Thanks for stopping by. Just purchased a home with a wall of wood paneling(I believe it is oak). When I first saw the paneling I thought to myself "this is ugly but, could be REALLY neat". So here is my problem, I don't know what I could do to make this a unique piece of the house. Something that is one of a kind yet doesn't stick out like a soar thumb. Just as an FYI the blue carpet is going, underneath is untouched oak flooring which I am also seeking suggestions on how to attack (I hate the color or oak). With that, I am looking for your ideas, your thoughts, anything you might have to turns this wall of wood into a wall of wonder. Many Thanks. Wood Paneling ( photo / image / picture from yabish86's Garden )
Is the Oak flooring the same color? Is it strips or squares? If this was my house, I might be tempted to remove the square oak tiles from the wall and re-use them another way. I don't think they compliment the stone of the fireplace. Once the carpet is gone, it might look too 'woody'.
Lovely fireplace, but that wood paneling is really awful. If you wash paneling down with TSP, give it a light overcoat of spackling compound to fill in the seams, it can be painted or wall-papered.
I think this room has great potential. I like the fireplace, the sloping ceiling & the fact that the floor is real wood. I agree with the above posters that the wood tiles don't do a lot for the room. The color does not go well with the fireplace. I agree that it might be too much wood once the carpet is up, although, who knows, maybe the wall will look better then!?! We might be surprised. But, my eye is also offended by the lines of straight squares against the sloping line of the ceiling. Ordinarily, a sloping ceiling like that is a great feature, but there is something about the squares against it....the whole thing just looks too busy for me.
First you need to determine what type of wood or wood-type paneling and flooring you have. Is the flooring hardwood or laminate? Real wood you can stain the color of another wood that you like better than oak. If it's laminate you can't paint or stain it so replacing it or the carpet would be your options. Same with the walls. Are those actual 4' x 8' sheets of paneling or are they 12" self stick laminated floor tiles? And if they are self sticking laminated floor tiles you will probably have some re-texturing or replacing to do on that wallboard behind them after you take them off. The glue on the back of those things won't give way without a fight. Sheets of paneling are sometimes glued on too. How long is that wall? Could you post a long shot of that wall or maybe two photos showing the entire covered area instead of just the part surrounding the fireplace. It would be interesting to see how far to the right that wall treatment goes and just how large the area is. Are the fireplace bricks real bricks or a facade? A facade you can probably replace fairly easily, never have done it so I really don't know what that would involve but I do know it would be easier than replacing real bricks. The reason I mentioned replacing it is that in the photo it appears to have a pinkish hue and that just might not go with any kind of wood color. Are there more support beams going across the ceiling like the one to the left? Whatever wall treatment you decide on, personally I would paint the beam(s) to match the walls. The beams matching the ceiling stick out like a sore thumb. But painted beams would create a whole room theme of it's own, one that you might not like. With or without the wood looking wall treatment, the slope of the ceiling could be camouflaged with some wood shelves for displaying collections, art work or books.
Sounds like you have been given a lot of good advice from the other stewers. I agree with Toni as to finding out the lay of the room and what the wood floor underneath the carpet looks like. If you wanted to do a quick fix you could paint the wood wall with a primer called Bins. Then you can paint the wall whatever color you like with latex paint. You could also paint the mantel over the fire place as it looks like it is the same color as the wall. Then when you get the money saved to do some major remodeling. You might want to check out some of the decorating and remodeling show online at diynetwork.com. House Crashers is a good series to watch. Hope that helps some.
Yes, they are strips oak in the the same color. I never thought of repurposing the wall tiles. that is a great idea. I think those would be good if stained a different color and used in the kitchen. Thanks for the thought.
Thanks for the advice with the wood. Ill send some additional photos. the wall probably goes for another 6 or 7 feet right before the it stops. The flooring underneath is the standard oak. The fireplace is a facade and I plan to remove the brick and replace with something that compliments the room. If I wanted to detract from the sloping ceiling line you suggest shelving? would that draw the viewer away from the top of the room to focus on the wall? Sorry, this is my first house and remodel job so I truly appreciate the help.
Are there any additional resources that may help with the process? what have been your go to websites?
Yabish86 I also go to hgtv.com for more helpful ideas about home and garden. I guess if you google home deco ideas it will come up with quite a few. The program series "House Crashers" on diynetwork.com has some show where they have taken off the front of a fireplace and replaced it with other tile. Wow what a difference a face lift makes so to speak. I know you can find some really great ideas from that website.
Removing the faux brick from the fireplace isn't necessary. If you take a very hard (black plastic) roller in a watered-down latex paint (latex can be thinned with a special thinner that any hardware or paint store has) and roll it just ONCE over the brick, you will get a varied appearance that looks like weathered painted brick. We have done this with two colors, close in tint (like medium blue and light blue). Do your wall first, and then select a complimentary, or even better, a contrasting color, and have at the faux brick! One should have fun with one's house. I keep telling myself that as I deal with two bathroom remodels .
What to do with all the wood I would do a white washed effect on the wood that softens the colour yet lets the grain show through for both the floor and wall panels. The wall panel would need to be re applied so that the grain runs either horizontally or vertically. there is too much going on with the criss cross effect. Happy renovating. moderator's note: removed website link, see point 1.1 of usage rules
Suggestions Paint the fireplace. You said the carpet is going, so the floor would be a nice contrast. You can actually paint the wood panels too. Don't get rid of them. They are very popular now.
