I am buying a 1960's home that has wood paneling in the formal living area. The paneling has already been painted. Of course you can still see the paneling groves and it looks terrible. Does anyone know how i can fill in those groves and maybe add a little texture to these walls?

Thanks,

 

I think it would be a lot work to try to fill all the grooves. Fill, sand, refill, sand again, prime, paint... you get the picture. If you can't live with the vertical grooves, could you remove the paneling? Not necessarily easy, but the results would be better. Normally, paneling is applied over wallboard or plaster walls.

Paneling was big in the '60s. Chances are good that the hidden walls are in good shape.

 

D/A, as the owner of an old house, I can tell you right now it will probably be easier to fill in the grooves than remove the paneling. There's no telling WHAT you may find behind the paneling.
My thoughts- leave the paneling, add a chair rail, leave the grooves below the chair rail, fill the grooves above the chair rail, paint a different shade or wallpaper above the chair rail.
Use LIGHTWEIGHT spackle ( I love the stuff, same texture as icing) to fill the grooves. Lightly wipe the wet spackle with a damp sponge to remove excess after the first fill, thus you don't have to sand before you re-fill. Use Zinsser B-I-N primer, it has an adhesive and truely sticks to anything.
The pro's may not agree with my shortcuts, but I don't get paid big bucks an hour to do this. I did the above in my old houses' porch (now office) and am truely satisfied with the results.

 

How about this method?