Afterward sand prime and paint the wood whatever.
Update half wall wood paneling.
Grab some drywall compound at your local home improvement store then use it to fill in the distinctive cracks and lines of the wood paneling.
A faux finish is an ideal.
Contrary to popular belief darker tones actually play really nicely on walls.
No matter what it says on the package spackle does shrink so let it fully dry.
If both the color and texture of your paneled walls is an issue you can still use paint to update their look you just need to be more creative about how you apply it.
Chip showed tina a dark blue shade called north sea get the most creativity out of your wood paneling by starting with some spackle.