Hold on! Your issue is you ordered white windows, which was a mistake, for sure.

Eat the loss and order the correct stain. . To make the white windows work will cost you more. Your last photo doesn't work with your home.

@elcieg - I appreciate the comment. However, can you tell me why you think it wouldn't work with our house? There are other options of course. I just found this and really liked the color scheme / combo and we are likely replacing the floor to a non carpet option.

What happened was we told the guy to order the brown but he got mixed up / didn't put it in the contract and it got missed. So simply unfortunate all the way around.

Also as a side note, it won't be stain - it will be matched sort of close from available colors. Does that change your thinking?

Of course now I'm looking at the room and thinking how dark it looks and that I might just want to paint it even if it costs more. What do you think about that idea and how it looks? Thanks again! I read an article about painting paneling and sure enough I am interested in / open to doing it while husband doesn't want to and that's what the article said LOL. Men like it :).

I would want all windows in the house to match.

Personally I'd keep the white windows and paint the entire room. Could be a blessing in disguise. .. it would be dramatically brighter and updated.

What material are the windows made of? I’ve painted the inside sashes and frames of both metal and wood windows. $5 of blue painting tape, a spray can and - presto! Perhaps you could choose a color that isn’t bright at the white that’s coming, but doesn’t look like you’re trying to make them looked wood stained either

@HomeSealed Exteriors, LLC - I was wondering the same thing. Funny thing is I LOVED this room when we moved in.....and I still do, but now that I had this happen, I'm wondering about making it look better. I'm not sure how yet--I have some ideas, and some things have turned up that will make it easier (the brown grids on the sunroom door and side windows are not attached to the glass so I can easily paint those). Now I just need a LOT of design help and more time. And we found some more issues that need to be dealt with since we started changing out the windows. I guess that's the way things go..........Anyhow- I am tempted to pay the $900 for an easier situation, but I might just forge ahead - thanks for your help!

@privateprivateprivate - are you saying to paint the white windows a brown color? That's an interesting idea. I did ask on FB last night and almost everyone said to paint the wood LOL. Only 2 people said to keep it. So maybe it IS a blessing in disguise (though as I said I'm design challenged but I can get help) as @HomeSealed Exteriors, LLC said.

"Paint the room" sounds easy but doing it yourself well is a lot of work plus the cost of good quality oil base paint and primer which btw, is impossible to find right now, and paying someone to do it will cost a whole lot more than $900. Painting those cabinets alone is probably $900 done by a quality professional.

I like the coziness of the room too. Can you post a picture of the white windows so we can see how easy it would be to paint them or how they would look in the room?

@tozmo1 - Paint and primer is hard to find now? I sure hope not b/c I'm going to need it. We have a really good local paint company that I can call tomorrow to find out. Here is a window photo - does that help? they are vinyl - higher end of medium quality.

If you use the white windows, would the trim be stained instead of the white trim shown?

Oil base primer is hard to get. My local Sherwin Williams store sells it as fast as it comes in. Oil base paint isn't quite as bad. If that paneling is real tongue and groove pine wood you will need oil base primer but let your local paint store guide you.

@tozmo1 .The trim in the paneled room is now wood. I was thinking i would paint it likely, depending on the direction we go w the room. I can call the local store tomorrow and ask what they recommend. They are top notch. I used them for our exterior and they are highly recommended here. SO hard to find good help, etc as you know, so I'm very thankful.

That's one way I'm thinking about going. I do like the cozy look that it has now, and but also we have someone inspecting the siding tomorrow so might be more that will dictate where this goes, (not happy) but I saw lots of really amazing transformations online.

Also agree that the inspo photo has nothing to do with this room and if I were you I would also eat the change fee and get the windows you want so you don't have to pay someone to paint them.

You could do a lot with this room without spending a ton, FWIW. Get rid of the institutional-looking chair and replace the coffee table with something simple and lacquer or glass to complement the piano, have art scaled to the sofa, make it super cozy with a big Persian rug.

@Melissa L I appreciate that. It's super confusing. I asked his on Facebook and the vast majority of people recommended painting to get away from the paneling. I do think it's possible to do a lot w/o spending a lot of money as well, however. I did have other inspirational photos that I just didn't share, some of which I found later.....and some of which my friends shared. It's a tough call.

Here's one of them. This is way "nicer" than anything I would likely do, but it is paneling.

The chair looks worse in that photo than it does in real life, btw, but no I don't like it and have been planning to get rid of it for awhile. Not sure what to do about the sectional. The piano will go in another room.

I wish this was easier.

Oh here's another site showing how dramatic the transformation is, but there are many more online. https://www.evolutionofstyleblog.com/knotty-pine-no-more/

Thanks for your input -- happy to hear if you have more thoughts. I thought I would have to decide by today but turns out I might have some more time.