Thoughts on the Paneling?
My husband and I are in escrow on this house with beautiful and well maintained wood paneling. That said, the paneling isn’t super our style, but we are open to being convinced. Our initial thought was to put drywall over it, leave the open beams and leave the natural wood framing (similar to what you see through the hallway).
We don’t want to be like the people that covered up beautiful wood floors decades ago with laminate though.
From research we did, drywall is one of the safer ways to keep the wood preserved (vs paint for example). To make it a hair more complex, we do really want to honor the old owner and her legacy. She owned the property for many years and was a great person before passing away.
Would love perspectives on:
-Is it wrong to potentially cover the wood and leave some pieces exposed?
-If we cover it, is there a safer way to preserve the wood underneath?
-If you kept it as it is, would love any inspiration on how to design the space and make it feel cozy
ETA: The floor is LVP and goes through the entire home, unfortunately removal isn’t an immediate option and we aren’t sure what floor is underneath or its condition. Interestingly, the floor looks really nice in all the other rooms and is more of a light tan (not gray). I suspect because the wood walls are so warm that it’s leeching some of the color from the flooring if that makes sense.