As for me, I was always attracted by the view of the wood itself without any paint. I used to have a room with wooden panels on the walls and it looked really stylish. The only disadvantage is those nasty termites... Those bugs were a real disaster to us at our previous place. I tried using some
tips to get rid of them but they totally spoiled my walls and some other wooden constructions all over the house. My advice is to cover those panels with some kind of insecticide to avoid such a problem in the future, don't matter if they are painted or not.