Painting Wood Paneling | Chism Brothers Painting

We have painted a fair share of wood paneling on our client's homes over the years. Many times the question surfaces, "Can you paint natural wood paneling and make it look good?" YES! Painted wood paneling looks simply amazing if done professionally. I've also seen some horrendous looking wood paneling jobs that were done incorrectly: lots of roller marks, drips and cracks. The proper way to paint wood paneling depends a bit by the texture and the type of panels you currently have in your room. For example, if you have cedar or pine with lots of knot holes, typically it is best to put a coat or two of primer on those areas first. Chism Brothers will usually prime all surfaces at least once before applying several top coats of paint. By the way, we do not recommend filling in knot holes or wood grain. With the right finish and decorations, painted wood grain and knot holes can look great.

If your home was built in the 1960s or early 70s and you still have that smooth and ugly looking wood paneling, that can look brand new and up to date with painting rather than replacing it. All you need to do is fill in the black vertical grooves with a bead of caulk (to smooth out the rough look), prime the panels and apply two coats of finish using a very small 1/4" nap roller. To get the best look for wood panels, spraying instead of rolling is actually best. Finish the project by adding some crown or picture moulding to the wood panels. 

The featured picture we used in this blog came from a project we did in La Jolla 8-10 years ago.  This den had smooth wood paneling, and we added an attractive Benjamin Moore accent color to it. This room looks simply amazing with painted wood paneling. As you can see, this den also has some attractive picture moulding installed towards the top which dresses up the paneling. Because the paneling was smooth, it did not need lots of caulking and filling. 

To view a larger picture of this room, View La Jolla Den