If you want to paint the paneling, you have the right idea with this procedure: "i'm thinking i'd first clean the panel, then sand it, prime it, mud/tape/fill grooves, sand again, prime again, paint. i'm liking this option best because it seems like the least amount of difficult work. but what will the results be?" I recently painted wood paneling (chair rail height) in a room, but I didn't fill the ridges. I tried to create the effect of wainscoting. So I rolled on the finish paint, then brushed through it to get a smooth finish. I would think that if you just rolled the paint on the paneling in the same method as the walls, they'd look pretty similar as far as the roller stipple is concerned.

My living area is exposed with 1x10 planks. I painted them white, but no caulk. I plan on caulking, filling knot holes, etc. and repainting to make it look more "refined." Expansion/contraction is always present in wood, but should not be a huge concern in a conditioned space. You mentioned panels: Is this solid wood or plywood? Plywood is even less likely to be an issue. Lastly, as mentioned, use a high-quality caulk: Price is proportional to quality. Some sealants allow for 150% elongation, which is insane for interior applications. And, don't forget to prime the joint BEFORE caulking. Good Luck!

please no cool grays w/this paneling. it's a warm, yellow toned pine. pairing gray with it will make everything look sickly. If you want to paint it out, do what was advised above, first. White Dove tends to be on the dingy side. I'd use Simply White. do the ceiling a bright white, leave the beams, paint out the trim around the skylight in the white. I'd stop there and evaluate again. Maybe leave the wall of windows as is, with the paneling, and do everything else? If you could paint the very inner trim of the windows in black, it would look great agains the wood. If you want to do the paneling, then go ahead,,,but I wouldn't use white dove here's the white paneling and the light gray on the walls

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/