Can You Paint Your 1970’s Wood Paneling?

When you purchase a home built or renovated in the 1970’s you can be assured that there is plenty of wood paneling to go around.  Some in every room usually.  Nothing is worse than walking through the front door of your newly purchased home every day and feeling like you are living in a time machine permanently stuck in 1974. 

When we purchased our house, one of my first projects was to somehow get rid of the paneling.  I knew ripping it out was an option but was worried about damaging the beautifully stained trim, the cost of repairing the wall behind the paneling, or having to hang more sheetrock.  Thankfully the paint counter salesman at our local Ace Hardware was unable to convince me NOT to try painting it and my new project ensued.  After a few sample colors, lots of research, and a couple brainstorming sessions I jumped in with both feet.

Priming

After all my research, I decided not to sand the paneling, (I despise sanding anything if I can help it), but instead used a good bonding primer (I used Zinsser 123 primer).  The priming stage took several days (lets face it, I have a toddler; it took a couple weeks).  I used a brush to paint the grooves in the paneling and to trim out around the edges, and a small foam roller to go over the flat surfaces.  Note to future self: paneling soaks up A LOT of primer!! 

I ended up going over the entire thing twice with the primer before starting on the paint.  The first coat binds the primer to the shiny surface of the paneling and the second coat helps to seal any oils that are in it, so it won’t bleed through your finished surface. 

Time to Paint!

Once the priming was finished, I moved on to the painting stage.  I usually like to use a satin finish for wall paint, (remember the toddler), but I found with paneling, the satin finish seemed to accentuate the “stripes”.  After a few trial runs, I went with an eggshell finish, soft white color (Pure White by Sherwin Williams).  Two coats later, and lots of unrequested “help” from the toddler, my wall was finished.

I found even using a good quality paint, I still needed two coats to get a nice sheen.  The first coat covers everything but the second coat is what makes it look nice and almost fades the stripes of the paneling to the background where you don’t notice them.  This is a project where I wouldn’t skimp on paint quality!

So, if you have a house that could land you a spot in a 1974 home magazine, and you’re wishing you could modernize it on a budget, hopefully this gives you the inspiration to tackle it!  This was such a simple update that makes me smile every day.

Let me know how your project turns out!