We painted our trim, moldings and doors all the same color of white because I like how it helps to tie all of the rooms together.

No, doors that have white trim don't have to be white. All my doors are stained pine and the trim thruout my house is white.

Only my french doors leading to the outside are white.

Colors in the pics below aren't true, but it gives you a visual.

Here is a link that might be useful: Doors

Thanks for the advice. Annz, I really like your doors!
What do you think- will new builds be built with more stained trim vs white trim? Will I regret painting my trim white? Like I mentioned, the wood is just fair quality- but it's stained dark, not light. The inside doors definitely HAVE TO GO!! they are ugly 70's style- almost orangy- yuck!!
Anyway, very torn. It seems like as we make improvements in our home- I just keep noticing more and more ugly things to be changed!!

No, new homes are typically built now with white trim, that's more because they use MDF instead of wood (it's cheaper) and it comes in white.

agree with totally confused that you have to at least have a sensible breaking point, but I am having the same issue in my home. The trim is stained an orangy brown (60's here lol) EVERYWHERE. iT JUST isnt my style but I am taking it in stages right now and may have some rooms where I will leave some things stained and paint the trim (doors and windows)

what about keeping a corner built-in china cabinet white- if the baseboard trim and window trim is stained? I personally think it looks great (ties the room together with the white background in the artwork, as well as the white curtains) The wall color is cinnamon cherry. I told my mother, and she said "you can't do that!!!"

kam207, to be blunt about it, it's your home, not your mothers and you can do whatever you want. All you should really be concerned about is that you're happy with the way it looks.

lukkiirish-LOL. that is very true. just making sure I'm not comitting an obvious blunder. If I can figure out how to load pictures, I will show you. It's funny, because I am not sure if some of the advice I get (from mother and MIL) is old fashioned, or I'm just clueless. Example- "you should always put a mirror in your hallway next to the front door, so people can check themselves before they leave" (did not do- we have artwork) Also, we put our TV and comfy couches in our "formal livingroom" because it is bigger than the familyroom. The FR has a fireplace, computer books, etc. My mother-in-law just said "well that's different" Appreciate any advice!

Quit listening to your Mother and MIL :) My mother thinks what I do is goofy quite often, but she's sweet enough to say she likes it anyhoo. But she and I often do not agree about decor stuff and if it's my house, I get my way, her house, her way. I value her input, but it's just input and fits the way she lives, but not always the way I live.

I do put mirrors by doors, but not all doors (I have nine LOL so I have different things at each). For the ones the family uses when going out I do have mirrors. For the others, art typically.

In my townhouse I have trim in self contained rooms that does not match the room next to it, but when I do this I make sure that there is something else that unifies the rooms, be it wall color (subtle differences but same tone) or window trim etc. In that house the kitchen has crown and toe molding that matches the cabinets because it blends in better than a change of molding, but the window frames are painted to match the other windows in the house. The same for my son's bathroom and my master bath, which have crown that matches the cabinets and windows that match the rest of the house. In those rooms the baseboards are stone. Sounds like a lot of different stuff but it all flows quite well.

It's kind of builder basic to have it all exactly the same (IMO). If you look at good decor mags, notice that the trims in one room are often different than the others. I personally prefer to paint trim when it makes sense (especially newer stuff that isn't high quality wood) and also leave the gorgeous stuff stained if that makes sense.

I will come back and post a pic later, but I have one room with white trim and a dark door (wild cherry 100 years old so it's pretty dark) and it looks terrible together so think about that when considering painting doors. On the other hand, a light wood door as someone mentioned above would flow really well with white trim.

In that room I'm going to be lazy and paint the trim navy blue so that it's dark against the dark doors and when DS is older I'll strip the wood because it is great wood. I just don't want to do it now while he's a small child (fumes) and it's the quicker fix. This is historic wood so it's worth making it all wood again.

You see that in many historic places by the way. The wood on the main floor is often quite nice quality and then on the family floors and servants floors you'll see it painted because they spent their money on the floors for "show".

As to that cabinet. In my case, the cabinet in my dining room flows into the wood wainscoting so I'd not paint it and leave the wood unpainted or visa versa. But in some places it's a good option. Honestly if you post a pic here you'll get a few opinions, maybe something you haven't even though about :) I'm a confident decorator, but I absolutely love to post a room and pick the brains of the wonderful people here. They often come up with something I wouldn't have thought of or they'll agree with my idea or disagree, but they're always honest and give a range of opinions which helps me think about a direction to go. So post away :) We love to play in other people's houses LOL

By the way, I'd consider not doing stark white for your trim if you want to leave the doors...a lighter cream like ralph lauren's startched apron or writers parchment, will flow better with your unpainted trim. (Both read white, one has a slightly pink tone and the other slightly yellow tone so you would use the one that makes sense with your carpets etc).

Pssst...it's ok...I don't have a mirror by our back door either! I think design has morphed a lot since those days. Besides, Colonials, which is what we have as well typically have a powder room on the first floor so you don't need a mirror by the back door. :c)

Which do you prefer? white or the wood? If you want to leave the wood, then do that. Wait until you know for sure painting it is what you want or don't want to do. If you prefer white, paint them, white is a neutral and goes with everything.

Post your pictures maybe we can try doing a mock up with one :c)

I also live in a 1979 Colonial-style home. The trim in my house is painted white in every room EXCEPT the den which has stained woodwork including gorgeous dentil crown molding. It must be okay. Mine was built that way! Eventually I want to do something with the doors in that room b/c they are looking very shabby.

Also, I've seen several newer homes in photographs where the trim is white but the doors are stained or even painted dark colors (like dark brown or black!). You can always paint (or re-paint) the doors later. Do what feels right to you.

I agree that updating a 1970's era home feels like a constant renovation. I want to stay true to the colonial style, but it is nice to bring in a few modern (even *trendy*) touches to give it a little youth. Good luck!

This is the picture I wanted to show you. The doors (and the trim under the paint) are mahogany (phillapines...spelled badly I'm sure) but with the trim painted white I think it looks awful. Maybe if the walls weren't so dark it might look better....I will be painting the walls a soft blue and I'll see how it looks then, but I'm guessing I'm going to end up painting the trim a dark navy so that it's dark around dark (I am not going to paint the door but have considered using a painted door from another area of the house if it looks bad).
I just think this picture is kind of jaring...

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Igloo, I agree with you that the room in that pic is awful. The white looks like primer-white and isn't a complimentary shade to what's on the walls. I don't think it would be that much of a problem if it was the right shade tho.

thanks for all the great advice! I will try to get some pictures up soon!