Improving Your Wood Paneling

By Kurt B. Schefken

keywords: wood paneling panel home improvement

Wood paneling is one of those unfortunate 1970s leftovers that many people are still living with. Styles have definitely changed, and panels are not considered high home fashion any more. However, many people with these panels on their walls don’t have the budget to fix them. If that sounds like you, there is good news. There are a few things you can do to make your wood paneling snazzier; home improvement ideas that don’t have to break the bank.

If your wood paneling needs a little work, and you are willing to put in the time, give these ideas a whirl.

Panel Painting

A word of caution, this is easier said than done. Wood paneling is very thirsty, and it will drink up the paint you throw on it and creep back through again. To make sure you paint job doesn’t get swallowed up by the panels, you need to prep appropriately. First and foremost, scrub the panel clean. Even if it looks ok, you’ll need to use some kind of degreasing agent. Then, you’ll need to peel that nice glossy sheen off the panel with gloss remover. These products all work differently, so check out the directions on the kind you buy. You may require a few rounds of gloss remover, or you may need to do some spot de-glossing to get it all off. Now, you’ll have to patch up any holes and let the spackle dry as needed.

With all of that done, you’re ready to paint. Two coats should do it – allow adequate drying time between coats.

Is it Paint or Is it Wallpaper?

If you think that your panels will drink up any paint you take near it, you can take care of that problem with wallpaper that you can paint. This is a special kind of wallpaper, so check with the experts at the store. You can go for a wallpaper with a design that you can expand on with paint, or you can for a plain color that you can top with a coat of your favorite paint. You’ll need to prep the wall paneling in much the same way you did for painting before you hang your wallpaper.

Glazed Wall Panels

Buff up your wall paneling by glazing. As always, clean and degrease the walls and then fill in the holes. When done, paint the panels in the color of your choice, however, for your second coat, mix top coat glaze mix in with the paint – the package will tell you how much you’ll need. You can glaze parts of your wall or the whole wall; the choice is yours. If you’ve over done it, mineral spirits will sort things out for you.

keywords: wood paneling panel home improvement

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About The Author
Kurt Schefken is writing normally for www.insidewoodworking.com , an online publication on the topic of cnc wood router and cnc routers. You can have a look at his writings on cnc router plans on his site.