What can i do to change the look of old dark paneling on the wall
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White wash or paint it a lighter color
PPaint it. You can even do striping if you tape the paneling lines.
I have painted all my outdated paneling in my basement and never regretted it for a minute!
One option is to remove and replace either sheet rock and paint. Or you can just paint the existing paneling. Good lighting is key if there are not a lot of windows or natural light.
http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/skills-and-know-how/painting/how-to-paint-over-paneling
https://www.thespruce.com/paint-wood-paneling-2213358
See if the above links help you out.
Paint it! :-) Use Kilz for the first coat and have at it.
My experience with painted paneling is that it showed every scuff in my high traffic area, so I was constantly cleaning the scuffs off - wood grain is more "forgiving".
Depending on whether the "dark" is the primary issue, or the "ridges" typically found in old paneling, or whatever is your criteria - semi transparent or opaque wood stains come in a huge selection of colors (use TSP to clean it first) or one could caulk the ridges and put thick "liner" wall paper over it.
We bought an older home that was all paneling so we painted it! First we caulked the cracks between each panel (about every 4 ft.) Then we used aroma free Kilz primer. Then we painted whatever color we wanted on it! You can add chair round chair level, or a border at the top with stencil or wall paper border to really make it look nice. We even sponge painted with 3 hues of the same color in some rooms to match the new drapes I made for each room. It lighted up the whole house painting over that paneling!
I painted mine off-white 20 years ago, and it still looks fine. It has lightened a bit, but evenly. We only noticed when we had a door removed, and had to paint the new wall. i removed a piece of trim and had it colour-matched. I do not regret it at all. I had a couple of small chips near a door--2 minutes to fix. It is a high traffic area, with extremes of hot and cold. It was meant to be temporary for a couple of years, while we decided what to do. I wll be painting some small areas next summer just for a colour change.
My mentality is paint first then decide. The change may really surprise you.