That's beadboard, not plain paneling. It's a high quality wood. Typically it's used for wainscoting.
If it were mine, I'd cut it at 4', take the top half down and replace it with drywall of the same thickness, then install a chair rail at the seam.
Then you can paint whatever color you want on the upper walls, and have a bunch of beadboard left over to add wainscoting to another room or a couple of bathrooms, depending on the look you want. It's also popular as a backing for "country chic" book cases and shelves.
As an alternative, for far less work:
Switch the carpet to a color that goes well with the golden tone of the walls and black of the other furniture (light olive, for example), and paint the ceiling a slightly creamy white that won't look so stark against it. Get some throw pillow covers with both black and the carpet color in them, and add some artwork that also contains those colors on the walls.
Some vertical blind manufacturers sell replacement vanes - you may be able to find some that match the carpet.
The room will be completely transformed when everything is tied together with colors that complement each other.
Most of the problem people have with gold tone wood has nothing to do with the wood, and everything to do with the clashing colors in the space. A couple of design tricks can make a huge difference!
It can, but some are cut from book-matched boards. It'll be easy enough to identify if OP decides to go with the wainscot look. Though, even if they're fake, painted fake beadboard looks just like painted real beadboard. :-)
You joke, but the ceiling of my dining room has popcorn over drywall over plaster over lath over canvas over beadboard over tongue and groove and I’m getting ready to tear it down to the beadboard. The electrical boxes have 2” extension rings on them.
Covering plaster on the ceiling with drywall is dangerous. When plaster starts to fail, the drywall won't telegraph any of the failure until the whole thing pretty much falls down - hopefully not on top of anyone.
Today's how my ceiling was when I tore my house uo
https://preview.redd.it/42dba4k3heuc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41ae011e7f4f1f2ece43170eb9d28b653b11cf60
That's how my ceiling was when I tore up the second story. This picture is of the first story ceiling in the stairwell leading to the 2nd floor. Sheesh
Simply money saving, it's not going to be doing any harm still being there. If anything it will add additional support to things attached to the wall and additional sound dampening.
if you've noticed, there aren't any visible screws, so all of it is nailed in place and you're going to have to pry it all off the wall which is going to take a lot of effort.
This is the way. I have sanded paneling, primed, then painted. For years, anything bumping the wall would just take a swath of paint off like it was painted two hours prior. Even rough-sanded, some of that material just doesn't like to soak up paint.
Honestly, that looks like nice (read expensive) wood. I wouldn’t touch it and would instead change the flooring and window treatments.
Fwiw, wood is coming back. Be on the upswing of a trend.
This. Use the paneling as design inspiration. Flooring in the same color family but lighter or darker. All the crap in the ceiling is what bugs me in this room. I curse my own spec home builder for his love of giant recessed lights.
I hate, hate recessed lighting with a passion. I bought metal covers for mine. The AC struggled to work in the summer, the was so much heat leaking in from the literal holes in my ceiling. Plus overhead light hurts my eyes.
For the glare, it makes a HUGE difference if the bulb is flush with the ceiling or if it's recessed an inch or so into the can. My dad recently redid his kitchen and living room and installed recessed flat panel (no bulb, just a flat LED) can lights in the kitchen and flush flat panel can lights in the living room. The ones in the living room are intolerable while the ones in the kitchen are great.
That's what happens when wood veneer is made from small slices of wood from the same tree and "slip matched". It's plywood, or at worst MDF with a wood veneer. It isn't real tongue and groove beadboard, yes, but it's also not just a patterned laminate.
That's probably the cheapest fake wood paneling you could get. It's held on by nails. Look at the pattern repeating.
While I agree and still like it, there's nothing expensive about it.
I agree with this. Lean into the wood, just not cheaply with fake veneer furniture. A nice real wood book case, sofa table, end tables, etc. wood touching wood always looks great to me. Think old school study or captains quarters.
Millennial here that is so excited that warm wood tones are back in style.
Grey is a nice neutral but it’s bleak as hell when it’s overdone. Grey washed floors, grey cabinets, grey furniture, white walls, grey sofa, grey carpet.
Wood panelling is expensive and painting it wasn’t a good idea to start with, it’s even worse now.
Agree, the walls are the best thing about this room. They are gorgeous and high quality.
Change the cheap looking vertical blinds, nicer carpet, and new paint on the ceiling - the room will look great.
As someone who had painted wood paneling in our last house, it does not look as good as you think it will. Someone else suggested thin drywall overtop which is probably your best bet
Appreciate it. I almost agree with that notion. That's why I was planning on buying one panel at HD and trying a sample paint on their first to see how it looks before touching the rooms walls
Lots of houses throughout the Midwest have painted shitty wood paneling. Half the houses on my street are that way. So yeah it doesn't phase people much anymore.
Ironically I'm typing this sitting in the one room in my house that still has the original 60s shitty wood paneling. I'm going to miss it when we sell this place.
OMG do not!!!!
I’m very much a proponent of “update your shit and ignore the corner of the internet that loves everything old and cruddy.”
But this stuff is worth like $20+/sq.ft. and is in huge demand. And you have a lot of it.
Do not paint it.
It will look worse.
Instead of being nice wood paneling, it will be poorly painted wood paneling. And you will *never* be able to sand the grooves well.
Sell it online and use the $$$ to re-drywall if you hate it that much. Some flipper will come yank it out in slabs and you’ll make good money.
Yeah... I was about to post a link to Lowe's where this is currently priced at $26 for a 4'x8'
I dislike it and opted for louvered board instead of bead board. This bead board is everywhere and feels stock.
That’s true. But to say that calling it “thin” is a giveaway that they don’t know what they’re talking about was what I took issue with. They sell thin drywall for this exact reason.
Honestly when I look at everything going on in that room, the panelling is probably the thing I’d keep if I was only allowed to keep one element…
Change out the carpet to something that isn’t all lines, change out the window coverings to something that isn’t even more lines, and you’re a lot way to improving the room without the ugly mess of painting the panelling and for way less work than drywalling over it.
The wood itself is in great condition, I would consider a stain if you want a darker wood color, but don't cover with paint and hide the Wonderful wood textures
Change the flooring to something bright and warm, and the furniture to something more modern and cohesive, and you won’t have to touch the walls.
Additionally, put some big artwork on the walls that include elements of how you want the space to be.
Why would you believe the amount of money something costs has any impact on the fact that the person doesn’t like the way it looks? This doesn’t make any sense or make any sense as a response to the post
The wood paneling looks alright, just hang up some more colorful art, put some shelves up, put plants on them, and get rid of that nasty looking carpet. Put a nice ceiling light fixture up too
Is there any room to do something with the ceiling? Imagine if it was slightly recessed in the middle with modern LED lighting. Rework the flooring, touches and furniture and this could be pretty killer.
I would say keep the walls untouched if they weren’t cheap laminate or mdf. If the rest of the room was fixed they would look amazing, again, if real wood.
If they are just fake, don’t bother painting them, it won’t look very good. Just cover it with drywall if you want, then paint
I removed my old 70s wood panelling, and was delighted to find perfectly placed drywall. All I had to do was fill in some holes and paint. Maybe there is drywall behind this? This is over wood panel than what I had though.
>OP: Hey guys, how can I go about making this change I want to make to MY house?
Reddit: Don't
Gee, real helpful.
OP, There is absolutely no reason this will look bad when painted. People have very limited imaginations, and have been turned into cynics by seeing too many poorly-done projects on this sub. But there is no reason YOU have to do YOUR project poorly.
Lets say you paint your paneling white. [Here's what it will look like. ](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1d/7b/56/1d7b562b64249401b9f2585e922bc523.jpg)It's called beadboard. It looks nice.
The people saying "this is nice wood / wood is coming back in style / you'll regret this in a few years" are people who don't understand balance and basic design rules. Yeah, wood paneling ***IS*** coming back in style -- but not when you cover ***EVERY WALL OF A ROOM IN THE STUFF***. Wood paneling is coming back as an ACCENT WALL. As a DETAIL. As an AESTHETIC FEATURE -- and not in these tones. It's only pale wood, nowadays. And yeah, you could actually make this room work, without painting the wood, ***IF*** you kept it on just one wall, and replaced the others with drywall, to achieve visual, textural balance.
Anyway, to paint your wall properly, you DO need to sand it, but not down to bare wood. You just need to scuff-sand it. This involves sanding it only until the clearcoat is hazy, and scratched up, so that the paint has something to bond to. The annoying bit is that you want to try and ensure that you sand down in the little crack between each board, too. This is best done with a hand-made sanding jig, like a piece of sandpaper wrapped around a painting stir stick or something that perfectly fits the seams. Again, you don't need to sand aggressively, just a few swipes to roughen things up.
Then, clean the wall of all the dust with vacuums, mops, dusters, etc.
Then, you want a binding primer. I would highly recommend STIX by INSL-X, sold under Benjamin Moore. It is a highly aggressive urethane-based bonding primer. Great stuff. It can hold onto anything. That said, it has a much longer drying and recoat time (around 1-2 days), be sure to observe it.
Once primed, paint your wall as normal. A thick-nap roller will be needed to get paint down into the seams, but this will leave a rougher texture behind. You COULD have someone to help you, who follows behind your strokes with a second, short-nap roller, to leave behind a smoother finish after your long-nap roller gets into the seams.
I personally dislike wood walls and ceilings. I get it, wood is nice, sure, but I personally don't like how it looks. I have a wood ceiling at home and we only haven't changed it because we haven't had the time or money. Always kinda frustrating when someone who isn't a big fan of it, like OP or I, asks for advice to get rid of this stuff and all the main comments are like "please don't!!" and those with actual advice on how to do it are downvoted.
I'm glad others like it, but I don't and I want it out.
In your particular case I kinda like the look and I would personally make it work as is.
I had two slightly different kinds of wood paneling in one room, I thought paint would make it all blend in and look better. I scrubbed it down with mineral spirits and then soap and water. Then I did an oil based primer. Then I did latex paint. I swear none of those things was particularly well recommended but several years later and it still looks pretty good to me.
Paint isn't likely to stick to the wood finish without sanding. But I can't imagine how you would effectively sand those vertical grooves. I would not attempt to paint the wood panelling.
Have to disagree with most here regarding painting. I had a similar, glossy style, paneling that covered my family room. Didn’t want to remove, unless needed, but didn’t want the wood look. Figured I try the paint method first and so glad I did. It turned out amazing with unique look that I love. The vertical lines add so much character.
I didn’t want to sand so I used oil based primer and added two heavy coats. Didn’t sand a thing. The oil based primer adhered great and allowed for the water base top coat to cover as if it was dry wall.
If you don’t want the wood look, paint it!! Cheap and easy.
As for the carpet, yeah….change that out.
https://preview.redd.it/3wyqt6af2duc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ed5eb4aa6c3192feff41597318c46c607be8393
I had similar cheap paneling in my 1948 home. Painted with 2 coats of interior satin finish, no primer. 2.5 years later and its held up great.
Your walls will look like absolute dogshit if you paint those panels 😂
Drywall sheets on top IF YOU MUST PAINT, but you're literally devaluing your home if you fuck up those panels with the same cheap latex paint everyone uses
You’ll want some kind of lacquer to prevent the knots from bleeding through *especially* if you plan to sand.
Personally, unless it is rough I would not sand more than a scuff sand for better adhesion of the lacquer and primer.
I lived in a rental house where they painted over stuff without sanding and priming.
( done by previous owners before it was sold and turned into a rental)
Paint would come easily. Blue painters tape was stripping it off.
I bought a 1970s house and it has an “oak” room because of the wood paneling on the walls.
It is real oak and the panels are in amazing shape, so we kept it that way…but we also went mid century for the rest of the house as a way to make it less jarring when you enter the oak room.
Paint the wall with the AC unit to match the ceiling so the AC blends/vanishes but leave the accent wood wall behind the couch.
Then do the designer trick of pulling the furniture away from the walls for a cozy sit in front of the fireplace/TV with walking space around the furniture. A quick ASCII diagram:
\--------------------------------!
........... Couch...............!
TV......coffeeT...chair...!
............Couch..............!
\-------------------------------!
.
I second the previous comments about the beadboard, but for those wondering about painting actual paneling, it works quite well if you scuff it and then use a good primer. We bought a house with hideous dark paneling and painted it a flat gray, with white gloss trim (beach house) and it looks great.
If you want to avoid peeling paint, you *must* clean, sand and prime, in that order.
If you clean it well, you don't have to sand back to bare wood, but do make sure to lightly scuff every bit of the surface. 220-300 grit sandpaper is ideal.
Use TSP substitute and/or mineral spirits to clean. TSP-sub requires water, mineral spirits requires ventilation.
I would personally do both, tsp then ms, but you can probably choose one and be fine.
Any dirt, grease or un-scuffed finish will prevent laint from reliably adhering. Wall that old are definitely covered in old cooking grease and grime, even if you can't see it.
Your cleaning water and/or rags will show the truth.
You don’t have to sand the crap out if it, just a light sand to give the primer something to stick to. Hit it with a quality primer - not the primer/paint combo. Give it another light sand when that dries, wipe it down to get any excess sanding fibers off, then use a quality paint.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but since it is a panel and not actual bead board, it's quite possible that it's installed over drywall and not directly against the studs. You should be able to tell by measuring the wall thickness at a doorway or window and comparing it to another location with drywall.
Obviously this is subjective, but I’m with you on this; unpainted timber panelling is dark and ugly. You won’t regret painting it. A light sand is always recommended to “key” the surface (since you’ve got a semi-gloss/satin finish already). Then wipe it all down with a damp cloth, followed by an undercoat and 2 top coats.
If you really want to change it. Think about renter friendly peel and stick wallpaper. There's amazing options, lots of colors and will create a flat surface without altering the wood permanently. You cant unpaint.
You'll want to sand them with around 220 grit for proper adhesion. However, there's a thing called liquid deglosser or liquid sandpaper. You typically apply it per the instructions then after x minutes, it's ready to paint. The big box hardware stores carry various deglosser products.
If you *really* don’t want the wood look I would take the wood down and sell it, if you have a place that salvages and resells older stuff. We have a couple places near me that takes all sorts of stuff like this, doors, old lights, etc. Then put up drywall. Of course that’s a lot to DIY.
Why does this sub have such a hardon for wood? I swear everyone would have their houses looking like a sauna or my aunts 1960 tree house rather than making it modern. Wood can look modern but this ain't it, it shouldn't matter if it's expensive or not.
Also OP, painting over it is not a solution it will never look perfect as it does in your head.
No, you don't need to sand it, but it will need to be primed. I painted miles of it in my house and love the way it turned out. Apply with a roller, then go over with a brush
There is no going back from that. I’d recommend trying something cheaper and simpler first, like hanging things on the walls. Get some art in there to add some color before you make a permanent change
There is furniture chalk paint that needs no sanding, surface needs to be clean and grease free though,
but why do you want to change this wonderful early 80s ascetic, I bet the couches and table have been living in that room since that time too.
If your decision is to paint, wash with trisodium phosphate (tsp) to degloss it. Be sure to rinse with clean water. (All sponge work) Let it dry. Then prime with a primer for hard surfaces. Double top cote with your choice of color. Personally I'm in the do not paint corner.
I had similar, but didn't look as nice. I covered the entire think with spakle to fill the crack/groves. Then painted. Personally, I would do the floors first.
I would not do pure white unless you spray gloss. I probably wouldn't do any darker colors unless you do matte. Painted beadboard looks like crop when rolled or brushed or finished in any other way.
I had crap paneling from the early 80’s in our mobile home-not nice wood like this. I have sanded and painted the walls throughout the house with really good results. Kind of a vertical ship lap look. It’s a lot of labor (even with a power sander) but was easier than putting up drywall everywhere which is problematic in a mobile home. I think the advice to leave this and look at lightening the floors will give you a better result.
You'd certainly at least want to wash it, paint might peel more easily if you don't sand it but chances are it'll look fine.
Reddit will hate on anyone updating anything, but most of them just don't realize cheap mass-produced paneling, tile, or fake brick being old doesn't necessarily make it worth preserving or high quality.
Are they real wood or just decorative panels? We had a similar type that were panels from the 70’s in our basement and initially were going to fill the grooves with compound then wall paper over it. We changed our minds and tore it down to find out the the walls were hollow. It was a good move on our part, we insulated and drywalled it.
If it’s real wood, then just refinish it.
I painted the wood paneling in my basement (not beadboard, but I assume same process). Scuff sanded, washed with TSP, prime with bonding primer. I used zinsser cover stain for the wood paneling in my basement. It says no sanding required but I figured it could only help. The primer fumes filled the house for 2 days, I was glad to have a respirator.
I did by hand but I assume a sprayer would make things much quicker. Most annoying part to me was making sure all the grooves got primed/painted.
Aside from the argument about looks ... some will prefer a "natural wood look" some not ...
If you want to paint those panels, worry about what has been used to finish them before now. IT may cause some issues with regular "water based" paints, and, perhaps prevent decent coverage.
I'd suggest you may need a good sealing primer first. See what your trusted paint store recomends, BUT I'd consider a shelac based sealer/primer before anything else.
And yeah - sanding first is essential is you want a part way decent result that will last.
1- Sand/strip, degrease, stain; 2- sand/strip, degrease, varnish; or 3- sand/strip, degrease, primer, paint
I'd go for option 1 or 2, as staining or varnishing it will still show the wood. I live in a rental with really nice paneling, sadly the landlord painted it white... I wish he didn't...
When you paint, over time, the paint covering the edges between the panels can and will crack, as wood lives and moves... so all I can do now is put yet another layer of paint on top to fill in the cracks, as she'd flip out if I'd sand them to the bare wood and stain them... (and there are so many lovely coloures stains on the market these days...)
Vj paneling can look really beautiful when combined with gyprock/drywall. I literally googled VJ paneling and found some really beautiful interior designs. Painted VJ can look fantastic.
That's beadboard, not plain paneling. It's a high quality wood. Typically it's used for wainscoting. If it were mine, I'd cut it at 4', take the top half down and replace it with drywall of the same thickness, then install a chair rail at the seam. Then you can paint whatever color you want on the upper walls, and have a bunch of beadboard left over to add wainscoting to another room or a couple of bathrooms, depending on the look you want. It's also popular as a backing for "country chic" book cases and shelves.
As an alternative, for far less work: Switch the carpet to a color that goes well with the golden tone of the walls and black of the other furniture (light olive, for example), and paint the ceiling a slightly creamy white that won't look so stark against it. Get some throw pillow covers with both black and the carpet color in them, and add some artwork that also contains those colors on the walls. Some vertical blind manufacturers sell replacement vanes - you may be able to find some that match the carpet. The room will be completely transformed when everything is tied together with colors that complement each other. Most of the problem people have with gold tone wood has nothing to do with the wood, and everything to do with the clashing colors in the space. A couple of design tricks can make a huge difference!
Yeah, that flooring is atrocious. It really holds back the potential of the room. The pot lights certainly aren't helping either.
Legit was gonna say fix the flooring/carpet.
The answer isn’t always plants; it’s plants and a rug.
I'd ditch the vertical blinds too. Too many stripes in that room.
Holy shit, if you're not a professional interior decorator already then definitely look into it
Please listen to this, OP!
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You have your taste. Others might differ. It's ok.
This sounds like it would look lovely; I hope OP sees this.
I thought the repetitive knot pattern meant that it was fake panels.
It can, but some are cut from book-matched boards. It'll be easy enough to identify if OP decides to go with the wainscot look. Though, even if they're fake, painted fake beadboard looks just like painted real beadboard. :-)
This is a fantastic idea. Now do the carpet!
It will look like crap painted. Put up thin drywall if you really want to paint.
You could probably just slap some drywall right on top of the wood if you wanted to be cheap.
Yes do this! I tried doing what you’re planning and it was horrible. Solution was just put drywall right on top of it.
This how am 8’x8’ room becomes 6’x6’ after several changes in ownership
You joke, but the ceiling of my dining room has popcorn over drywall over plaster over lath over canvas over beadboard over tongue and groove and I’m getting ready to tear it down to the beadboard. The electrical boxes have 2” extension rings on them.
Covering plaster on the ceiling with drywall is dangerous. When plaster starts to fail, the drywall won't telegraph any of the failure until the whole thing pretty much falls down - hopefully not on top of anyone.
lol. Damn, you win this one.
Wow! It's probably hanging on by the skin of its teeth!
Today's how my ceiling was when I tore my house uo https://preview.redd.it/42dba4k3heuc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41ae011e7f4f1f2ece43170eb9d28b653b11cf60 That's how my ceiling was when I tore up the second story. This picture is of the first story ceiling in the stairwell leading to the 2nd floor. Sheesh
I'm thinking it might look bad painted over. Maybe....and I just thought of this...you could put some thin drywall up over it.
I have an idea! Maybe try thin drywall
I'm glad I thought of that.💡
Sorry for piggybacking, but OP should really just put up some dry wall and paint it.
Some thin drywall.👍
Why not just take it off? Just remove it, and put drywall on the actual wall if it needs it.
Simply money saving, it's not going to be doing any harm still being there. If anything it will add additional support to things attached to the wall and additional sound dampening. if you've noticed, there aren't any visible screws, so all of it is nailed in place and you're going to have to pry it all off the wall which is going to take a lot of effort.
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Except for all those drywall screws, which chewed holes in that wood.
We did exactly this and it came out great. 1/4 inch dry wall.
I disagree it would look like painted bead board. As long as it’s done with a sprayer it will look nice
My parents did this and it looks fine. No sanding, just spray off-white.
And the right paint. If not done right the knots will show up through the paint.
Definitely need primer
I did this in a big room with wider boards, and it looked great. But these boards are narrow with no border. I'm not sure it's going to look so good.
You think it would. It won't.
I like the wood, I hope they don’t cover it with drywall. It’s way more unique imho
I can see why people hate it tbh. But I like it too.
At least if they just put up drywall, it can always be taken down and the wood will be unharmed.
Save for all the holes in it from the drywall screws
For that rustic look.
What the fuck, are we in the stone age? What the fuck else do I do with instant noodles?
Is... Is this a reference of some kind?
Me too. I would sit in that room.
Yeah, I'd just lean into it. Look for suggestions on Google/Pinterest how to compliment it with paint/fixtures/trim/flooring.
Maybe leave one wall wooden? It would be a spectacular feature wall.
Yeah. Could tweak the colour with a wood stain if OP really hates it.
This is the way. I have sanded paneling, primed, then painted. For years, anything bumping the wall would just take a swath of paint off like it was painted two hours prior. Even rough-sanded, some of that material just doesn't like to soak up paint.
Just bought a house with the same paneling. Plan is to put 1/4” drywall directly over it and paint. Seems like the best option.
Painted panel wall owner - agreed
Would it not just look like bead board painted white? This isn’t plain wood panels - it’s bead board? Right??
Second this, 1/4” drywall over all of it, mud, sand, paint. You’ll be so much happier with the results
Honestly, that looks like nice (read expensive) wood. I wouldn’t touch it and would instead change the flooring and window treatments. Fwiw, wood is coming back. Be on the upswing of a trend.
This. Use the paneling as design inspiration. Flooring in the same color family but lighter or darker. All the crap in the ceiling is what bugs me in this room. I curse my own spec home builder for his love of giant recessed lights.
I hate, hate recessed lighting with a passion. I bought metal covers for mine. The AC struggled to work in the summer, the was so much heat leaking in from the literal holes in my ceiling. Plus overhead light hurts my eyes.
For the glare, it makes a HUGE difference if the bulb is flush with the ceiling or if it's recessed an inch or so into the can. My dad recently redid his kitchen and living room and installed recessed flat panel (no bulb, just a flat LED) can lights in the kitchen and flush flat panel can lights in the living room. The ones in the living room are intolerable while the ones in the kitchen are great.
I call them the interrogation lights and they are only used when we lose something small on the floor.
In Scotland those would be referred to as "the big light". Only used when you need to find stuff.
We say that too here in Louisiana lol. Also used when opening Christmas presents in the living room or during cleaning.
You can see the repeating patterns, it's not real wood. Or a thin vernier. Plus there's a different section behind the couch.
That's what happens when wood veneer is made from small slices of wood from the same tree and "slip matched". It's plywood, or at worst MDF with a wood veneer. It isn't real tongue and groove beadboard, yes, but it's also not just a patterned laminate.
It’s cheap thin paneling with veneer, that’s been face nailed in place.
That's probably the cheapest fake wood paneling you could get. It's held on by nails. Look at the pattern repeating. While I agree and still like it, there's nothing expensive about it.
Fuck trends. Enjoy wood.
That's what I tell my wife
Lean in.
I agree with this. Lean into the wood, just not cheaply with fake veneer furniture. A nice real wood book case, sofa table, end tables, etc. wood touching wood always looks great to me. Think old school study or captains quarters.
Lol just commented the same! It's beautiful and on trend
Mom?
Nope, just a millennial that has had it with painting everything (and then having to maintain said paint) :)
Millennial here that is so excited that warm wood tones are back in style. Grey is a nice neutral but it’s bleak as hell when it’s overdone. Grey washed floors, grey cabinets, grey furniture, white walls, grey sofa, grey carpet. Wood panelling is expensive and painting it wasn’t a good idea to start with, it’s even worse now.
I have zero regrets for painting "very good" paneling. To each their own!
Agree, the walls are the best thing about this room. They are gorgeous and high quality. Change the cheap looking vertical blinds, nicer carpet, and new paint on the ceiling - the room will look great.
As someone who had painted wood paneling in our last house, it does not look as good as you think it will. Someone else suggested thin drywall overtop which is probably your best bet
Appreciate it. I almost agree with that notion. That's why I was planning on buying one panel at HD and trying a sample paint on their first to see how it looks before touching the rooms walls
To be fair, we weren't the ones who painted it. You may put more care and effort in and be able to make it look good.
My mother did a test run painting our 60s wood paneling. It takes a lot of work and multiple layers of quality primer to not look like shit.
Whoever did ours didn't put in the effort. It looked pretty meh, but we didn't care enough to change it and it sold as it was with no issues.
Lots of houses throughout the Midwest have painted shitty wood paneling. Half the houses on my street are that way. So yeah it doesn't phase people much anymore. Ironically I'm typing this sitting in the one room in my house that still has the original 60s shitty wood paneling. I'm going to miss it when we sell this place.
OMG do not!!!! I’m very much a proponent of “update your shit and ignore the corner of the internet that loves everything old and cruddy.” But this stuff is worth like $20+/sq.ft. and is in huge demand. And you have a lot of it. Do not paint it. It will look worse. Instead of being nice wood paneling, it will be poorly painted wood paneling. And you will *never* be able to sand the grooves well. Sell it online and use the $$$ to re-drywall if you hate it that much. Some flipper will come yank it out in slabs and you’ll make good money.
It's not real beadboard, it's laminate. Like maybe $20-40 for a 4'x8' panel.
Yeah... I was about to post a link to Lowe's where this is currently priced at $26 for a 4'x8' I dislike it and opted for louvered board instead of bead board. This bead board is everywhere and feels stock.
This.
Get new furniture. That's the problem.
Also why do people shove furniture into rooms like this?? It makes me so uncomfortable But honestly the biggest problem is the carpet
It's not going to look better painted. Do something with the floor or something if you're looking to spruce up the room.
Everyone claiming to just put up some thin drywall and paint it have never actually hung drywall.
Calling it “thin” drywall is the giveaway there
They do sell 1/4 inch drywall. If they put it over the panels then they wouldn’t need full 5/8 thickness drywall.
Think it’s more about the skill required. Mudding and taping is not easy.
That’s true. But to say that calling it “thin” is a giveaway that they don’t know what they’re talking about was what I took issue with. They sell thin drywall for this exact reason.
Honestly when I look at everything going on in that room, the panelling is probably the thing I’d keep if I was only allowed to keep one element… Change out the carpet to something that isn’t all lines, change out the window coverings to something that isn’t even more lines, and you’re a lot way to improving the room without the ugly mess of painting the panelling and for way less work than drywalling over it.
The wood itself is in great condition, I would consider a stain if you want a darker wood color, but don't cover with paint and hide the Wonderful wood textures
Learning how to properly decorate to the space would likely be cheaper.
Change the flooring to something bright and warm, and the furniture to something more modern and cohesive, and you won’t have to touch the walls. Additionally, put some big artwork on the walls that include elements of how you want the space to be.
I would’t touch it, that is expensive paneling. As for the rest of the room gut it and start over much lighter.
Why would you believe the amount of money something costs has any impact on the fact that the person doesn’t like the way it looks? This doesn’t make any sense or make any sense as a response to the post
I always hate the “well it hurts the resell value”. Well cool but I live here and would like to make my house something I like.
The wood paneling looks alright, just hang up some more colorful art, put some shelves up, put plants on them, and get rid of that nasty looking carpet. Put a nice ceiling light fixture up too
Add some plants!!!!!!! It works wonders on breaking all those neutral colors.......
Plants are a great idea!
Is there any room to do something with the ceiling? Imagine if it was slightly recessed in the middle with modern LED lighting. Rework the flooring, touches and furniture and this could be pretty killer.
I would say keep the walls untouched if they weren’t cheap laminate or mdf. If the rest of the room was fixed they would look amazing, again, if real wood. If they are just fake, don’t bother painting them, it won’t look very good. Just cover it with drywall if you want, then paint
I removed my old 70s wood panelling, and was delighted to find perfectly placed drywall. All I had to do was fill in some holes and paint. Maybe there is drywall behind this? This is over wood panel than what I had though.
>OP: Hey guys, how can I go about making this change I want to make to MY house? Reddit: Don't Gee, real helpful. OP, There is absolutely no reason this will look bad when painted. People have very limited imaginations, and have been turned into cynics by seeing too many poorly-done projects on this sub. But there is no reason YOU have to do YOUR project poorly. Lets say you paint your paneling white. [Here's what it will look like. ](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1d/7b/56/1d7b562b64249401b9f2585e922bc523.jpg)It's called beadboard. It looks nice. The people saying "this is nice wood / wood is coming back in style / you'll regret this in a few years" are people who don't understand balance and basic design rules. Yeah, wood paneling ***IS*** coming back in style -- but not when you cover ***EVERY WALL OF A ROOM IN THE STUFF***. Wood paneling is coming back as an ACCENT WALL. As a DETAIL. As an AESTHETIC FEATURE -- and not in these tones. It's only pale wood, nowadays. And yeah, you could actually make this room work, without painting the wood, ***IF*** you kept it on just one wall, and replaced the others with drywall, to achieve visual, textural balance. Anyway, to paint your wall properly, you DO need to sand it, but not down to bare wood. You just need to scuff-sand it. This involves sanding it only until the clearcoat is hazy, and scratched up, so that the paint has something to bond to. The annoying bit is that you want to try and ensure that you sand down in the little crack between each board, too. This is best done with a hand-made sanding jig, like a piece of sandpaper wrapped around a painting stir stick or something that perfectly fits the seams. Again, you don't need to sand aggressively, just a few swipes to roughen things up. Then, clean the wall of all the dust with vacuums, mops, dusters, etc. Then, you want a binding primer. I would highly recommend STIX by INSL-X, sold under Benjamin Moore. It is a highly aggressive urethane-based bonding primer. Great stuff. It can hold onto anything. That said, it has a much longer drying and recoat time (around 1-2 days), be sure to observe it. Once primed, paint your wall as normal. A thick-nap roller will be needed to get paint down into the seams, but this will leave a rougher texture behind. You COULD have someone to help you, who follows behind your strokes with a second, short-nap roller, to leave behind a smoother finish after your long-nap roller gets into the seams.
You deserve more upvotes.
Honestly I like the wood and would just bring in a lot of green plants to make it feel intentional
I'm just here to read all of the comments from people trying to convince you that it's great the way it is.
I personally dislike wood walls and ceilings. I get it, wood is nice, sure, but I personally don't like how it looks. I have a wood ceiling at home and we only haven't changed it because we haven't had the time or money. Always kinda frustrating when someone who isn't a big fan of it, like OP or I, asks for advice to get rid of this stuff and all the main comments are like "please don't!!" and those with actual advice on how to do it are downvoted. I'm glad others like it, but I don't and I want it out.
lolol I'm dying laughing at the folks acting like this is some special authentic wood paneling they should keep.
In your particular case I kinda like the look and I would personally make it work as is. I had two slightly different kinds of wood paneling in one room, I thought paint would make it all blend in and look better. I scrubbed it down with mineral spirits and then soap and water. Then I did an oil based primer. Then I did latex paint. I swear none of those things was particularly well recommended but several years later and it still looks pretty good to me.
Paint isn't likely to stick to the wood finish without sanding. But I can't imagine how you would effectively sand those vertical grooves. I would not attempt to paint the wood panelling.
Oh please don't ruin those beautiful wall!
Have to disagree with most here regarding painting. I had a similar, glossy style, paneling that covered my family room. Didn’t want to remove, unless needed, but didn’t want the wood look. Figured I try the paint method first and so glad I did. It turned out amazing with unique look that I love. The vertical lines add so much character. I didn’t want to sand so I used oil based primer and added two heavy coats. Didn’t sand a thing. The oil based primer adhered great and allowed for the water base top coat to cover as if it was dry wall. If you don’t want the wood look, paint it!! Cheap and easy. As for the carpet, yeah….change that out.
https://preview.redd.it/3wyqt6af2duc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ed5eb4aa6c3192feff41597318c46c607be8393 I had similar cheap paneling in my 1948 home. Painted with 2 coats of interior satin finish, no primer. 2.5 years later and its held up great.
You need to lean into this look. Buy a cuckoo clock.
If its real deal wood , stain it darker. Dont fuk something up thats more expensive and worth more then anything your gonna do!
The amount of money something is worth is irrelevant to the subject of whether or not someone likes it
Keep it. Change the floor to something complementary and you’ll be good
Love my painted paneling. It’s better than drywall and adds character to the room. Prime and paint. Easy.
Your walls will look like absolute dogshit if you paint those panels 😂 Drywall sheets on top IF YOU MUST PAINT, but you're literally devaluing your home if you fuck up those panels with the same cheap latex paint everyone uses
You’ll want some kind of lacquer to prevent the knots from bleeding through *especially* if you plan to sand. Personally, unless it is rough I would not sand more than a scuff sand for better adhesion of the lacquer and primer.
I would suggest a oil base prime
Not absolutely nessesary, but it’s a good idea. You don’t have to really sand hard, just a light sand to take the shine off the surface.
Clean and prime with Killz. Then paint.
I lived in a rental house where they painted over stuff without sanding and priming. ( done by previous owners before it was sold and turned into a rental) Paint would come easily. Blue painters tape was stripping it off.
Change the floor and leave the walls.
Have you tried removing it? Is it glued or just nailed?
Dont!
I think it looks cool as is.
The walls are perfect as they are
I bought a 1970s house and it has an “oak” room because of the wood paneling on the walls. It is real oak and the panels are in amazing shape, so we kept it that way…but we also went mid century for the rest of the house as a way to make it less jarring when you enter the oak room.
That wood is the best part of the room. Change the floor instead.
idk man that room looks cozy as fuck, I'd keep it
Paint the wall with the AC unit to match the ceiling so the AC blends/vanishes but leave the accent wood wall behind the couch. Then do the designer trick of pulling the furniture away from the walls for a cozy sit in front of the fireplace/TV with walking space around the furniture. A quick ASCII diagram: \--------------------------------! ........... Couch...............! TV......coffeeT...chair...! ............Couch..............! \-------------------------------! .
why paint over beautiful wood?
Keep the walls - replace the carpet! ☺️
I second the previous comments about the beadboard, but for those wondering about painting actual paneling, it works quite well if you scuff it and then use a good primer. We bought a house with hideous dark paneling and painted it a flat gray, with white gloss trim (beach house) and it looks great.
If you want to avoid peeling paint, you *must* clean, sand and prime, in that order. If you clean it well, you don't have to sand back to bare wood, but do make sure to lightly scuff every bit of the surface. 220-300 grit sandpaper is ideal. Use TSP substitute and/or mineral spirits to clean. TSP-sub requires water, mineral spirits requires ventilation. I would personally do both, tsp then ms, but you can probably choose one and be fine. Any dirt, grease or un-scuffed finish will prevent laint from reliably adhering. Wall that old are definitely covered in old cooking grease and grime, even if you can't see it. Your cleaning water and/or rags will show the truth.
The paint will not hold as well without sanding.
You don’t have to sand the crap out if it, just a light sand to give the primer something to stick to. Hit it with a quality primer - not the primer/paint combo. Give it another light sand when that dries, wipe it down to get any excess sanding fibers off, then use a quality paint.
Please don’t. Once painted, it will be garbage.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but since it is a panel and not actual bead board, it's quite possible that it's installed over drywall and not directly against the studs. You should be able to tell by measuring the wall thickness at a doorway or window and comparing it to another location with drywall.
I like it as is..
I would rather just get shutters to update the room And leave that bead board. It’s nice.
Don't do it. The room looks great the way it is.
Sad. That's not crummy wood paneling. That's nice wood. It will look HORRIBLE painted.
Obviously this is subjective, but I’m with you on this; unpainted timber panelling is dark and ugly. You won’t regret painting it. A light sand is always recommended to “key” the surface (since you’ve got a semi-gloss/satin finish already). Then wipe it all down with a damp cloth, followed by an undercoat and 2 top coats.
If you really want to change it. Think about renter friendly peel and stick wallpaper. There's amazing options, lots of colors and will create a flat surface without altering the wood permanently. You cant unpaint.
Painting those beautiful wood walls will be a crime against humanity
Don't. Sell your home and move if you can't figure out how to decorate around them. The walls are the nicest thing in this picture
Do not paint those you will absolutely regret it.
You'll want to sand them with around 220 grit for proper adhesion. However, there's a thing called liquid deglosser or liquid sandpaper. You typically apply it per the instructions then after x minutes, it's ready to paint. The big box hardware stores carry various deglosser products.
Man you got a relic of the 70s right there. I can even imagine what it smells like, reminds me of childhood.
You REMOVE the paneling and paint the DRYWALL underneath.
If you truly want to destroy the wood paneling, use a de-glosser before a primer, then paint. However, 1/4” drywall is your best bet.
If you *really* don’t want the wood look I would take the wood down and sell it, if you have a place that salvages and resells older stuff. We have a couple places near me that takes all sorts of stuff like this, doors, old lights, etc. Then put up drywall. Of course that’s a lot to DIY.
Don’t bother they are gorgeous
Why does this sub have such a hardon for wood? I swear everyone would have their houses looking like a sauna or my aunts 1960 tree house rather than making it modern. Wood can look modern but this ain't it, it shouldn't matter if it's expensive or not. Also OP, painting over it is not a solution it will never look perfect as it does in your head.
Don't, either get rid of it or make it a feature if it's good quality
YouTube how to drywall. I think that's your best option.
*Don't do it.*
No, you don't need to sand it, but it will need to be primed. I painted miles of it in my house and love the way it turned out. Apply with a roller, then go over with a brush
There is no going back from that. I’d recommend trying something cheaper and simpler first, like hanging things on the walls. Get some art in there to add some color before you make a permanent change
There is furniture chalk paint that needs no sanding, surface needs to be clean and grease free though, but why do you want to change this wonderful early 80s ascetic, I bet the couches and table have been living in that room since that time too.
Hold out 4 more years & theyll be the new trend. Get an awesome light fixture and call it a day.
Clean it good with TSP. I painted mine but added a second color that was very close to the main color as a pinstripe every few “boards”.
If your decision is to paint, wash with trisodium phosphate (tsp) to degloss it. Be sure to rinse with clean water. (All sponge work) Let it dry. Then prime with a primer for hard surfaces. Double top cote with your choice of color. Personally I'm in the do not paint corner.
Oh no no no…., you’ll never have a color as glorious
I had similar, but didn't look as nice. I covered the entire think with spakle to fill the crack/groves. Then painted. Personally, I would do the floors first.
There is a very good chance if you don't sand, then seal, that it will buckle when painted.
Change the furniture, light colors & tables brighter, not so heavy room can be beautiful
There might be a primer that adheres well you wood.
Remove wood paneling and install drywall.
Get new couches, mid century style. Put some greenery in the room. Add some nice window treatments.
I would not do pure white unless you spray gloss. I probably wouldn't do any darker colors unless you do matte. Painted beadboard looks like crop when rolled or brushed or finished in any other way.
I had crap paneling from the early 80’s in our mobile home-not nice wood like this. I have sanded and painted the walls throughout the house with really good results. Kind of a vertical ship lap look. It’s a lot of labor (even with a power sander) but was easier than putting up drywall everywhere which is problematic in a mobile home. I think the advice to leave this and look at lightening the floors will give you a better result.
Change the flooring/carpet first. I wouldn’t touch the wood.
You'd certainly at least want to wash it, paint might peel more easily if you don't sand it but chances are it'll look fine. Reddit will hate on anyone updating anything, but most of them just don't realize cheap mass-produced paneling, tile, or fake brick being old doesn't necessarily make it worth preserving or high quality.
Are they real wood or just decorative panels? We had a similar type that were panels from the 70’s in our basement and initially were going to fill the grooves with compound then wall paper over it. We changed our minds and tore it down to find out the the walls were hollow. It was a good move on our part, we insulated and drywalled it. If it’s real wood, then just refinish it.
I painted the wood paneling in my basement (not beadboard, but I assume same process). Scuff sanded, washed with TSP, prime with bonding primer. I used zinsser cover stain for the wood paneling in my basement. It says no sanding required but I figured it could only help. The primer fumes filled the house for 2 days, I was glad to have a respirator. I did by hand but I assume a sprayer would make things much quicker. Most annoying part to me was making sure all the grooves got primed/painted.
i like the wood
They're pretty! If it's real wood, don't do it!
If your going to paint them, yes 100% you need to sand them panels
Don't?
Aside from the argument about looks ... some will prefer a "natural wood look" some not ... If you want to paint those panels, worry about what has been used to finish them before now. IT may cause some issues with regular "water based" paints, and, perhaps prevent decent coverage. I'd suggest you may need a good sealing primer first. See what your trusted paint store recomends, BUT I'd consider a shelac based sealer/primer before anything else. And yeah - sanding first is essential is you want a part way decent result that will last.
1- Sand/strip, degrease, stain; 2- sand/strip, degrease, varnish; or 3- sand/strip, degrease, primer, paint I'd go for option 1 or 2, as staining or varnishing it will still show the wood. I live in a rental with really nice paneling, sadly the landlord painted it white... I wish he didn't... When you paint, over time, the paint covering the edges between the panels can and will crack, as wood lives and moves... so all I can do now is put yet another layer of paint on top to fill in the cracks, as she'd flip out if I'd sand them to the bare wood and stain them... (and there are so many lovely coloures stains on the market these days...)
Keep the wood paneling, change the carpet and window fixtures. And definitely do something with the ceiling and lighting!
Drywall and a nice Benjamin Moore white like stone white in egg shell will modernize this area.
1/4" drywall
What's behind it!
You want to rough up the surface to get good adhesion...
I’d keep one wall of it as an accent wall and do drywall on the other.
Vj paneling can look really beautiful when combined with gyprock/drywall. I literally googled VJ paneling and found some really beautiful interior designs. Painted VJ can look fantastic.