How do I make over paneling to look beautiful and not so dark?

I do not have pics but I used a white wash on mine and it was beautiful

You could white wash it.

I painted mine and it looks great

A couple of ways I have used is a light blue toplease and white the bottom 36" and a piece of chair rail trim or border where the two colors meet.

The other way is to spackel the grooves to give a smooth surface then paint or paper. My favorite is to knock down then paint ( the texture covers a multitude of sins). Knock down can be done by hand or blown on and it reduces sanding.

When you paint paneling you may need to lightly sand it to cut the gloss.

Painting will transform it beyond your imagination. If you let us know what the decor style, theme and/or colors you want, we might be able to suggest a paint color or a finish that will be helpful to you.

I just painted over the paneling and it looks very good didn't have to sand it either.

No I didn't use a primer yes the paneling did have a shine.