How can I cover paneling?

Yvette Diane
by Yvette Diane

Im remodeling a room with old brown paneling. I used compound to cover slits but it’s not doing the best job, I even tried a thicker design with compound. Getting frustrated. Any suggestions?

  5 answers
  • Corgimom Corgimom on Feb 08, 2019

    Why not use a textured wallpaper?

    • Gor38315436 Gor38315436 on Feb 08, 2019

      when you put up paneling before you put up the next piece, paint the wall along the paneling the same color as the paneling or as close as you can, you will not see the gaps between the panels. Only you will know. Gordie

  • Polly Fuller Polly Fuller on Feb 08, 2019

    I have done this several times. fill the cracks as you are doing. put on a coat of premixed vinyl prep (Sherwin Williams). use textured or fabric backed paper. be sure to use a roller with thinned out premixed paste on the paper even if it is preglued.

  • Sally Dolin Sally Dolin on Feb 09, 2019

    I've done two things to camouflage paneling first - filled nail holes and cracks with caulk. The lines are still there but I used them as vertical lines and did stenciling. Be sure to use Kilz or some other sealer first (I used 2 coats as my wall was painted white for the finish color) Then paint your wall and let your imagination fly with stencils or free hand paint.


    Second trick - fill indents with spackle and use Kilz. Paint. Then over the paint you can use any fabric that is happy to get wet. Silks, satins etc show water marks so don't use those. I'm especially fond of sheets (thread count not important). Use a rotary cutter and trim selvages off as straight as possible. Using small pins(narrow shaft) wet the wall with a combo of Vano (that blue liquid starch and water (50/50 mix) spread the fabric across the top of the wall smoothing with your hands and more starch. This is where the pins come in. Just a few spaced about 8-10" apart should be enough to hold your fabric where you want it to stay. Keep smoothing and starching till the piece is in place. Go right over power outlets removing the covers first and down to the molding, pressing it into the crack with a putty knife or old table knife. Let it dry then go back and using a single edge razor blade, trim along the edges and around outlets. Replace covers, remove pins. Wa-La


    If you need more pieces side by side treat them just as you would wall paper and be sure that when you put your starch on top all the fabric is covered. This seals the pores of the fabric and allows you to easily vacuum or dust it.


    When you are sick of this look, simply mist with water, pull the fabric down and wash the wall. The wall looks like freshly painted, the fabric can be popped in the washer and become part of a quilt, throw pillows or whatever.


    FABRIC NOTE: Many lovely fabrics are available in wide backs for quilts and are 108" wide. Regular fabric is usually 42"- When buying wide backs you are purchasing the equivalent of 2 1/2 yards of regular fabric. From leftover fabric you can use the starch method and create matching ribbon, for floral arrangements. Put the ribbon pieces on the side of refrigerator(put some paper on the floor for drips) Dries very fast.