I painted a Sauder desk (hand me down from the next-door-neighbor) for the kids' computer because I didn't want the cheap laminate "wood" contrasting with the fine wood paneling in my living room (not the 70's lined stuff, but a careful job that gives a series of upper and lower picture frame or cabinetry effects). I washed it then primed it but realized as I primed that I should have sanded it also. The primer has stuck and a couple of coats of paint later it looks good. But there is potential for the paint and primer to peel off if the desk is dinged at all.

I have had people tell me that the solution to a lot of wall and ceiling faux pas is to put up more sheet rock. For all of the work you'll put into preparing that marginal surface to receive the primer then the paint then hoping it looks the way you want, you could have the sheet rock installed, mud and tape and sanding done, and you can paint or paper those walls and have them look stunning. Make it look like a finished part of your house. Put it right over the top of the paneling, which will provide stability for the sheet rock.

As to painters/sprayers, I think that is simply the preference of the painter and if they want to fool with cleaning their spray equipment or doing the tape prep work. The fellow who did my remodel here at the house is a painter and a carpenter. He is doing more painting now because it's easier on his arthritis, and it pays better, he says. His guys did a lot of hand painting to cut in the edges and corners, as Bobert described, and the walls in relatively small rooms were done primarily with the sprayer. It actually uses about 30% more paint, my guy says, because you go over the wall several times with light layers rather than once or twice with the roller and paint right out of the can.

SRS