Painted judges paneling, block paneling living room before and after

5 years ago

Before and After. Painted most of the wood a medium gray (SW Ellie Gray), and darkened the mantle, builtin shelves and bar area with General Finishes Antique Walnut. Floor and furniture go much better now.

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Comments (5)

arcy_gw
5 years ago
:(
champcamp
5 years ago
Wow that must have taken a lot of work. I like your result! I agree that neutralizing all that woodwork makes your floors look better and doesn’t compete with anything else in your room.
venezuelabrowns thanked champcamp
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andee--it's funny you mention the picture over the sofa-- it was a topic of great discussion in my last post. My father-in-law painted it and I've been trying to figure out where to put it. It seems to be too small to put over either the sofa or the fireplace. Some suggested reframing and matting it, but I think my fil would have a fit if we did that since he kept telling us how he spent a long time picking out the perfect frame. I have some pictures that I took last night to show you what I mean about putting it over the fireplace. I'll upload them tonight. I'll also take a pic of the sunroom to show you how it ties in and post that tonight. Nanny2a--the paint is Fairway Oaks (Benjamin Moore). Charlikin--you'd have to fight my husband for that chair--he's fallen asleep in it a few times :)
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You know when I was growing up we had a dining room with one door on one side of a wall. It was enough. I love having a dining room but I also love to entertain and I like to eat in the dining room and then "retire" to the sitting room, lol! Call me crazy! Traffic flow isn't much of a problem if the rooms are next to each other. I once had a house with a hallway between the kitchen and the living/dining room area. That was a traffic problem because the kitchen was tiny and if I had to go in there, I disappeared from sight and sound of my guests and had to leave them hanging. Got better when SO moved in and could stay with them while I got stuff from the kitchen. I would be more concerned about the flow between where the food gets cooked and the dining room than between a sitting/movie room and a dining room. On the flip side, if you want to open it up, get someone good and have them save and re-use the wood that gets taken out in some creative way for the new doors. Can be done. Pocket doors rock. I love wood, and such fine stuff as you have is becoming rare. That's why the trend is to paint, so no one knows the difference between fine stuff and cheap stuff. Painted, it all looks the same.
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It would help to know what's underneath the paneling, or at least whether it's real wood paneling. If it's real wood and you just don't care for the color, I think painting it would be a better option than tearing it down. All the houses in my childhood neighborhood, built in the 1940s, started out with large fir wall panels that were about 6' wide and went floor to ceiling in every room. By the 70s (when I was growing up), most people had wall papered, or at least painted, most of their walls. Other than the seams every 6' or so, the painted panels looked like drywall as the grain wasn't prominent. When my best friend's family moved in, they nailed cheap laminate style paneling (in various shades of pickled oak) on top of the actual wood paneling!!! I remember my parents being horrified, though as a little kid I didn't understand their perspective. Now I understand.
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venezuelabrowns
Original Author
5 years ago
It was a lot of work. I prepped by lightly sanding and cleaning with denatured alcohol and then priming with shellac primer. I quickly realized it would need caulk and spraying of the paint for a great finish, so I hired a painter. He came out right away and caulked and sprayed 2 coats (and cleaned up well) for $350. The room is 18x27 with 10’ or11’ walls, so I thought it was a great deal. I prepped for the stain by lightly sanding and cleaning with denatured alcohol. It took 2 coats of gel stain (with drying 72 hours after each) plus 3 coats of clear topcoat with light sanding and wiping between each topcoat. It took about 3 weeks total while working only weekends and evenings.

I know now lots of people are against painting beautiful wood paneling, but I really didn’t like the orange-tint of the wood and it really didn’t go with the floors or any of my furniture. I waited months to see if my opinion would change and did a ton of research before biting the bullet. It was the most economical solution that I would also be happy with. This isn’t our forever home or our dream home, but it’s perfect for us for right now.
Jennifer Abbott
5 years ago
Looks so much brighter! Great job.
venezuelabrowns thanked Jennifer Abbott
PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
5 years ago
It looks amazing!

If it's the wrong color, it's the wrong color. Lots of "good wood" paneling out there that just isn't pretty. Same with brick.

Living with (actually choosing to tolerate) not-pretty wood paneling or brick just because it's wood or brick makes no sense to me.

Life's too short. Paint it. Change it. Love it.
venezuelabrowns thanked Lori A. Sawaya

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Painted judges paneling, block paneling living room before and after

Comments (5)

arcy_gw

champcamp

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Painted judges paneling, block paneling living room before and after

Comments (5)

arcy_gw

champcamp

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venezuelabrownsOriginal Author

Jennifer Abbott

Lori A. Sawaya

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

venezuelabrowns
Original Author