As a huge D.I.Y network fan, and many "Renovation Reality" episodes under my belt ; I felt confident in destroying things, and was kind of excited. I started with cutting in a window from our kitchen into the den. The previous owner covered it up for some reason. Now I can watch tv while eating all of the frosting off rachel's cupcakes! (I know. that sounded kind of bad.) I finished the inside with some pine planks to match the rest of the den, and simple trim for the final touch.
NEXT : SANDING, SANDING, SANDING ........AND....MORE SANDING
Although I love to keep most things in their original state, especially from the 50's; The clear, nasty, very glossy finish on our wood panel walls had to go! It looked like a claim jumper restaurant in barstow. But let me tell you, this was the worst four days of my life. Even with a mask, sucking in 60 year old lacquer , and possibly booger dust is not my typical day's enjoyment. Just a 4' by 8' section took me about 2 hours. I started with a belt sander which was too strong for the wood. So i used an orbit sander with the thickest grit paper i could find, and went to work. 
