Tips for Painting over wood paneling?

Sound like the surface was not prepped properly. It should have been cleaned with TSP, then either lightly sanded and a good primer used before painting. I used tsp then skipped the sanding and used a primer called Grabber then painted. The grabber grabs the surface then lets the paint grab onto its primer and keeps it from peeling. As to how to take off the old paint. If you know FOR SURE that the paint is fairly new and not lead based. You can try renting a heat gun that bubbles up the paint and makes scraping it off easier. Or you could try an orange based paint remover called citristrip it's gel like just brush it on and it bubbles up the paint. you scrape it off then remove all residue of the stripper using the stripper remover made by the same company ( don't skip this step otherwise when you paint over it the New paint may not stick well)

Sand down the paneling lightly, Clean really well with a good degreaser, then use a stain blocking primer. Let it dry completely. Then use a good acrylic paint. I would use a paint sprayer as this would leave no brush or roller marks.

Hi Carrie! Prep is everything with painting wood and paneling. Sanding, cleaning and wiping down before sealing. I've filled the grooves in mine with spackle, since I dislike the grooves. Sand smooth before sealing. I like Kilz for sealing to give me a good surface. Your best bet will be to get as much of the poorly applied paint as possible. Sadly, the shortcuts taken by someone else is going to create more work for you. You might consider adding a chair rail to protect the wall from being bumped by chairs.

I wouldn't try to strip it cause chances are its just a wood grain paper over some fiber. Just sand. Use a wood filler over the damaged area like a water based Famowood spackled on as smooth as possible, sand, then prime and paint. Since you obviously have chairs banging on the area, I think I would add a chair rail along that height across the wall.