What to do with paneling in a dated living room?

My first thought was to try to use a large mirror somewhere...perhaps over the fireplace...to try to reflect some light and make it feel more open, thus distracting from the paneling.

i love your room! But if wanting to change the look of your room focus on the fireplace. From the photo's there are several colors in the bricks. I'd choose a nice light color in one of the fireplace bricks and use it to repaint the paneled walls. Then I'd repaint the mantel with a color that will compliment the wall color and the brick colors.

repaint the ceiling area only in a nice flat off white or very light beige/tan color. Add/replace a ceiling fan with one that has more lightening capability.

this will enhance and lighted your room up....my family owned a painting company many years ago which our son now owns, you'll be very surprised at how these simple color changes will enhance your beautiful room even more than you can imagine. And under no circumstances ever paint the bricks on your fireplace!! That is something you'll constantly need to maintain and the paint will clog the pits in the bricks ... Over time and a constant repaint of another color your fireplace will no longer have a brick finish but a lumpy, bumpy clogged up, unsmooth, and not so nice looking center fireplace. You'll be ready to demo it in years to come. As of now the bricks colors are light with specks of assorted colors....choose colors from the bricks for repaint ideas for walls, mantel and when choosing new furniture and decor. Hope this helps!

If you're going to replace all the furniture I would go semi mid century (light couches with beautiful pillows) and leave the paneling alone (although I have pained paneling before and it looked great) Sleek couches with a huge tree trunk or drift wood base coffee table with a glass top. Fluffy pillows in a color you love. Paint the book cases and beams white and tear out the brick and replace with stacked tumbled marble in a light gray, white or beige. Replace brass fireplace screen with glass with black trim.Place a huge painting above the fireplace for color. I can't see from the picture if you have a mantle or not but I would want a huge thick wooden mantle. Carpeting/flooring should be very light. Take down blinds and either leave windows bare or hang panels from top of wood paneling to floor. Its a gorgeous space it just needs updating.

Unless you really like the ceiling beams, I'd paint them the same color as the ceiling. It will help to open up the area and look lighter. Any time you have sharp contrast between the color of two surfaces, it will make the area look smaller.

My husband and I painted the paneling before we moved into our new house. the most important step is the prep. Give them a good cleaning, get the "living" off them first. Prime them well with kilz as others have suggested. This will seal the previous finish. Don't go white, it's so boring, and stark. We chose a sand color with a slight touch of peach. We live on the water, so we wanted to make the view be the star.

Good luck!

I helped my Sister-in-law paint her dark paneled hall way and it turned out great. Cleaned it well and then filled all the cracks with finish sheet rock mud. We had to fill twice letting each dry between coats because the "mud" shrinks a bit. We then painted an off white color and 8 years later you would never know there was paneling under the paint. Takes a bit of work but well worth it in the end.

lighten up the paneling by painting it a nice cream color.

seems most of your problem is your furniture right now. nothing goes well together and is kind of outdated (the print on the sofa)

even if you do nothing to the walls themselves (though brightening them would change the feel of the room) and money is an issue. try a used furniture store

and gather some items that have the same 'feel' to them and start to build your room that way. it can cost a lot less than you think.

love that fire place!

Beautiful room! What if you were to split the books on the lower half of both sides and put the rest of the decor on the upper shelves? Books would anchor the shelves on both sides. Have you considered hanging the large photos (from top left shelf) in a collection on a wall? Arrange them on a table first to see what you might like.

An inexpensive sofa cover (dark solid) would give a whole new look. Or think about cream colored covers on all upholstered furniture in the room. Use light colored sheets on everything to get an idea of the results before investing the money. Try switching your end tables around (even switch with nightstands or other items in your home) and add a lamp (not small) to the end of the sofa furthest from the tv (easy to turn on when entering room).

Think long and hard before painting the paneled walls. If that was one thing you really loved when you bought your home, you may never be happy with anything you do to change them. Once they're painted, you can never go back.

I'd think in terms of brightening rather than lightening this room. Lamps, a large mirror, furniture covers, rearranging furniture etc. can do wonders without being permanent or costing a lot. Have fun and enjoy your lovely home!

Paint room in light color the ceiling beams in high gloss white and rest or ceiling in eggshell finish but same white. Then fill in the seams of the paneling with drywall mud sand smooth then prime entire wall once you have also sanded paneling so paint will adhere to it and then paint same as wall color so to not stand out. Personally I would paint it white and different color on top part of wall and I would do this to tie in with ceiling and help brighten the space. This I would not do in high gloss unless you have small children, I would do it in the same white but in egg she'll finish it can handle light scrubbing if needed. I would pick a color you love so you smile when in that room. It pains me to say this but your furniture needs updating and I would consider white washing bricks. When you look at that wall it looks like the entrance to a cave since you have fireplace which is dark inside and TV above it like a black hole. Can rearrange furniture and place the TV on an other wall?. Separate those to focal points. Actually you have large fireplace wall that has bookcases which is main focal point then paneling that's second focal then TV which is third. I've had this problem and it's hard to deal with for me it was a fireplace surrounded buy a glass sliding door and large window on other side so that left no wall space, a black piano,and a tv. I painted the fireplace whit and since we didn't use it because it was wood not gas I felt comfortable placing love seat in front of it since I tried to ignore it so I still had piano and TV which I placed opposite each there and since back of sofa was facing piano you ignored Tha as well and then I was down to just tv. If you really like tv there or if that's where all the wires are then modernize the bricks you don't have to do the entire thing you can do just patches so that it has a loft feel. But dark beams and paneling have to be painted.

Walnut Stain - what were they thinking? Do you know what species of wood the paneling really is?

Before touching the paneling, paint the ceiling beams white (so they go away) and paint the bookshelves, a warm neutral and see if that removes some of the heaviness.

Still not enough, test if you can lighten the color of the paneling by sanding and vinegar bleaching on a inconspicuous spot. If you can bring it up to a shade more like maple or oak, it will feel lighter and warmer. If you can't lighten the natural wood, rather than full-on painting, use a white-washing technique with a warm neutral paint color - let the wood grain show through/