I don't often suggest painting over wood panels but I think that I would in this case. Or whitewash or tone them. Looks like they've gone very orange over the yrs.

How high are the ceilings?

What is her style? Colors?

I would whitewash the paneling, but Not the beams, to give it a more open fresh look, and swap the entry door for an all glass door to allow more light into the room, sort of a Nantucket look.

Without painting/whitewashing the paneling, perhaps just slipcovering the furniture in light or pastel colors to give it a more open brighter appearance, and add a light-colored area rug. Without a lot of natural light I would think it would be challenging to brighten the space without painting.

imo

: )

What I would do:

I would unblock all windows and let maxiimum amount of light in.

It looks like a big enough room to visually divide it. Sitting/ visiting/ reading area in front by fireplace. Project/ play area in back with either table or play - some people like pool tables, or card tables, or craft tables, or even ping pong. Depending on your priorities, TV can go either in front with sitting area, or in my house would go in back by play area.

I would put in more tables, both beside chair and couch, and a coffee table. Chair side tables would have lights. And an area rug on the lighter colored side.

I personally would not paint the paneling. I like wood and the warmth it gives a space. I would hang lighter colored curtain panels beside the windows, to the floor, making sure not to block light when open.

What does your sister want for the room? It looks to me like she's a person who likes comfort and ease in furnishings (with her primarily all leather furniture). I think the wood could work, since I would hate to see her paint that wonderful solid wood panelling.

The first thing I would do is take everything out -curtains and all. Too many knick-knacks can make a room feel claustrophobic and it looks like she has a lot. Maybe sand the panelling to remove the current finish, maybe paint the beams white.

Here's some great panelled rooms. Look at the fourth one down - it looks just like your sister's, only lighter.

What a fun project!
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Panelled rooms

I can't figure out that window to the left of the fireplace. Is that a door? I think she needs to remove that bookcase from in front of the other window to get as much natural light in there as she can. She might be able to find a hutch or entertainment unit with storage from Craig's List or a used furniture store to take care of her storage needs. It looks like she has enough wall space elsewhere in the room.

Is this a living room or a family room? If it's a living room, I would definitely paint/whitewash or remove the paneling because it just makes the room look dark and dated. If it were the family room and she didn't want to paint, she could add some recessed lighting in the ceiling around the room. Either way she needs to add some lamps in there.

Is that a wood or gas fireplace? I'd paint the back part a flat black so it looked more authentic. Maybe get a new pair of sconces that gave more light and put them on a dimmer.

I think the kitchen cabinets would look nice painted a soft green like in your inspiration photo. She's really going to have to sand them well before she paints. They've got quite a shine on them. Don't repaint with a high gloss. With a nice warm neutral wall color, she could bring in that amber/orange color from your inspiration photo as an accent color. Look on houzz.com for ideas.

I like wood paneling and I think with some blues and greens it can look brighter but retain it's warmth. I think regrouping the furniture closer together with a coffee table would look nicer too. Maybe lots of table and floor lighting and a splash of color with drape panels pulled to the edges of the windows to offer a brightness without blocking light.

I loved Dee's inspiration pics Here is another pic, I do not love this room and would not use the quails:) But the furniture grouping is cozy and the drapes offer a bright splash of color too.

{{!gwi}}

I would definitely paint the paneling. We did and have never regretted it. I would also suggest opening up the windows on both sides of the fireplace to let more light in and go from there. We painted our walls a creamy yellow and the ceiling with beams all white. I think you might like a coffee table in front of the couch or a storage ottoman and also some tables and lamps by the chairs...Paint will make all the difference in the world.

Thank you all. I appreciate the feedback so much, and I was wanting unbiased opinions before I said too much more.

What she's told me so far is that she wants to lighten up the room, add color, and move away from the 'country' look to a cleaner more modern look. She wants more storage and in fact has considered some type of cabinets covering the wall behind the sofa. I think the afternoon sun or heat from the windows by the fireplace is a issue. She mentioned wood shudders, but that's adding even more wood, she worried. She wants to arrange all her pictures into a large wall grouping.

I like the idea of a wash on the walls and since so many of you mentioned paint, maybe I can put the room in a virtual painter, so she can see how it would look. She loves the wood and the idea of lightening it, but sanding it all would be a huge job with all those grooves, that they aren't anxious to tackle.
I bet she never thought of a different door to add more light...
I'm not sure why she has so few tables (maybe the boys - just now turning 4 & 7), but I guess we should start by adding more lamps!
I never thought of slip covers because she mostly has leather, can you slipcover leather?

She gave me this as example of colors she likes:

I would whitewash or paint the paneling white or off-white. Painting the beams the same color or leave as it depending on how the paneling looks when done would be my choice.

I love the pics of the paneled rooms above, but in all of them (except maybe the last one by roarah) it looks like there are much higher ceilings than your sister's. Roarah's post has a room with huge, light filled windows that I don't see in your sister's home.

I love wood and hate the thought of covering real wood with paint, but in those rooms, I would paint them in a heartbeat. It will lighten and brighten and lift the ceiling that all contribute to a cave-like atmosphere. It's really quite pretty with the fireplace and arches, which would be the features instead of the dark wood.

If she did paint, she could choose shutters, either in wood tone or a lighter color to match the walls. It will be fun to see how it will look if you can virtual paint it.

Here is a link to another paneled room painted light...what a difference!

Here is a link that might be useful: Painted paneling

If your sister doesn't want to paint the paneling, then get a light colored rug for the floor that nearly covers the whole area. It can have a pattern or varying height loops to add interest and hide dirt.

More lighting, too, and defined areas for different functions.

In our lake house we had all Douglas fir paneling for years and we loved the coziness of the place and then one day I said "I'm tired of the darkness so we went to work painting" Husband is 76 and I'm 71 and we did five rooms, walls, ceilings etc. Sooooo now we live in lightness and are sooo much happier. It feels good to get up every morning and see brightness. It still reads like wood even though it's painted. We didn't prime or sand at all and the house is 125 years old. We used Kilz paint and it went on so easily with a soft napped roller and brushes. It's a big job with a big payoff. Oh and we did all the painting so no excuses haha.

From the pics (which can be deceiving) it looks like there is wall space for storage so she should be able to remove the bookcase and open up that window by the fireplace. That's a must do. I absolutely hate knotty pine panelling so I'd rip it out. That's me though.

Will she be buying new furniture? Kind of struck me that there are two (three?) different leather colors in the seating and yet another color in the upholstered chair. People on this site don't like matchy-matchy but to my eye three different seating colors is a bit much.

I like the idea that others have posted about making the seating area more cohesive by moving things closer together. Maybe angle the couch at a 45 or 30 looking towards the TV and put the window blocking bookcase on the wall behind it? Might be room for a small table with two chairs by the window with what appears to be a tripod in front of it.

Looks like a big enough room to have lots of possibilities!

Is that as light as the room gets? The first thing that struck me is how dark it is. If it does not get much brighter, I would say she definitely needs to paint.

I agree with the pp who said to leave the beams, though. Nice detail and no need to paint.

I am wondering if this is a room where you could have two seating areas-- back to back sofas (one facing the FP) OR one facing the FP and one in another area, facing the side wall-- that's where you could put the TV.

Ditto yayagal: paint!

Depending on the species and the furnishings I sometimes advocate keeping the paneling intact so it's not an automatic response. Some settings, wood is simply beautiful, but not so in others. In my mother's last home there was lovely paneling in the family room, but it really darkened the space that I knew must be made more cheerful. Once the paneling was painted a pale creamy yellow, the whole aura was different.

Your sister has lovely floors, but they are lost in the cave. Paint the beams and paneling, remove the bookcase and brighten up the space using her preferred palette as your guide. Once you have a clean slate, arranging the furniture won't be as problematic. I'd probably run a rectangular rug with the sofa, not perpendicular, but you have lots of possibilities for placement of the sofa.

I'd leave the paneling on the fireplace wall but remove it elsewhere. You could also remove the top half of the paneling and add a chair rail on top to tone it down. The half wall look might end up a little too country for her though if she is wanting more modern now.

I have paneling like this in our bsmt and it took strong primer and several coats of paint to cover and 5 years later, the knots show through and look a little dirty. I will add another coat of primer and paint next year (when I am recovered from our other reno activities). It is very hard to get inside the cracks on tongue and groove paneling.

I would paint and adding some side/end tables with lamps. That rug in the middle of the room looks very strange, she needs a rug big enough for the edges of the chairs and sofa to sit on. It looks like the sofa could be moved closer to the chairs, too.

That 'rug' in the middle of the room is strange - it's a comforter, Lol!!! I'm at her place now, pushed some furniture back and opened the blinds, for more pics. I measured the room, it's 16x25, I going to do a layout of the floor plan with all the doors, windows. She's excited to see so many good ideas here, maybe a little embarrassed by the obvious ones! She already moved the bookcase and the screen from in front of the windows last night! OK back to measuring the windows and doors!

A number one first thing would be to get rid of that hanging over head light and get some lamps. I didn't see one lamp in that huge room.
Also what's with the fireplace? Is it a real fireplace? The white is so out of touch with the rest of the room. Looks to me like it should be field stone...but not white colonial style.
There also are too many hard surfaces, about the only thing that is "soft" is that blue chair...
There is polished wood floor, wood walls and beams and leather furniture...I even find the comforter an improvement!
So....what to do? I am against painting lovely wood paneling, but I did paint the paneling in my family room. So you can do as i say....or do as I do!
But before painting I think I would try to clean the old shellac....at least in a small spot to see if you like it. If not....get out the Kilz!
With a room that size you need to make areas...an area where the furniture is focused on the TV...and perhaps an area for games, homework or whatever...I am thinking of a game table and chairs which could double as comfy sitting when there are guests present.
Put some stuff on the walls. not tiny little photos but a large "thing" with broad areas of similar color.
A large rug in the area where the comfy chairs and sofa are gathered could contain all the colors she loves and move the TV so that grouping can serve as a TV viewing area....and get a coffee table, It hink it adds so much warmth to a room.
And I repeat? what's with the fireplace??
You're a good sister to help her out!
Linda C

Hello all, I am the one in major need of improvements to my home. I appreciate everyones comments and as my sister said, I am a little embarrased by some of the really obvious changes which needed to be made. I, as you all can tell, am not the decorator and have always wanted a beautiful home that I was proud of when friends came over. I am so excited to hear yall's opinions and hopefully come up with some great changes. By the way Linda C, you are right, I am very lucky to have my sister to help me out. Also, as far as the furniture goes, I agree completely. I do not like the mix and match furniture but can't afford to replace right now. Any ideas with furniture I currently have would be great. I think the navy blue recliner will have to finally go. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Painting the beams: Are the ceilings as low as they look in the picture? Painting the beams will raise the ceiling, but I would leave that decision for later if you are going to white wash the walls.
Lighting: What is the budget? Perhaps recessed lighting? More light is where you should begin before doing any painting.
Furniture grouping:Yes to two areas. An area rug would anchor a nice grouping around the fireplace. Can you see the TV from the couch? Remove one of the recliners, tighten the grouping up, put the table from the window behind the sofa and add two lamps to it. I am guessing with all that paneling you are short electric outlets.. Put a game's table behind the sofa. Or the blue recliner with a table and lamp for quiet reading.
If you white wash the walls the floor will really pop. See if you can find Sara's Summer Cottage on line. She white washed an entire cabin of notty pine. It really elevated the feel of the rooms. They went from rustic to classy. How deep is the built in to the right of the fireplace? Perhaps that is a better place for the TV? I am thinking with fabric on pillows, rugs, curtains you could unify the furniture. Your inspiration piece says to me your furniture is fine. I would not slip color leather. That is just silly. I am seeing two side chairs that match and a lighter sofa...that is great contrast. Now add side tables, lamps and fabric and it will all jell.

Wow! The room looks so much better just by unblocking the windows. I'm a bit concerned about the front door. In one or two pics, it looks like it is not hung true and has a very large air gap. If that is the case, I wouldn't spend another penny on decorating until that is fixed.

I would move the couch up so that it forms a seating arrangement with the two chairs by the fireplace. The couch would be my visible room divider, facing the FP, and think about an area rug that would define that area as sitting/visiting/reading/ TV area.

Then I see in the back the activities that the family enjoys. I wouldn't necessarity move the music equipment, but would try to make it so it fits. I know there are wall brackets for guitars, the keyboard would definitely stay, and perhaps design a wall unit that could accomodate speakers, etc. Is anyone in the house handy enough to be able to build a wall unit designed to accomodate those needs? It would be wonderful to have musical activities going on.

And I see a telescope. Definitely keep that by the window.

The Susan Susanka books on Creating the Not So Big House can be very inspiring. Perhaps your sister can check to see if her library has them?
She talks a lot about our homes needing to fit our needs, be comforting and nurturing, and scaled to human size. The pictures show the use of a lot of natural materials such as wood and stone.

I took these pics with all the blinds raised yesterday, and it makes a big difference I think.

I pushed some furniture around to try to give a better idea how much room she has. I'm working on drawing up the floor plan/layout now. Notice how the front door and arched entry to kitchen and staircase are almost straight across from each other. The 5th pic was taken from inside that archway you see in the (4th pic). She would like to do away with the entertainment center and get a flat screen tv (not sure when though) and her hubby says he will move the music equipment from the room soon!
Hi Sis! Welcome to Gardenweb!

Here is a link that might be useful: Burns House - Let The Light Shine In

Wow it looks better already!I think it has brightened up quite alot with opening the windows! I still think a closer grouping of furniture would be more inviting and add a fabric large ottoman in the middle? If you keep the entertainment center maybe paint that in a shade of green similar to her inspiration piece, I feel that wood does not jibe well with the panelling . How about some side panel drapes just make sure to hang them so they do not block natural light from coming thru. On the fireplace wall you may want to do only one panel per window so they are not to close to the fire. The window treatment color might come from her inspiration piece as well.
great start and fast!!!

Here's a great tutorial on painting paneling - I think a few coats of white or cream paint will make a HUGE improvement in lightening up that room.

Here is a link that might be useful: YHL - painting paneling

That looks wonderful... I love the windows flanking the FP.
Your walls look like planking, not paneling.
We had cedar toungue and groove planking (on an angle)
and hubby didn't want to remove it or paint it...
so we white washed it with waterdown beige paint that
we rubbed on with a rag.
It's very forgiving, if it gets on too heavy you can wash it off...and redo it. We did it about 10 or 11 years ago...
The wood grain peeks through the paint. For maintenance
I just vacuum it occassionally.
I'll get you a pic of a section.

Is your's planking as well?

a section, as stated above the wood grain shines through.
made hubby happy, me too ... smiles here

Wow, pipdog, that is an amazing transformation and great info about painting too! Yes I guess the walls are planking not paneling. Your's looks beautiful cliff and joann, I love that look.
Here's the floor plan. It's not perfect but very close. Not sure of the exact furniture size but I'm busy 'virtually' arranging it, trying the ideas suggested here. I need a program that lets me add curtains

If your thinking of doing it, have a pot of warm water
and clean rags handy, to 'rub off' sections that you've
applied too much paint to...once you get the hang of it it's easy.
I believe we watered down the paint more than 50-50.
We painted the beams to match the ceiling.

Your room is going to be gorgeous.

Ok I guess I'm getting picture heavy here, but here's what it looks like with the sofa pulled in closer, there's not very much room for another chair because the couch shouldn't be right in front of the door, right? The dining entryway makes it hard to place the other chair, and that's with the entertainment center gone.

Would the sofa work along the front door wall in front or TV unit? Then the two chairs where the sofa is now with a cocktail table in between them.

She had a book case in front of a window? I missed that. And was that some sort of a screen in front of the other window? Why the aversion to light?
Looking at it now,for walking flow I would be apt to put the couch on the same wall as the front door and use the two matching chairs and a table across the room. Maybe a corner arrangement just out from the kitchen door? One chair facing the fireplace and one with it's back to the wall between the dining and kitchen doors. That would create a walk space behind the seating area too. You could then make the TV viewing in the other half of the room or go with the flat screen above the fireplace like is see many doing. A large, patterned,colorful area rug would define the "living room". That would leave the back half of the room for music/library/ the blue chair. How many in the family. When we were deciding on seating we wanted to be sure all five of us could sit and watch a movie comfortably together.

Our fireplace is a vent-less gas ceramic log fireplace. We do not have central air or heat in the house so we have the window unit left of the fireplace and the fireplace for heat. It get pretty hot above the fireplace in the winter when it is on so we would not be able to put a TV above it. Our wood on the walls is called Pondarosa Pine and it is tongue and groove. I really don't have a lot of places to put the TV so at times I have had on the back wall opposite the fire place and when I did that, did not have room for the shelf and was just experimenting with moving the furniture around and never moved it out from in front of the window when the furniture moved back towards the fireplace. The other screen was just in front of the window because I was hiding the window unit in the winter when it was not being used and never moved it either. I guess you get so used to seeing things sometimes you just completely over look them. I love the picture of the link where they painted the paneling above. Wow, those rooms are beautiful. I will look at some rugs this weekend.

I am sorry, I did figure out the screen's purpose. You are so brave to open your space up like this. We all do things that make sense to us in the moment that no one else would get. You have to LIVE there, and when talking decorating it is easy to forget that!! It is a challenging space! I love the arches to your dining and kitchen areas. I have an awkward space too, with a large cut stone fireplace on one wall, but it is not in the middle it is over to one side and my front door also opens up BAM into my living room. How odd would it be to orientate the room to the garage door? Leaving the fireplace wall with just one chair and a table vignette? You said you tried this. It is unusual to not have the fireplace as the focal wall, but it has been done and since it isn't fire burning it isn't something people would usually watch burn. I had to bite the bullet and accept what our space was used for the most, tv watching...When we do have company I would love to have the TV disappear, but in reality this isn't very often and we do use our living room to live in. The good news is with some pattern fabrics/rugs and white washed walls I believe you can really make some dramatic changes to your space without huge costs.

Hey sis, guess your computer saved my log-in, I notice your last post has my screename ;)

I thought at Floorplanner.com I could 'publish' this room and make it available to my sister and any of you at the forum to edit it too, but though I see a 'publish' button, it's not clickable, maybe I have to be a paying member to do that?

Oh well here's one of the furniture arrangements....

I made more taking other's suggestions at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Burns House

Figured it out I think, and added the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Floor Planner - Burns House

Yeah, I noticed that the post was in your name this morning. Don't know how I did that. Anyway, I noticed that the door on the back wall opposite the FP is in the wrong spot. I think you may have reversed the measurements. The larger was is to the left of the door if you are facing the door. Also, I tried to go onto the Floor Planner - Burns House link above and could not do anything. It appeared that none of the buttons worked, it was just a blank screen. I am sure I am probably doing something wrong. And also wanted to say to Arcy, I am not brave at all. This is why my house still looks as it does. If it was not for my sister helping me out, my house would probably always look the same. It is strange, I don't think of myself as one with no taste but just do not know how to make things work together. I just am not able to look at a room and tell where things should go. Thank goodness for people like you who do have this ability and are willing to give your opinions.

I like #6 best. That rug style is what I was thinking when I saw your inspiration piece. I would like to see the couch angled a bit. The arm closest to the door push toward the fire place, then move the corner chair arrangement toward the couch leaving a walk way behind the back of the chair that backs up to the arches. Is there room for that? Then move tables around a bit, I would go with a plant or free standing lamp between the couch and fireplace and the table between the couch and the chair. With the couch angled can you slip that table from picture number four in the Fri, Jul 29, 11 at 11:19 post behind the couch? It might be a nice spot for keys/mail as you come in the door...
If not the desk in the other corner, you could put two book shelves in the corner by the garage door, or make a music corner. Where is the TV in #6? Is it ok for it not to be in the room?

I am still on the fence re: the paint. I definitely think it would brighten up the room, but sometimes dark can be cozy with the right kind of lighting.

One idea I have is to paint ONE wall-- the one by the FP. It would make the FP blend in more.

If the FP is ventless, does that mean you can move it?

Anele, No the fireplace cannot be moved. The mantel is attached to the wall but the gas line comes into the house there at the fireplace. I was thinking maybe only painting one wall but am still nervous about that. I definitely am not a decorator but was looking at a lot of books and magazines today and noticed a lot of rooms with very dark paint had light trim or even white. What do you think that would do to this room. Could you paint the trim only to lighten the room. I know that we will be either putting in recessed lighting or track lighting and a lamp or something to give more light. I wonder if this would lighten up the room enough??? I also looked at rugs and curtains today but not sure on these yet. I will try to post some of the styles and colors I like to get yall's opinions.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Here is a rug that I really liked but think you would have to use solid curtains not really sure. I just really like these colors.

Here is a link that might be useful:

In my world the curtains you chose and the rug would be great together. I wonder...; since you are getting comments on the fireplace, perhaps that is one wall you might consider white washing..the fireplace would recede,there isn't much wall given the fireplace and two windows. A thought, I wonder what other's think?

I'd be careful about using blue if you're not going to paint the panelling. As opposite colours on the colour wheel the blue will accentuate the orange in the wood.
If you whitewash the wood, then blue would be spectacular.

I like #4. Put the light rug under the two chairs in front of the fireplace and the other in front of the sofa..between it and the TV. I would definitely paint the paneling....drapes and paint would be the color that is in the rug.

I screwed up... I had that side door placed wrong, it's closer to the other wall, so now #4 doesn't work. She wants to try to keep the tv on the same wall if she can (something about Uverse). I bet she's pushed her furniture all over that house trying different furniture arrangements, anything close to what you like yet D? (What about moving the tv to the other side of the kitchen entry?)
Anyway, this is the corrected room layout. I left the couch in, to show some scale.

Well...I need to find this layout program so I can not use so many words, but in the meantime...

I'd try dividing the space into 2 areas, divided by the front door walkway. Both of my ideas involve moving that TV, though. I don't feel that TV is ideally placed for this room to function well...

Option #1 - Move the TV and couch to the R side of the room. The TV/entertainment center (though I like TV's on the wall these days) could serve as the 'focal point' on that side of the room while the fireplace does the same for the other half. It's all about lounging/watching TV over there - while the L side provides a conversation area around the fireplace. I'd put a chair on each side of the fireplace (wing backs, etc) - which would also serve to hide that window unit.

Option #2 - Move the TV over in front of the window unit. Put the couch facing the fireplace and perhaps a chair on each side with a coffee table/ottoman in the middle? The R side of the room then becomes a conversation area away from the TV. Or, a game table and chairs could provide another function. Or, if the family is musical, a piano and sitting area would be nice. Or, if the family is full of bibliophiles, bookcases along the perimeter and some cozy sitting areas for reading would provide a third option to help the house/room function.

Or, I could shut my mouth and try to go play with the floor planner. Time to try to put my money where my mouth is. lol

Hm...I tried to sign up numerous times but for some reason the program isn't allowing it. All I get is a blank screen. I'll try again another time.

Playing around with some Crate & Barrel stuff (because that's more fun than folding laundry!). Just for color ideas.

I really like the green mock up with the wood!