Hi!

We just purchased our home which is a bi level farm house built in the 70's with a crawlspace. I have a lot of ideas for renovations and part of the house has been rebuilt/remodeled. I am stumped with this living room. One wall is wood paneling. The two longer walls are press board paneling (correct name?) with small pictures printed all over them and hideous. One wall is brick. The ceiling is a dark wood material. The floor is light hardwood (real stuff) with a brick section for the pellet stove. I just want some sense of flow in this room and for things to "match". The door paneling and window paneling are all different shades. What ideas come to mind when you see this room? We are new to this but I have been reading a ton online and asking around. The ugly press board walls do NOT have drywall beneath them. So how can we make the 3 walls match and keep the brick wall (paint, replace wall, etc)? I was thinking of painting the wood ceiling white? I have seen some nice renovations that have done this. Any suggestions that come to mind would be great!! We are open to anything

Pictures are attached!

 

Welcome to the forums!

Painting would be fairly simple and quick. Basically a good primer and 1-2 coats of paint. You might consider ripping out the paneling and replacing with drywall as that would allow you to update insulation, vapor barrier and electrical. Personally, I'd hold off on painting the ceiling. I've both painted and stained those types of ceilings and while it looks good either way - it's difficult to return to stained wood once the primer has been applied. Often lightening up the wall color and adjusting/adding lights is enough to brighten up the room ...... or call, you have to live there, not me

 

Paint everything the same. Well, except for the brick for once you paint it it can't easily be undone.
Live with this a while and see how you like it.
I sure would like you to have something more fire resistant than the unbacked paneling. Gypsum drywall is the easiest way to get some fireproofing. In the long run you should take off the paneling and put up drywall and finish it.
You can at that time update your wiring and insulation. This is more work than painting but you will have a quieter. newer, unified look and not have to do it again after you decide you do indeed like the same paint.

 

was supposed to be 'your call' not sure what happened to the first 2 letters

 

Thank you both!! I think for now we will try to just paint them all the same and end up redoing the dry wall later since that will probably be quite a job! Thanks again!