Considering there was practically no chance of getting a house without paneling, what we ended up with is pretty darn good. The rooms with the paneling are small, and the paneling itself is of the high-end variety and in good shape.
Here's room #1.
It's the family room, a 12 x 12 room off the back of the much larger living room. The two rooms are connected by a French door style opening in the middle of the wall connecting the two. This means that the rooms are pretty well open to each other, the yellow-painted living room giving way to the wood-paneled family room.
Here's room #2.
It's the study, a tiny 9 x 8 room off the back of the kitchen. A smaller than average doorway connects the two rooms, so you can't see much of the study unless you step all the way into it.
Upon first seeing the house, our plan was to paint the paneling. We're not really into wood paneling, and with hardwood floors, it seemed like total wood overload. Seeing it first on a gloomy, rainy day, the rooms also seemed really dark. At home in Louisville last week, I began the search for paint colors for the rooms while on a trip to Lowe's with my parents.
Today, when we went to the house for the inspection, I took the paint chips I had picked out with me to get an idea of how they'd look. We want to get the house painted before we go home for Christmas so that when we come back with all our junk, we're ready to move right in.
At the end of the day, I still like the colors I picked out. But at the end of the day, I'm also less certain I want to paint at all.
I don't know, but painting wood paneling just feels kind of wrong. Maybe it's the Zimmerman in me. My grandpa was a varnish man and thought painting wood was about the worst thing you could do to it. I'm also worried that painted paneling might just look cheap.
What do you think? I've got myself all confused, and I'm desperately in need of opinions. Would you paint the rooms? Would you leave them as is? Would you paint one and leave one?
12 comments:
Do not paint the wood paneling. There are one of two options, and I think at this point only one of them is viable (at least to you guys):
1. Leave it as is. With the right accessories (window treatments, etc.) you can definitely lessen its impact (though as you say, it is nice, as far as wood paneling goes).
2. Remove and install drywall. That's a project and of course there's the expense. Painted wood paneling comes across as cheap to me. It's like painting over wall paper. There are many things you can do to walls but mixing and matching different treatments is never a good idea.
I got the advice of my better half and I have to say I agree with her:
Do not paint it. It looks even worse painted.
That said, I am still not a fan of wood paneling. It is nice, but it is still a ton of wood.
My suggestion would be to leave it for a year and decide if it is too dark or too much.
Otherwise I would do what Greg said and put in drywall. I do not think pulling it down and putting up drywall would be too expensive - it would be worth getting a quote for, at least.
I went back and looked at the photo album you had sent to me earlier - I mean what's 3 minutes when it is already 4am?
Seems that from the living room you mostly see the window and whatever is under the window (couch currently).
I'd say go with light, bright window treatments. Light-colored couch. Large area rug and be done with that room.
In terms of the study, I'd 100% do whatever you think will be most productive to create a writing environment. I'm pretty happy with my setup now, which is 100x better than my last place. If you want it to be hot damn pink, as long as that helps you write...
I think that using the right accessories will definitely do a lot to lighten up the space. Painting may be more time consuming than you think since the panel isn't flat and how much of the first coat of paint will just soak in? If that happens will the color be the same throughout and will you be happy with it? I think you should wait before making changes.
Accent splatter painting is always an option.
Can you leave the paneling there and just put drywall over it? Personally I would rather paint it that just leave it as is, but I really don't like wood paneling. Especially in the smaller room I think the darkness of it would probably drive me nuts.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the inspection went well!
Don't paint! I agree with Grandpa that the worst thing you can do to wood is to paint it. Painted wood makes me cry and cringe in pain. Add light furnishings and window treatments. The study looks it might be a great place for you to write. So once you make your millions, it may just become your favorite room in the house.
I also like the splatter Jackson Pollock idea, Matthew!
Hi Theresa,
I followed your RTW blog (but, I'm more of a stalker as I never comment), and just discovered this one. As a homeowner with a room that has wood paneling, don't paint it. Our is painted (because the previous owners had painted it), and we wish they hadn't. The paint just soaks into the wood, looks uneven and tacky. My suggestion is to get bright rugs for the floor, and then it won't have so much of a "wood" feel.
Our previous owners also painted the brick on the outside too...but, that's a whole other story.
If it were my house (which it isn't), I'd paint it. But it sounds to me like your gut (and your friends and family!) are telling you not to. Go with your gut, I'd say. If you end up hating it later on and decide you want to paint it, you can. If you paint it now and change your mind, well, you're stuck. Sometimes it takes living in a place to decide what you really want or like. So, I say, go with your gut and leave it as is. Good luck!
NOOOO!!! You can't paint wood paneling. Its like putting an arm chair in front of a door. Sure, it sounds like a good idea when you need to sit down...but then just try opening that door!
Don't paint wood paneling!!!
I'm with every one else! If a few months from now you still hate it, just remove it and have dry wall installed. If it's removed carefully, you can recycle it to someone who likes that look.
Don't paint leave it as is or replace with drywall,
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