Finishing a partly paneled room

Great Danish

My husband and I are trying to figure out what to do with our den walls. When we moved in it was partially paneled and partially wallpapered (i.e. 2 1/2 paneled walls, 1 1/2 wallpapered walls), an interesting design choice to say the least. Our first thought was to remove the wallpaper and just paint the 1 1/2 walls, and leave the paneling, because we had heard how difficult it is to paint. Then, a friend encouraged me to paint the walls and paneling, saying how dated the paneling looked, and how dark it makes the room. Last night we were talking and I said, "Why don't we finish paneling the room, and paint the whole thing. My husband doubts that we're going to be able to find paneling to match the probably 60's or 70's style paneling up there. The wood slats on the paneling are 3 different widths. My quick check on Home Depot and Lowe's websites found only paneling with uniform slats. My question is, what would you do:

1) Paint just the exposed wall and leave the paneling.
2. Paint the exposed wall and paneling as is.
3.) Try to find old paneling that matches the old kind and then paint the whole room. (If this is your choice, where would you find old paneling? Also, do you use oil-based primer to paint over paneling?

If any one has any other suggestions, please feel free. (Tear off all the paneling? Is that just ridiculous??

Thanks so much for any suggestions. We're newbies!

joecaption

If you do not want the walls to look like painted paneling, and they will, then just remove the paneling and start out with fresh dry wall.

ARC Painting

I would consider making all the walls drywall. Depends if its worth it to you.

Painting over things does not mask the texture of a wall i.e. it will still look like 2 kinds of wall in that room, just nicer and uniform color!

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
,
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Facebook:
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Matthewt1970

Paint the walls that don't have paneling and see what you think. You can always paint the paneling later or rip it down.

__________________
Latex Primer: Good for Drywall, that's about it.
Behr Paint: The plastic buckets are good, that's about it.

Great Danish

I get the impression that painted paneling is not a very popular look.

ltd

painted paneling looks great ..i have painted a lot of it over the years .with that said maybe the paneling is just nailed to the wall and hopefully not glued .but if only nailed you could take that down in literally a few hours. then all you have is nail holes to patch .don't get crazy just do a little experiment to see whats under the paneling. yes i like oil base primer on paneling .first wash and rinse this is important .then lightly sand to degloss your not making saw dust here only deglossing then prime with zinsser cover stain, let dry then caulk in any gapes then finish with a high quality latex in a flat ,or satin

jsheridan

It's not, really. It can look okay, or it can give the apartment look. I would take it down and start from scratch. Or, though I don't think I've ever seen this, and the wallpaper cop will flag me if I'm wrong, but can you paper over paneling?

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

chrisn

[quote=jsheridan;831365]It's not, really. It can look okay, or it can give the apartment look. I would take it down and start from scratch. Or, though I don't think I've ever seen this, and the wallpaper cop will flag me if I'm wrong, but can you paper over paneling?[/quote]

With the proper prep, certainly, I have done it a few times. It is NOT recommended though unless the paneling is REALLY secure.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Great Danish

Wow! Thanks, everyone for your help. I think we'll try to take down the paneling. Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

Mr. Paint

Paneling in the 60s and 70s was cheap. I sold it at a lumber yard fo 99 cents to 3.99 for a 4X8 Sheet. They usually were put up with colored ring-shank brads. It should come off easy unless they used construction adhesive. It is best to start with all walls the same.