From the attached link: Raised Panel - Solid Even though the panel is called solid, it is not usually made of a single piece of wood. Wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity, and this can cause the door to split and crack. To counteract the problems of natural movement in a solid wood center panel, the panel is usually constructed using several pieces of solid stock lumber glued together. The wood strips used to construct the panel may not all match in graining and color. As in the case of the slab door, the door's strength comes from the manner in which the pieces of solid wood are reversed as they are glued. The panel is then cut on all four sides, so the center is higher than the edges. The face of the panel is usually flush with the front surface of the stiles and rails, with the edges forming a tongue which fits a corresponding groove cut into the door frame. The groove is slightly larger than the panel's edge to allow the panel to float in the frame. This simply means that the panel has room to expand and contract during humidity changes, reducing the risk of the panel cracking or splitting. I gather from the Woodmode site that this is how they construct raised panel doors as they describe their raised panel doors as being constructed from solid wood. How big an issue the movement of the centre panel in a flat panel door will be probably depends on geography (I have seen some dramatic examples here that am sure would not be acceptable to many folks while I tend to think the hairline cracking I have seen is part of the charm and patina of age of painted cabinetry. In terms of Woodmode they do kiln dry all their wood which may in part explain why they have not have felt they would get better performance from an MDF centre panel that some companies are opting for. I also think it is a market issue a lot of Consumer's in the US have a real aversion to composite wood products regardless of the possible benefits (this does not really carry over to Europe or Canada). Cabico and many other Quebec companies offer 100% MDF doors for paint finishes (same opaque finishes are usually available on maple at Cabico). Lots of their MDF door styles are raised panel. Here is a link that might be useful: Explanation of door styles

Um, if you want you can paint the brick white and put a wood shelf around it. You can also put a wood shelf on the fireplace to help brake it up. My neighbors did this and it turned out beautiful! They also added bookshelves around the fireplace.

You might need to use some wood filler on nail holes. So glad you aren't painting it and get the appeal of nice paneling! We have lovely (really!) 60s paneling on one wall of our dining room, and when we bought our house, everyone would comment about how we should paint it. NO! Our house is mid century, leaning modern. Now that we've decorated it, those same people "get" it. Painted paneling doesn't always look appropriate in every style of home.

its possible none of the surfaces ae original to the home. the value in that case is relative. In your community if there is a team that works with homes to do sensitive renovating I'd have a closer look at things . You havent indicated a whole house plan , do you like or dislike the paneling and so on. the value of the paneling if removed could be such that you could repurpose it. As well, old paneling gets painted often. What do you want from your older home? The picture is fuzzy and its only the entry way......its an odd little closet... maybe take it apart and make a better closet but I dont know.....A 200yr old home can be torture to deal with or something that rewards and satisfies you. too many unknowns. if you had time/resources/ help to do anything..... what would you re-create this area to be? look over the various areas in that sense then work to get close to some specefic goals, where it make sense over time , with your /budget/ resources etc. .... maybe you've renovated quite a bit inside and this is the last bit......we dont really know.