On the ceiling, what kind of plywood did you use? usually luan is cheapest good looking plywood in HD, so that's what I have used mostly. Did you paint the designs with a brush or stencil them? stained designs are painted with a very small brush. How did you keep the stain from bleeding out to surrounding areas? Fist I make a stencil and trace the design with pencil and then fill in with stain, making sure that I have very little stain on the brush. What brand of stain did you use? I have always used Minwax --------------------------------------- wondering what to do with them. I would love to do this! Have you written up any instructions for how you did it? Or could you tell us please? What product(s) did you use? Decosup How did you transfer your design to the concrete? I drew the design on the floor with pencil based on smaller scale design on the paper Did you mask off areas? it was not necessary, as My husband cut the lines around the design before I stained and that prevented most of the bleeding issues. How did you apply the product? with the cheap foam brushes from HD What do's and don't's did you learn along the way? Don't too it on a hot day, the stain dries too quickly and you will not get as deep color. Thanks very much for any help you can give me! Where did you learn to do all this? Trial and error ;) Do you do this type of work for your job? Not yet at least, I have thought about doing it professionally but I am really lousy sales person, so this might for ever be just my obsession and hobby :) PS. I have a long e-mail I send to people that ask about my concrete work, so if you want to receive it, drop me an e-mail.

I just wanted to chime in since we had dark wood paneling for many years --- the cheap kind, not the nice expensive kind like yours --- and lived with it for many years. Before you paint or lime the walls, I'd just like to echo the following advice: a. Look at adequate lighting as mentioned -- specifically some overhead general lighting. I know some people don't like them, but recessed lighting in a 1974 home is not inappropriate and can provide good general lighting. (The ceilings are normal height so I am assuming the chandeliers shown in several pics may not fit) b. As others said, look at light colored panels that frame each window but don't block light and provide a relief from the dark walls. There is a similar photo posted by nosoccermom above. Also, use large scale area rugs in light colors and/or strong patterns on the floor, as mentioned and shown in the examples. c. Add a mirror opposite the largest window -- it will bounce light around the room. d. Add art work to the walls and books/bright stuff to the bookcases -- right now you are devoid of a lot of objects with color or reflection. e. Several of your existing furniture pieces and lamps are in dark wood or metal, and may be contributing the overall darkness. As a more extreme measure, replace the TV stand with a painted or mirrored console. Look at the upholstered ottoman or glass tables, You can always swap in other elements from other rooms to see if you like the difference first. Full disclosure -- we eventually ripped out our cheapo paneling. But I'd keep it or paint it if I had your nice paneling -- especially in a Colonial.

Thank you Betsy! I really do love the aesthetic of Studio McGee. I've been using their work as inspirational images. I also appreciate your suggestions for the stairs and the beams. Now my question is what should we do about the color in the rest of our house? Can we keep it the same and fine a white that will go with it or do we have to paint everything else as well?

It's a tough call whether or not to paint real wood paneling. I've seen beautiful paint transformations but painting will cover the wood grain. You may be able to whitewash it, in order to preserve the grain, but I've only seen that on vertical board paneling not 1980's large panels. I can't tell you how the outcome would look. Here's a blog post where they completely painted their paneling: https://www.junquecottage.com/2016/11/05/paint-natural-wood-paneling-using-behr-paint/