You can paint it, but it will be a PITA - you'll need to sand, use a primer meant for painting over Melamine/Laminate or similar finishes like B-I-N - then use the paint of your choice over it in two thin coats.
The drying time for the primer is longer than reg paint.

The primer allows the paint to stick to the finished surface of the beadboard. If you don't use the primer, reg paint may peel off!

Also, the grooves on the prefinished panels are so shallow that additonal coats of paint may lessen the effect of the beadboard.Thin coats of paint are a must.

Thank you both! It seems as though there really isn't an ideal solution. I've been sick to my stomach thinking about this all morning. I figured we'd need to prime with something like BIN, but I hadn't considered the fact that the grooves are so shallow.

If I do want to replace the panels, how difficult will it be to remove them? I'm not too concerned about what the walls will look like underneath as we'd just put up new beadboard, but I don't want to take off huge chunks of drywall, either. That would be a definite step backward! We removed some paneling in another bedroom that had been up for many years and it came off pretty easily, but I'm guessing that with fresh adhesive I won't be so lucky. We used Panel and Trim Adhesive. I went back to Lowes and saw that they don't even have the ready to paint panels, so I'll have to call around and try to find them. They do have birch sheets but they are quite a bit more expensive.

I have white non-paintable beadboard in my guest bedroom. A nice chair rail above it and some caulk will go a long way towards making it look more finished. I think you should give it a chance.

That being said, there are primers that can be used on that material.

Thanks daisyadair! I really appreciate some real world experience! What type of caulk works best for this application? Will it have a similar sheen to the beadboard if I also use it on the nail holes that I put near the seams?

I have some nice chair rail and baseboards and I plan to use cove molding vertically in the inside corners to make the corners look nice and finished. We've just had so many issues that we're dealing with during this remodel that this was supposed to be the one simple project!

I forgot that I also put one panel up in the bathroom. Do you have any tips to share to make sure that I have the fewest problems possible as I do the rest?

I just had beadboard installed in my powder room. The carpenter bought it in Home Depot (I believe). Said it snaps into the top and bottom molding. It seems to be some sort of plastic but hard like wood. The molding feels like wood. The nails go into the molding. He told me the painter will sand and paint the molding only. The beadboard doesn't get painted. Not sure if this makes sense.
Jane
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Thanks jane_ny! Yours looks really nice! I haven't seen that type at HD, but I will have to look. Does it get glued as well?

I went over and tried to caulk the seams and really didn't seem to have a lot of luck. They are still very noticeable. It could just be that I didn't install it well, but I thought from the reading I did that I needed to leave a bit of a gap for expansion. I'm just so frustrated! DH pulled down one panel and it did make a pretty big mess of the wall underneath. I've got a friend coming over to look at it in the morning to help me decide what to do.

Scoutfinch, I know that we just caulked our seams and we did not leave a gap. We used regular corner moldings and those were painted before installation.

Any Dap glossy white caulk should work for seams, nail holes and gaps between moldings.

Hang in there!

You probably know this but, when you caulk the beadboard seam, mask off either side very close together so that you are only filling the seam.

The seams on mine snap together so no caulking is needed. I tried to look and it appears every third panel has a seam but hard to see. The man who installed said he used glue behind it but it is held flat by the top and bottom molding.

Jane

Jane - I saw the paneling that your installer used at Home Depot today. The package included 3 strips that were 8' long and 7.25" wide for around $22. The top and bottom trim pieces were 96" long and were together in a separate package for around the same price. It seems like it would work really well in a bathroom since it is mold and rot resistant. I'm considering putting this in my bathroom, but I'm wondering how it looks IRL. Does it seem plasticky on your walls? Did you paint yours? I'm also wondering what the inside corners look like when installed. Did you need corner molding?

I used the shorter beadboad version from Home Depot - but to keep cost down I installed it above my existing base molding and I used my own chair rail molding above.

It was really easy to work with, moved along quickly and I attached it w/just a brad nailer and no adhesive.
Because the pieces are tongue and groove, I felt I didn't need the any adhesive.

I didn't use any trim in the corners - I scribed the corner pieces and used caulk to clean up any imperfections, followed up by paint.

Oh, it does not look plasticky at all - the orig finish is matte.

"I used the shorter beadboad version from Home Depot"

chijim = I didn't see a shorter version, but I will have to look again today. Would you mind telling me how tall yours is? I need this to cover at least 48" high to mask some wall damage. Hmm, though, one thing I'm wondering about is that the beadboard will go down behind the vanity, but the baseboard will just butt up to the vanity on the side since it will sit back flush with the wall. Will it matter that there is no baseboard under the 48" section behind the vanity? I guess not if it's nailed. The only nailer I have right now is a finish nailer. Will that work or would I need a brad nailer?

I have never tried to scribe corners, but I would guess it can't be too hard. I do have one outside corner that I will have to deal with and I would assume that I would need corner molding for that.

scoutfinch - I used Pro's Choice from HD - it's only 32" high by 42" long.
But, to get to your 48" you could use a higher piece of base and some trim and chair rail.

I thought of this pic:

This pic was from a contibutor to this forum, sorry can't remember which one - But maybe something like this would be doable and a bit more budget friendly using the 32"

I don't see any reason why you couldn't use your finish nailer to install...I would have if I had one!

Jim