What I've Been Doing Lately...

We have now been in our home for almost one whole year! It's hard to believe.

To give you a little background on our house, it was built in 1957 by the one and only owner of the home (before we came along). It was updated in the 70s when wood paneling was cool. And let me tell you, our house was probably the coolest house on the block in 1970-something. 

This lovely, outdated paneling you see before you covers our house from one end to the other. It's in our den, our hallway, our kitchen/dining room, and yes folks, even in our bedroom.

I maybe could have handled it in one room, but when it's all you ever see...it gets old real fast. Plus, it makes your house very, very dark and dreary. :(

I knew from the beginning something had to be done about it. I started looking on Pinterest and discovered painted wood paneling looks great, and it doesn't get too expensive! I was sold.

For the past three weeks, I have been working my fingers to the bone painting paneling, and I have learned some very valuable lessons.

Lesson 1: Painters tape (the good kind) can get expensive and it goes quickly. Reuse it whenever possible!

Look at all that edge-lockin' goodness waiting to be recycled. If it doesn't have paint, it works just as well as a brand new strip.

Lesson 2: It isn't necessary to prime the cracks. One coat of paint in the wedges, and you're done.



I was very happy to discover this one, because just going over each and every crack in the paneling once is enough to make you wanna pull your hair out.

Lesson 3: When painting paneling, it is definitely worth buying the best paint and supplies possible. It is a bit more expensive, but it's worth it.

Wood paneling soaks up paint, so we opted for not only priming it, but also buying the paint + primer in one. This seemed to work great! We only had to do the one coat of primer and two coats of paint. So worth the extra $$$.

Also, Scotch edge-lock painters tape works wonders! As mentioned above, it goes fast, but it leaves really nice clean lines. I barely had any touch ups. Purdy brushes and rollers are fantastic! The paint goes on soooo smoothly.

For people who don't enjoy painting, we needed supplies that would cut down on the amount of work.

It is like a brand new room. We love it! :)

If you have wood paneling in your house and you have been thinking about painting it, my advice is DO IT! It's worth the work that goes into it. It brightens up a house so much.