apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think this is a decent use of the hated material.
First of all, it appears to be in a family room, not a boy's room and I don't mind it so much in that context.
It also looks like the room has lots of natural light - which ours does not, and finally, these lighter panels seem to have a more modern look to them.
I'm still not crazy about it, but it doesn't look bad...

The real problem with knotty pine is right there in your first post: "It usually brings to mind cheap paneling put up in the '60s and '70s", cheap being the relevant word.

But that doesn't just apply to knotty pine. Handled badly, any material, even one expensive or rare, can look cheap. Look at the garish horror that is the Donald's apartment. But it doesn't follow that because gold & marble look cheap & glitzy at his place, that they are inherently cheap-looking, and that the only thing to do with something made of gold or marble is to paint it white.

And just as valuable materials can look terrible in the wrong hands, in the right hands, even humble materials can take on a wonderful richness. Think of Jean-Michel Frank's use of straw marquetry, or Frank Gehry's celebration of the sensuous texture of corrugated cardboard, or John Dickinson's early use of water-stained & soot-streaked stained plaster walls. And I've seen pine-paneled rooms from the 18th century that glowed with life. Cheap? Hardly.

Here's the thing: materials, whether they're priceless or worthless, are merely the raw materials of our--designers' & decorators'--art, and it's entirely up to us whether we create beauty or ugliness out of them. Materials in themselves are aesthetically neutral, and of all the websistes online, Apartment Therapy should be the last place to find narrow & dismissive--but trendy--blanket judgements against unfairly-maligned materials.

Magnaverde.

I didn't think I would like it at all when I moved into my rental. But, it's grown on me. My only issue now is finding good art that fits with the wood.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60247597@N00/2201372025/in/photostream/

It only looks good if there is a lot of light. We are renting a house now where one of the bedrooms is covered with wood paneling. We use it as an office. During the day, it's really pleasant with sunlight streaming in from two large windows. At night it is claustrophobic and cave-like and I hate being in there. So yeah, it looks great in those pics, but how is it at night?