Help I hate this brown paneling on my walls. I can't afford to have it removed at this time, what can I do.?

Question

Some people think it looks nice but I am sick of it. It's been there since 1985.

Answer 1

Good lord, just get a paint brush! You can paint paneling; it's no big deal. I would recommend that you apply a base coat then just pick out a nice color that you like and go for it! I've done is several times, and it might take a little longer, but it's well worth the effort! After it's all painted you won't even know it's paneling so don't worry about the grooves.

Answer 2

I also got tired of my old house kitchen paneling it was an arduous task to improve/update.
It can definitely be painted as everyone suggested, but in my experience it was quite time consuming because of the numerous coats you'll have to apply of primer (stain blocking-good quality to limit the coats) and paint coats too.

I would suggest not to remove paneling, especially if you dont know or cant handle what you may find behind all that paneling.

You could apply a chair rail, paint the bottom half a lighter color) to give the appearance of wainscoting, then with the upper half fill in the paneling grooves/lines with a paneling filler to make the walls smooth,thus giving the look of sheet rocked walls. Then, lightly plaster the entire upper wall to make it really smooth then paint accordingly.
It will give your home/room a very classic or traditional look.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You have several choices. You can paint it, wallpaper over it, starch fabric over it, texture it with Venetian plaster, upholster fabric over it or texture over it with joint compound. If you paint it, you will need to use liquid sand to remove the shine, prime it with stain blocking primer like Zinser or Kilz and then 2 coats of latex. You could also, put in a chair rail halfway up, paint the bottom half and either wallpaper or starch fabric above the chair rail. If you wallpaper, you will need a liner first to smooth the surface, make the paper adhere and to remove the panel lines from showing under the paper. You could fill the panel lines, too with wood spackle.

There are great new plaster kits, like the Venetian Plaster which you can apply over the paneling that will give the walls texture and dimension. But, you can do the same thing by covering the wall with joint compound, creating the pattern you desire and knocking it down. You still have to prime the joint compound, but you can do almost any faux finish you desire over the primer.

Upholstering over it is easy, too. Just staple batting to the walls. Staple fabric around the edges and spray the batting with Super77 spray adhesive to create a bond with the fabric. Line up each strip of fabric with the last with a little overlap. Hot glue gimp, cording, edging, etc. around the edges and along the fabric overlap.

Answer 4

Panelling can be painted. As with the others, prime it first. I usually use Kilz. If the color you choose to paint it is something other than white, make sure you tint the primer 1 shade lighter than the end color. This will minimize the coats of paint you need to get a good final product. With tinted primer, you'll probably need only 1 primer coat and 2 finish coats to fully cover the wall, depending on the thickness of each finish coat. Good luck.

Answer 5

We had the same problem and covered ours in 2 coats of primer/sealer, followed with white satin paint (in the 1980s). Today, you could do the same, antique it in soft palette with distressed touches, or go dramatic with deep color. The white was fantastic...from dreary to classic clean. If your paneling is partway up, you can do the sponged on technique above it to produce a plaster appearance (use one light tone as the base, then cover sporadically with a deeper tone, and then highlight heavily with the lightest tone). This is best done using the same color family. The lower "paneled" section should be painted solid in this case. Hope this helps.
(By the way, white looks great with clear blue and yellow...or, of course, the popular deep shades of red.

Answer 6

If you're strapped for cash, I have to second the suggestion of painting it off-white.

Personally, I don't think it looks all that nice to paint it, but then I don't think panelling looks all that nice when it's not painted, either and it will make a small, dark space seem cheerier, cleaner, brighter and roomier.

Answer 7

Clean the panelling, apply a primer or base coat, then any color you prefer.
Fabric or wallpaper are also good choices, and the last lady to answer gave you the best advice on how to achieve this look.

Answer 8

If its decent, and you in no way want the paneling anymore, you could paint it. Not sure what kind of paint, if it would have to a special kind or not. Prolly not. My bro and his wife did that and it acutally looked pretty cool, it needs to be smooth tho.
GOod Luck

Answer 9

prime it before you paint, you may need two coats of primer, then two or three coats of paint, expecially if the paneling is fake wood, or veiner, and is shiny.

Answer 10

Paint over it. We painted ours off white and it looked lovely!