We have paneling throughout our home (Arg!), what can we do to update?

Rip it out or paint it.

Paint

While I love paneling, throughout the entire house, I get you want to change and brighten it up. In some instances I would paint over it. Here are some more great ideas!

http://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/home-makeovers/g2624/wood-paneling-makeovers/

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/wood-paneling-update/

https://thedecorologist.com/dont-paint-the-paneling-other-shocking-advice-from-the-decorologist/

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/make-wall-wood-paneling-look-modern-60464.html

Paint it just like it is a wall. I did my bedroom wall in pale blue. It was gorgeous. If it is very dark paneling I would put a coat of Kiltz on it first and 2 coats of color. What a difference; it brightened up the whole room. I put up fresh curtains and bedding. I can’t show pictures because it is now a rental. Just do a small room first to see if you like it is easier and cheaper than tearing down paneling. I have seen onTV and magazines where they have painted paneling. Hope this helps; kinda fun seeing the transformation.

If you're okay with the texture, it's not that expensive to prime and paint it. Just give it a wash first, coat or 2 of a good primer and then color(s) of your choice. Good luck!

Hi Lauri. You could prime it and then paint it.

We painted over ours and I have to admit, it's one of the best things we did to this house. All that wood made everything seem so dark and dingy inside. We painted it all white and it made everything so much brighter and gives it a bigger and cleaner feel.

Paint it!!!

Just pretend it's drywall and paint it. Use a regular matte finish latex wall paint. You don't have to bother filling in the seams or anything. Just make sure it is 100% clean before your first coat of paint. You'll need 2 coats to cover. Don't even need a primer coat. Your first coat of paint will act as a primer. Worked perfectly for me. My living room was paneled beneath the chair rail molding. I painted it a beautiful shade of verdigras green, and painted the drywall above the chair rail molding with the same paint. No one has ever noticed that it's paneling there, not since I started painting it. The first time was probably 30 years ago. I change my colors every 3-4 years, and I'm still doing it the same way. One day I'm gonna tear out the chair rail molding, and remove the paneling and replace it with drywall. I'll have to make sure I do a perfect seam job all around the middle of the room. That will be the most complicated part, making sure that it's not visable at that middle seam. Maybe later this year. I'm jus sayin...