I'd be real reluctant to paint trim that folks have resisted painting for 90 years, so I don't blame you for hesitating. But how about a picture, as that would help. In the end it is your house and you need to be happy with what you've done. Painting is easy but going back the other direction is a bear. Not much help, was I? Sorry.

PLEASE, don't paint it!

In that era, wood trim in the formal rooms (living room, dining, foyer, and up the stairs) was typically not painted, but bathrooms and kitchens almost always were. From what I've seen, bedrooms were kind of a toss-up, sometimes they were stained, sometimes painted. So what you have described is probably the way it has always been.

When you say "flow considerations", I assume your kitchen trim is painted and you think it looks odd because the other rooms are not? If that is the case, rest assured that it does not look odd, it looks right! Give yourself some time to get used to it. If you post pics or give us more of a description of the flow issues, it might help.

Ditto, ditto, ditto.

Please don't paint it.

Or, just paint the trim in the kitchen and find another way to manage the visual flow into the other rooms.

FWIW, here are pics of the kitchen we did last year in our 1922 house. It had been completely gutted sometime around 1980. The only thing original that I could find was the window sash stop. It had been painted, but I could see the pattern of bubbly old shellac under the paint, so I assume the trim was not painted originally (again, that would have been unusual). I wanted to do stained cabinets as well, but it was way out of the already outrageously-expensive range, so we went with painted cabinets but stained trim. Unusual, but I think it works. We used wood countertop to help tie it all together. I'm still considering putting another darker coat of shellac on the woodwork in the kitchen. It's impossible to tell if the darker trim in the other rooms is a true representation of the color, or if it's just darker with age and dirt. In any case, it has been abused and needs to be refinished.

You don't say what style the house is, but perhaps your notions regarding 'flow' are to a great extend influenced by the open floor plans of modern construction. Older homes are more compartmentalized--that's part of their character and charm. My own home is 110+ years old, and IMHO, you needn't worry so much about 'flow' in an older home.

I love your kitchen!

Could you post the room dimensions? I'm fighting a 1962 disaster and one of the plans that was drawn is very similar that you to your layout...except for the wonderful doors and windows and dining room that you have!

I'm sorry, but even I, the girl who dislikes bare wood, would not paint the older trim. But to each her own, so go with your heart.

Thank you everyone for your feedback, especially Bungalow House, for your helpful comments and for sharing your kitchen photos. The colours in your kitchen work and that reassures me! (My wood is darker, however, similar to what I see in your photos in the other rooms. I'm hoping the dark island will tie it all in together)

Kitchen construction will begin in Feb. We have pocket doors (that don't close but we'll fix) that separate LR from Kitchen/dining area, and with our hallway, my mind just started jumping ahead about paint colours.

I don't really want to hide this wood, it almost feels disrepectful to me, if you know what I mean! Thx again,

Let me put it this way. I want to just sit down in a heap and bawl my head off when I think of the nightmarish amount of work it's going to take to strip the paint off the woodwork in my little ~1900 "Victorian Lite" house. :-) (I know it was originally dark-finished from chipped areas, although we cannot identify the wood yet.) Once you paint it is hard work to go back, and then subsequent coats of paint are added over the years and eventually lovely details of the moldings are all-too-often obscured with accumulations of paint. That is the situation we're in - we have "gawwwwww-juss!" :-) 10" tall baseboards in the living and dining rooms but the three-part top profile is so gooped up with paint that you can hardly see the detailing. It's pretty sad-looking. Let's not even talk about the lovely newel-post and bannister. I'd like to go back in time and slap the person (probably in the 20s or 30s) who decided to "lighten" the "outdated" interior right upside the head! LOL

I must dispute BH's statement that trim in baths and kitchens was "always" painted. Not so, not so! It was not as common, true, and I will grant that it tended to be in the nicer houses rather than the typical middle-class house, but unpainted trim in "utility" areas did definitely exist. Have seen it with my own two little eyes in an almost completely unrestored Queen Anne house that had I been healthy or we had a LOT more money we would have bought. :-) Since shellac and water don't really get along well, unpainted wood in kitchens, baths, and similar utilitarian areas was more often varnished or sometimes oiled.

As you say, you recently bought this house. Is this your first old house? Take some time and learn to listen to the house instead of being in a rush to do this-and-that. It will tell you what it wants and needs - these old gals can be mighty opinionated! Even with newer homes, though, many people do advise that one wait six months or so before making any major changes (except for repairs)... my experience with my previous house agrees with that advice. There is a part of me who believes that we are the custodians of these old houses as much as the owners, with a duty to respect what has gone before us and preserve these lovely places for future generations to appreciate especially as more and more old houses are being torn down. That doesn't mean we need to live with things that do not function or are unsafe but IMO we do have to realize that we may not get everything WE want if we're going to respect the house's past. (IMO if you're bound and determined to have exactly everything you want with no compromises, build! :-))

I also realize that you just bought the place but do keep in the back of your mind that old-house aficionados will generally pay more for a house with intact original woodwork. :-) We definitely would have!

However, if you find that you'll be utterly miserable if you don't paint the trim, there are measures you can take to make it somewhat easier to strip that paint off in years to come, although it can never truly be returned to its original condition. ESPECIALLY if it is oak or another open-grained wood and there's any wear to the original finish. A fresh coat of shellac as a base for the paint, under the primer, is one option. I am sure that the folks over at the Old House forum will have more suggestions.

If it's grain-painted pine rather than stained wood, don't even think about painting it over because it will be many times worse than the stained/shellacked/varnished to restore to something resembling the original appearance (it is impossible to restore the true original appearance). It can be done, but it is a real bear.

Thus endeth the lesson. ;-)

BH, I ADORE your kitchen. I wish wish wish we could afford inset-door cabinets but alas, that is a pipe dream. I would say maybe twenty years down the road, but I don't expect we'll be here in twenty years, I think we'll have moved to a single-story house. There's a charming brick bungalow down the street DH and I both have an eye on! LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: GW's Old House forum

Caroline, I will have to measure the room for you. I don't even know! Someday when the kiddo outgrows that wooden tower thingee by the counter, I hope to put a 2x3 moveable island or table in the middle.

johnmari, you are my hero! And I did say that kitchen and bath was ~almost~ always painted. ;)

bungalow house, I'm curious about your wood counter tops. We haven't really decided what to do with ours yet, but wood did come up in discussion and yours are fantastic, very warm and kind of timeless--just what I imagined. Who makes them?

Bungalow! The measurements will really help me out. I'm thanking you profusely in advance!

My room is too big for one design, and not big enough for the other. I'm struggling to put in an island. Because of our walkways, doorways, and not being able to move the window; it's giving me fits.

My kitchen table has to go. I spend all day walking circles around it.

Kim, the counter was fabricated by a company called Atlantic Hardwoods in Portland, ME. It's fir like the other trim in the house and it's finished with Waterlox. So far, we have one water-ring from a glass, but I don't care, I still love them. :) We leave glasses and dishes sitting on it all the time without issue, so I don't know why that one showed up. The Waterlox customer service rep said it can be lightly sanded and re-sealed, I just haven't gotten around to doing it. The other con with wood is that it is rather soft. My 3-year-old grabbed a whisk and started whacking the edge of it and left some very small dents. Again, I'm not worried about it. Makes it match the other banged-up woodwork in the house. :) If you're not married to a particular type of wood, a harder wood might be a better choice in that respect.

Caroline, the kitchen is 12 1/2 side to side and 13 front hall to back door. I'm surprised because it does not feel square! The desk counter is only 18" deep. I played with a lot of layouts and decided lining up all the walkways into one space was the only thing that made sense. And I like keeping traffic OUT of the work triangle.

bunglalow_house: You've done a beautiful job with a period kitchen. I must say, though, of all the things the one that really caught my attention was the little step stool seat you have in one of the pics. Just like my mom had. It was so functional too. I remember she used to use it for my DS when he was little to sit at the table and it worked great. I wonder if she still has it....

And another vote to NOT paint the trim. There was another post recently on someone who had cleaned some old antiques her DH found in a barn with amazing results. I imagine you could use a similar technique and just give a good cleaning.

Please do not do not do not paint your unpainted wood!!! I second EVERY THING that johnmari said. If you are new to your house, go at a slower pace...your house will "tell" you what it needs.