Should i paint my wood paneling

This technique allows you to keep the woodgrain texture of walls, but not the deep color. Start by watering down your paint, then you'll want to brush on, immediately wipe, and repeat until you get your desired color.

Get the tutorial at Maison de Pax. Is this the sexiest bathroom ever? We think so. Sometimes painting smaller rooms in a darker color can actually make it feel larger and more intimate the same time. It's also a good way to disguise paneling you don't love.

See more at Amber Interiors. Contrasting your wall panels with a luxe texture like marble will always make things look and feel more elevated. Also note the thinner wood wall panels, here. Opt for more narrow slats for an understated twist.

A deep slate gray paint is strategically placed on paneling, which acts as a nice border around the brighter painted portions of the wall. It takes the emphasis off the ridges while also creating a geometric pattern.

If you have wood wall panels in the bedroom, play on the theme by bringing in a statement-making wooden headboard. Paint them white so our eyes can focus on the bespoke bed frame. Just because you have wood wall panels doesn't mean you can't paint the entire room a fun color or experiment with textured paints. Envelop the whole space in a bright lacquer from floor to ceiling for a high impact, wall paneling or no wall paneling.

Give your walls extra style in the kitchen by color-blocking wood paneling and then adding a tile backsplash over it. This will create geometric dimension and can easily dress up lackluster areas, like behind the oven. If you don't want wood paneling to make your house look shabby chic, don't decorate like it's a cottage. Choose boho, edgy accents, like dark, leather furniture, patterned pillows, and geometric, modern lighting.

Built-in bookcases help obscure paneling, while cute accessories turn them into a decorative backdrop. But if you really hate those lines, just stack books in front of them until not an inch shows through. You don't have to pack your panels together—instead, try only installing a few, and space them out. It'll help create a more modern vibe. Here's proof that shiplap can do way more than farmhouse decor.

The horizontal wood-paneled white walls help balance out the bold pinks, oranges, and blues in this room. If you were to just apply paint to your wood paneling, the paint would likely peel off easily if it were scratched with a fingernail or other hard object toy car, furniture, etc. Second, primer will block out any stains or dark color from the wood from seeping through the paint.

This ensures that the color of the walls is consistent. Third, using primer will enable you to use less paint.

Wood paneling sucks up a TON of paint if it is not primed first. Last, if you want to be able to paint your wood paneling without sanding it first, you need to use a primer. Once you have primed your wood paneling, you can use any kind of good quality latex paint to paint it. I tend to use Sherwin Williams Super Paint for most of my wall painting projects.

I like the coverage it gives and it acts just like paint should. If your paneling has fairly shallow grooves, you may be able to just paint the whole wall with a roller. Remember, the deeper the groove on the paneling, the higher nap roller is necessary to reach inside the groove.

Now, I have painted some wood paneling where the groove is just too deep for a roller to reach. In those cases, you have to use a paintbrush. Brush all the lines, and then roll the rest.

It takes much longer to do it this way, but sometimes there is just no choice. Since it takes much longer to paint the paneling with a brush and a roller, I would suggest trying to paint the paneling with a roller first. Be sure to select a primer that is made for slick surfaces.

This will help to ensure that your paint has good adhesion to the wood paneling, and will reduce the likelihood of the paint peeling off when scuffed. As I mentioned earlier, painted paneling lends itself particularly well to a cottage, shabby chic, farmhouse or even coastal styled home.

Accordingly, I would recommend painting the paneling in a light shade. Good paint color options for painted paneling are white, light gray, yellow or pale blue. For more ideas on paint colors for wood paneling, check out these posts:.

White Paint Colors. Blue Paint Colors. Coastal Paint Colors. Here is my living room before I painted the paneling. It had very dark wood paneling on two of the walls, and beige wallpaper on the other two. Plus, it has lots of trees outside, blocking the sunlight. Altogether, this made for a very dark space. After painting one coat of primer, I decided to fill in the grooves. This is what the paneling looked like with one coat of primer. This is what the wall looked like after I filled in the grooves.

For more on that, check out my post on making wood paneled walls look like drywall. And this is what the wall looked like once it was painted. Just looks like a wall, right? Exactly what I wanted. I think the room looks so much better now that my faux wood paneling is painted. It looks fresh and updated, and so much brighter! If there is molding or ceiling that you do not want the paint to inadvertently color. Having finished scuffing the full width and height of the wood paneling to be painted, give the surface its initial coat of primer to prevent any of the wood grain, imperfections, and the like from showing through the final coat of paint.

Choosing the right primer is key. For solid wood, use a water-based product; for veneer, use a shellac-based one. One detail you absolutely should look out for? This trait helps hide any knots that appear throughout the wood paneling, or else you may see them bleed through your weekend paint job sometime in the future. Start in with a 2-inch high-quality angle sash brush to cut in at corners , then keep it handy to dab away drips as you work.

Two thin primer coats are normally sufficient. Check your can of primer for instructions on exactly how long to wait between coats. Top with your chosen paint applied in the same manner as described in Step 4.