Decorating paneled walls

[heatherly2475]

I would appreciate some suggestions on decorating a nursery with wood paneled walls. It is a light natural paneling like that typically found in home improvement stores. Must I forget about a border? What can I do to liven up a "woodsy" room? Would it be "woodsy" overkill to go with a natural color crib and dresser? Please advise; I'm new to all this decorating stuff.

[Momof3Labs]

Can you paint the paneling - is that an option, or something that you might want to do?

[heatherly2475]

I would prefer not to paint the paneling. My husband and I own the house but are planning on renting it out later. There is currently white (and unpainted) trimwork that could be painted another color. I never thought about it before, but perhaps just painting the trim a lively color would help.

[elizab27]

You could do a "white wash" technique on the paneling so that you can more easily decorate around it without making it look painted. Then it would look more like wainscotting. Shouldn't hurt resale/rental either. People are always afraid to "paint" natural wood, but you'd be surprised what a clean, finished look it might give it. I'd definitely forget about a border, it will conflict with the vertical lines of the paneling. Maybe try a few well placed stencils or wallsies in whatever theme you choose instead? (Try poshtots.com for ideas, they're expensive, but have some great food for thought)

As far as being too woodsy, if you don't want to paint the wall then maybe get white furniture (antique white might mesh better with the wood wall) or paint the wood dresser - maybe just the drawer fronts white with stencils. I have a subtle jungle theme in my nursery and I painted the dresser/changer with a lion, zebra and giraffe on each drawer and stenciled the name of each underneath - came out cute. Did similar on DS's toy box. Theme might work for you too, it's very color neutral and would look good with a wood wall. I used Glenna Jean baby cheetah pillow, ruffle and valances with the safe & sound natural bedding set, PBK khaki rug, monkey lamp at homevisions.com and fabulous prints on art.com. If you're bold, they have great jungle wallsies at wallsofthewild.com, but my husband nixed them!

Good luck and most of all, have fun!

[heidi_timms]

I would paint the paneling white, personally. White is a nice neutral color for your renters later. It would really soften up the room-just an idea!

[celfsh]

One idea for softening the look of the paneling might be to hang sheer white curtains all along that wall. PB and PBK both have sheers that could work--the ones with pockets that you could put things in would be fun.

(Then again maybe this is too much Trading Spaces talking...?)

Good luck!

celeste
mom to olivia 9/25/02

[kapow]

I second (third?) painting the wood panels. I've done it a few times and it looks great - totally brightens up the room. I don't think it would affect rental values because it looks just as nice, or better (e.g. the room might look bigger & brighter)

If you're against painting, then how about hanging a few painted shelves up, on which you can put stuffed animals, books, toys, etc. I'd stick with pastels against a wood-paneled wall. Framed posters might also look nice.

[bnme]

Why don't you try going with white furniture?
I think a wood woulddn't be overkill if you wanted to do that to. Hang larger light colored things to brighten up the room...a quilt for example.

What is your theme going to be and what other colors do you plan on using? What color is the floor?

[heatherly2475]

I don't know yet what theme I will be using; I find out in less than a week whether the baby is a boy or girl and that (of course) will be the deciding factor. I personally like primary red and pastel greens; I seem to lean more to the solid colored themes than to the cutesy cartoon and animal ones. The carpet is a neutral beige. The whole rest of the house is done in a rustic cabin-like style. Is it true that lighter pastels rather than primary colors will make the room appear larger and more open?