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How much wall space are we talking about? One room? Tear it out. The whole house? Well then, you didn't make a good choice. Live with it, or start from scratch. Personally I kinda like it, so there is that.
The whole house but it's just 750 sqft. I did not buy this house for the house, but the environment it's in; so really cannot be picky. This is not a big deal; I likely will even attempt to do this myself when my time allows.
We have decided our wood panel wall is too woody. It looks too old, and the dark color hides a lot of insects. My wife wants something brighter and a more modern feel. I will leave only the ceiling as wood panel.
Here are what I think are my options to achieve that:
1. Remove the wood panels and put up 1/2" thick sheet rock, then perhaps apply knock-down pattern, and finally paint. I can probably use the wood boards for something else.
2. Remove the molding strips, apply 1/4" thick sheet rock directly on to the wood panel, then perhaps apply knock-down pattern, and finally paint. I won't be able to reuse the wood boards, however 1/4" sheet rock is probably cheaper and this can save some labor to remove the wood panels.
3. Paint the wood boards. I kind of doubt this approach would look and feel good, but want to get some expert opinion.
4. Any other ideas?
Your views on the pros and cons of any approach is welcome. What my wall looks like now:
If it were my house, I'd try a whitewash/light colored stain on the ceiling first and see if that would brighten up the room. Then if that looked good, I'd consider doing the same to the walls. Otherwise, paint would work.
What finish is on the walls now? If there's already a finish on the wood, then a stain may not work so you'd then have to opt for paint. We have painted wooden walls and they're great.
If you put up sheet rock, you'd probably not be able to hang things on the wall except where there was a stud behind the wall boards. Plus it's way more work and more expensive to put on sheet rock than to paint.
Personally, I think you're looking at it "bass-ackwards"!
If I wanted to brighten that space I'd be doing the ceiling, not the walls. Reflexive light from a ceiling is much better than from walls. AND- there's less square footage of ceilings than walls!
If it were my house, I'd try a whitewash/light colored stain on the ceiling first and see if that would brighten up the room. Then if that looked good, I'd consider doing the same to the walls. Otherwise, paint would work.
What finish is on the walls now? If there's already a finish on the wood, then a stain may not work so you'd then have to opt for paint. We have painted wooden walls and they're great.
If you put up sheet rock, you'd probably not be able to hang things on the wall except where there was a stud behind the wall boards. Plus it's way more work and more expensive to put on sheet rock than to paint.
Not necessarily. That type of wood is serious stuff and you don't even know if any painting will work until you first apply two coats of oil-based stainblocking primer, and THEN the paint.
Maybe it's just me, I like your wood walls and ceilings. Assuming everything is in good shape, I'd redecorate instead and make it look a cabin. You could bring in lighter colored furniture and maybe a couple of lighter colored wall hangings and some green plants.
My stepfather just sheet rocked over the wood paneling and then painted. It looked much better without the dark paneling. I don't know why that was ever a thing.
Check some things out first. Try to lift one panel to see what's really under it. They may have paneled over drywall, or it may be thicker paneling than you think.
That's going to affect consideration of what an earlier poster said about adjusting for doors and windows. It will affect consideration of whether you want to put drywall over the paneling.
I agree that the room is too "woody."
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