Thanks for the pics lafonda_ranch and michelle. Our entire LR was paneled also, looking at the before pictures,.. . .am wondering why I was even remotely interested in buying this house, deep down I must have known it had potential. Told DH this room was going to get painted, he decided to tear down the panelling, drywall, add mouldings, tear up the 'lovely' green sculptured rug, install hardwood. I do believe this large project almost did him in...for some reason he seems reluctant to start renovating our 70's bathroom lol. before after to be done (70's bathroom) (note the gold veined mirrors & hanging angel lamps...I've kinda gotten fond of them, great lighting for doing makeup.

Gorgeous door. I had painted wood banister and woodwork in my last house. It does show scuffs. And mine was the old oil based paint so much more durable than modern. This is how I feel about painting wood - if it has great grain and looks really good, then don't paint. I don't see either situation for your woodwork, but I also like wood and am really lazy so I would not paint. As far as bang for your buck, a new window is relatively inexpensive compared to all the years of joy it could bring you. As far as dark, your dark green carpeting is not doing you any favors. I had carpeting on my stairs at my last house and stuck with it because it makes the stairs seem less dangerous if I fell down them. But I would definitely go with an indoor/outdoor close weave kind of carpet, made for heavy traffic areas. Just do the treads if you need to save money. I love the idea of wall lights, sort of like what pot lights can do only appropriate for the style of your home. Gorgeous home details, BTW. Not sure how much your budget is and how much you want to tackle. I can't see how painting your woodwork will go with the style of your house and it doesn't seem like you want that much of a redo on everything else. Why do you have your entry way rug taped down? I could see adding a larger lighter rug there to tone down the dark of that groovy floor tile.

OK, NOW you're getting into stuff that's WAY over my head! LOL I wanted quick and easy facelift, not major renovation! MAYBE if I were doing this WITH my husband we would go for removing the paneling, repairing the wall below it, removing the railing, etc. but this is something I want to get done in his absence when he's visiting family for a week. If we were to remove the railing, there would be major wall repairs to be done, AND, I'm not so confident that the bottom half is in as good shape as the top half.... previous owners let their dog do a LOT of damage in the house and for all I know there is scratched and chewed sheetrock under there, or worse! And, hey... nothing says that I won't go back in a year and decide I DO want to go further with this and THEN I can take on removing the paneling. This will be my FIRST project..... if I find I enjoy it, then maybe I'll want to take it to the next level. Baby steps. :) Sue

I wish that I was able to show you pictures of a finished ceiling, but we have yet to be successful with contractors after their initial visit. One of the issues with living Up North. The size of the skylight is no longer available, which we learned after waiting months for a contractor to "get back to us." We even called the Velux manufacturer for suggestions, but the closest certified installation person was three hours away - they won't come this far. We decided the next step is to remove the skylights and are currently waiting for bids. The thought process is to remove the wainscotting in the loft and use the lumber to repair the holes in the ceiling after removing the skylights. Hopefully, the wood tones will be compatible, and we will not have to paint the ceiling. Plan B would be to replace the entire ceiling with new wood. The roof will need new shingles to avoid a patchwork look. I will post if there is good news to share! Good luck. I am interested in hearing if any of you have had success.