Wood Paneling: What the Heck?

Wood paneling was popular starting in the 1950's, and today you will find a variety of it in older homes across the country.

My husband and I moved into our beautiful rental home in May. It is a four bedroom, one and a half bath, and full of charm. One of those charms just so happens to be wood paneling on every single surface on the second level. I call it our pirate ship!

Image of our bedroom entry looking into the hallway.

At first, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to make this wood paneling more "me". I am a light and bright neutral queen when it comes to the color of my walls, and I would rather accent rooms with decor that brings the warmth. Since our house is a rental, painting the paneling is a no-go. I searched and searched Pinterest for inspiration, and surprisingly, there is not much to come by. I decided to wing it.

After moving all of our stuff in, adding a rug and white curtains, I feel like it is a whole new space. My husband and I decided to have our master in one of the upstairs bedrooms because it is one of the largest rooms in the house with four closets. (Yeah you read that right FOUR closets... a wife's dream.) So, this is the first room I tackled with the outdated paneling.

Before: Listing Picture by Century Link.

After: Image of our bedroom.

A couple things we did to make it work in my mind was switch out all of the light fixtures, update the yellow outlets and switches to new white ones, and add light colored rugs and curtains. Since we rent the home, these are all easy updates we were able to add and easily changeable.

I recently watched the Fixer Upper: The Lake House episodes on HBO Max (Click here for more) where Johanna Gains added wood paneling in the game room to play along with the mid-century style of the home. At first I was shocked... but then I was excited because maybe my pirate ship of an upstairs is coming back in style?!

Before: Listing Picture by Century Link.

After: Image of our hallway.

Image of our hallway.

What do you think about wood paneling? Would you keep it or paint it?

Until next time! -hg

Your Weekly Inspo

What state are we in?:

We are home! Lebanon, Missouri

Cole recently took some of the Lebanon HS Bass Fishing team through the homecoming parade!

What book I am currently reading?:

"Holding on to Chaos" by Lucy Score

Book 5 in the Blue Moon Series

I'm on the next book in the series! This book series is filled with warm small town romances and quirky townspeople! It has me daydreaming of the involved community and large loving family. I call Lucy Score books smutty hallmark movies in book form! You'll love them.

What is my favorite Pinterest Pin of the week?:

Image by Wind The Key on Pinterest

This image is the current key inspiration for my living room! I think built-ins along the fireplace and two couches facing one another create the perfect conversation space. Maybe one day you'll see a blog about our living room if I ever get to switching it up!