Prime the paneling with a stain blocking primer.
How to paint real wood paneling walls.
If you plan to keep the trim s color as is or paint it a shade different than your wood paneling remove it from the wall.
Then once the joint compound is dry sand away any excess compound with coarse sandpaper and sand the entire wall with 220 grit sandpaper to get rid of the protective coating.
To check sand a small area on the wall.
Cut in the edges with a brush and roll on the primer using a 3 8 inch roller cover.
Any dust dirt or oily fingerprints can prevent the paint from sticking well to the wood paneling so start by thoroughly washing the wood.
Allow to dry completely at least 24 hours.
If your walls have a vinyl or thin veneer finish you ll need to.
Clean the wall paneling with diluted tsp.
Paint it on just like a normal wall masking off the ceiling trim and baseboards.
Whether or not to paint wood paneling and moldings is a controversial topic.
Once everything has been sanded go over.
If you plan to paint the trim the same color as the wall lightly sand the adjacent wood trim on baseboards to allow the paint to adhere to it.
To paint wood paneling start by filling in the grooves with joint compound if you don t want them to be visible.
Vinyl coatings come off quickly revealing the pressboard underneath.
When it comes to the cheap wood veneer that was so popular in the 1970s the answer is almost universally yes when discussing higher quality solid wood paneling the decision can be more complicated.
Some paneling actually consists of a vinyl print that simulates the look of wood.
When you re ready to start painting make sure that your paneling is made of solid wood.