PLease help me decorate a living room with panaling. It is a room with 2 small windows and very dark. I would like to show the beauty of the room and also lighten it up.

Thank you Holly Cheselka

-- Holly Cheselka (Holly112002@yahoo.com), September 02, 2001

Answers

Response to Panaling

Have you considered painting or papering any part of it? Our dining room was a very dark paneling with one window. I painted the top 1/3 and left the bottom dark. I used a pretty border with birds etc. to divide it. I also thought of a plate rail instead of the paper border but used the border instead. One thing, our paneling had been oiled a number of times with Murphy's Oil and painting over it worked fine (2 coats) but I had to use Kilz with the paper. It bled through even where the 2 coats of paint had been spread on.

Good luck!

-- Dee in Iowa (countryanna54@hotmail.com), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

There is a paintable wall paper that covers paneling and looks good. It goes up easy. You can buy at all the big home improvement stores.

-- ed (edfrhes@aol.com), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

A lot of the rooms in our 90+ year old house have been paneled to keep the plaster from falling. The room we are working on now had paneling that had been painted blue. I, too, wanted to make the room brighter. I painted the walls cream. Then I used blue and yellow paint to paint the grooves in the paneling alternating between the 2 colors. It took a fair amount of time but looks great now. If you do this, make sure you have a damp rag to wipe up any overlap on your main color. In the other rooms, we are planning on using a wallpaper liner which goes on horizontally and then a regular wallpaper over that. Hope this helps!

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

I painted our ugly brown paneling white. Used flat wall paint for first coat and semigloss for second coat. Worked great. Didn't do all that overachieving folderall that is suggested...

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

Holly,

I've done a lot of that with houses I've bought over the years. The first thing you might want to do is to determine if it was done to hide flaws. If it was and you take it off you'll be faced with what they were. Old plaster can be a real (and sometimes never- ending) challenge.

I might suggest you consider drywall so you can paint or paper the room. If you take off the paneling and all your trim you can put up drywall, you can trim out the thickness of the drywall then reinstall your trim. Drywall primer sealer covered by your choice of paint or paper and you're all set. I hope this helps.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

Is this the vanere paneling that was popular in the 70's or is this and old bead board panel?

If its 70's paneling, paint it. You do have to prime it with Kilts (specific version for painting paneling) then paint it whatever color you like. We have painted our bedroom a nice offwhite. Again, YOU HAVE TO PRIME it or paint will not hold properly. You also have to wash down the paneling with a good soapy water before eveing using the kilts.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

Holly, what ever you do to lighten the walls, I would be paticular about what you use on the windows. Use shades that can be left up most of the time and make sure the curtains do not cover any of the window. This will also make the windows look bigger. Let in as much light as possible.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), September 02, 2001.

Response to Panaling

Two coats of Killz Primer and paint. Cheap, and it look great, really! Like painted board. Doesn't look like the same room, and I actually get compliments on my beautiful walls. Some folks actually think it is like some of the old farm houses here with real painted boards.

-- marce King (thathope@mwt.net), September 02, 2001.

We had a dark paneled room also. We also used the horizonal stiff underpaper with papering on top. It is my understanding that if you size the underpaper like you would a wall, you can remove the wallpaper and replace it without ruining the underpaper. That we did not try, so I make no promises.

-- Chris Menges (CLMngs@aol.com), September 03, 2001.