How do I paint paneling?

Real wood? Wash down with TSP, sand off sheen, prime with oil based primer, lightly sand smooth, paint with oil based paint.

It really needs to be primed first. I use Kilz. Then paint like any other wall.

I cleaned mine with TSP, primed with Kilz Original, then painted with Behr paint. That was about 20 years ago and it still looks great except one place where my daughter's bed bumped the wall repeatedly when she was a kid and would "run & jump" onto her bed.

It depends on the paneling. I have re-painted my entire home and it is all paneling. I was lucky in that it’s an older manufactured home and the paneling has a rough texture, so I was able to just paint over it. Most newer paneling has a smooth texture so as not to have dust cling to it. In this case you’ll need to rough it up before painting it. The fastest, easiest way of doing this is with an electric sander and course sandpaper (60-grit).

Wash, primer (KIltz) then paint. My brother did this to an older manufactured home. Changed the looks completely. It will give at "kinda" a farm house look....