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I have paneling in my dining room and the bookcases around my fireplace is paneling - in the family room. I would like to paint the paneling and my fireplace. The fireplace is very old red brick, the paneling is very dark, I would like to lighten up the family room. How hard is this to do??
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May be easier to replace the panelling with a lighter shade. A coping saw and panel matched nails would do nicely. I was just thinking if you had dark maple, there's no way you can bleach it lighter without streaks. The panel probably has a plastic coating on the surface anyways. Painting you'd almost have to go with an off white primer. -
I painted the paneling in my living room 2 yrs ago and absolutely love it! It really wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I also decided not to fill in the grooves, but paint over them. I started by taking a block sander and lightly roughing up the walls. I then applied Kilz. I chose a light cream color for the paint and to add more depth I finished it off by painting every other strip of the paneling with an epoxy clear coat. It looks fabulous! I've had so many positive comments about it and another friend actually do it to her living room as well.Comment
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For your fireplace, I would recommend you investigate a brick paint product called Brick-Anew. It comes in a DIY kit and gives your fireplace an updated look. Check them out at http://www.brick-anew.com. They have plenty of before after pictures. Good Luck!
SAMComment
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Painting over the paneling is very popular, (my house is full of painted paneling) and the kilz oil based primer is an excellent choice. This will also seal the dark lines or vertical joints in the paneling that sometimes bleed thru. Afterwards it can be top-coated with any latex interior paint. Consider a softer sheen like eggshell finish, it will be very washable, but give you a more uniform look.
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