I would embrace it as it is. That said, it's not criminal to paint it if you desire a different look.

  • 5 years ago

    Totally agree w/Ida!

    I think it's lovely, but that call is yours.

  • 5 years ago

    I say leave as is and design around it

    Earl Residence · More Info


  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Our 1950s house had knotty pine paneling throughout. Even in the one bathroom, which had been painted aqua blue. Don't do that lol. Not a good look.

    Over the years I have painted all of it except for master bedroom (which I regret not doing) since it had seen it's better days ages ago--very beat up. I'm glad I painted it. It lightened the house, enlarged it visually and toned it down, made it look 'less messy' which this small space needed.

    Yours, is one wall, in good shape and not a horrid shade. My first impression seeing your photo above was that the pine wall made the rather small sitting room appear larger as the wood floors visually met up with the pine wall. I can't say for certain of course, but if you were to paint the pine wall, it might 'box' up the room, whereas now, if has a flow with the floor/wall connection.

    It's a nice space as it is, but the suggestions given above with artwork and rugs can make it even better once you settle into the house. Enjoy your new house.

  • 5 years ago

    I would leave it, and I like the white walls with it, but soft color on the other walls would also work. It’s a Scandinavian vibe going on! I would embrace that.

  • 5 years ago

    I also like it - and the white walls with the golden wood tone.

    If you don't want to focus on it, I wouldn't put the TV there - then you'd be looking at it every time you watch TV. I'd put the couch or tall shelving in front of it.

  • 5 years ago

    A dissenter here. I would seal it first and then paint it a soft white. The texture change up from solid sheet rocked walls is cool, but imo, this wall skews too much towards orange and will always dictate what colors work in that room.


    In retrospect, I'm probably not a great person to give an opinion as I just personally don't like knotty pine panelling. In fact, we repainted the entire kitchen at our cottage with a white oil based paint. It was all knotty pine with the hammered black pulls and knobs.

  • 5 years ago

    Well, even though I advocated for the pine, I confess that in our last house, we removed the paneling that was on one wall of the living room (it was coming down anyway), and eventually painted the lower level family room that was fully paneled in the same. But, it was cheap 1960 paneling in an unattractive color. Painted it Navajo white (I think, maybe it was antique white?) and the 7 — count ’em 7! — doors and window trims the same. It did lighten the entire room and went beautifully with my country Scandinavian theme.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Yeah, if you don't like it, just remove it unless that's too time and labor intensive to consider. I had some real wood wainscoting at my last house. It was kind of grey with weird other tones. I loathed it, but it was glued really strongly to plaster, so I worked with it. That turned out OK too, although the journey to finding the perfect wall color took a long time. I had to paint, the room was sponge painted above the wainscoting in mud brown, Looked like someone splattered mud on the walls. But my newer current house is almost all builder's white. You can work with that too, particularly with art. I love the vibe of the room Jennifer posted above. It all depends on what you want and what you like. I love wood grain, have a lot of it. But some do not like it, so nothing terrible is lost by tearing it out either. Frankly unless I wanted a wall with boards on it, I'd tear off instead of paint if I really disliked the paneling. But painting is easier, although with finished wood, prep is essential. I also had friends who hated their wood paneling and filled in the grooves then did a leather look paint job. You would never know it was paneling . . .

    Frankly I'm lazy decorator, I'd stick with what's there, tweak for a look similar to what Jennifer Haven posted . . .

    The only really weird thing is the contrasting whitish trim around the one window. That is easily remedied.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I have a 3 season porch with 1950's original Pickwick knotty pine on 4 walls. I get tired of one of my kids telling me to paint it, or rip it out and drywall. I like it. Unlike nearly everyone else on the planet, apparently, I love the amber-y honey color., and enjoy the orangey- hardwoods in the rest of my house.; they glow with such a warm feeling...I agree with the advice to embrace the knotty pine if you like it.

  • 5 years ago

    I like it. If I were to paint it I would go with a dark green with a hint of blue or gray. However, it is so warm and interesting. Personally, I would never paint it white.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I like it and think you could successfully incorporate it but it really depends on your personal taste.

    Also, as an aside, is anyone else sick of Pinterest dominating decorating search results? I don't want to sign in to it every time I just want to grab a picture.





  • 5 years ago

    Dee I just love those rooms you posted. Totally my style if I could get away with white anything other than walls. I'm such a spiller. We have off white carpet in our family room. It looks good but it is my nemesis!

  • 5 years ago

    I agree to embrace it. the art on that wall is hidden, I would bring in a fun piece of art on that wall that stands out vs getting hidden. maybe rethink the smaller size furniture, get larger pieces and a new rug with fun pillows.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    deegw, when I am searching for pics on google I type what I'm looking for and add -pinterest (and also -houzz sometimes). That can often get you to an original photo that may have been saved 20,000 times on pinterest without going to pinterest.

    I like the pine and would put the tv there, too. I would try to float the sectional somehow so your back isn't to the window. I really dislike the arrangement of the current owner's furniture. The two focal points are the pine wall and the windows, but the arrangement ignores them both.

  • 5 years ago

    @olychick a Google Image search will find the original source faster.

  • 5 years ago

    @Allison0704, I meant when searching for examples of certain things, you often will get 15 (or 1500) hits for the same pic, all linked to pinterest, saved by different people. If you -pinterest, you might get a hit on an original pic instead. I don't mean when searching for a specific image - when doing that, I would do a google image search.

  • 5 years ago

    I would leave the paneling as it is as it coordinates well with the flooring and is not overwhelming at all since it's just an accent wall.

    The arrangement is more an issue for me. It depends on how you want to use the room. Right now it looks as if it has a single purpose: TV watching. The layout gives the impression of a hallway and no possibility for conversation in a conversational cluster (usually an area 12x12 to 16x16 where people can sit across from each other and talk.)

    If you put the TV on the wood wall, then there's little room for furniture to face the TV. With the sofa where it is in the pic, whatever view you'd get from the windows is to your back rather than looking out.

    So you need to decide how you want to use the room first and that will help with layout decisions.

  • 5 years ago

    As far as color, find an inspiration piece...artwork or fabric...that contains that warm honey tone and then take it in whatever other direction you want...from more traditional to modern, or subdued to lots of brights. The pine wall, just like the flooring, is so neutral, you can go in whatever direction you wish.