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mixing painted trim and stained wood

15 years ago

If you have painted trim in your home, are your doors, closet doors, etc. painted or stained? I'd love to paint the oak trim in our bedrooms and add crown molding, but I don't know how that would look with the stained bifold closet doors in the secondary bedrooms and with the stained walk-in closet door and bathroom door in the master bedroom. Do we leave them? Paint them? Replace them? Thanks for any suggestions.

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Comments (5)

yayagal
15 years ago
When I did my ceiling molding and windows and floor moldings, we painted all the trim the same color. I love them painted, so much easier to keep clean. Then do the walls a lovely color and they would shine with all the with around it. Go for it!!
credomk
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, yayagal. I'd love to paint all the trim, doors, etc., but my DH is very against the idea. I'm hoping to start with one room and show him how lovely it looks. :-)
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First off, how awful for this to have happened to you! It's hard enough building a house with the "right" products but if you get handed a curve ball like this......... In our present house we have the white finish on the windows but stained trim around them. They look fine. I have also seen a photograph of a very high end home that had stained windows but cream color painted trim. It looked very nice. If I understand this correctly, all of the windows in the family room are the same. That is good--at least they all match. Only the slider has the wood. I think that as long as all the window and door trim are the same it will be okay. The baseboard finish should also be a strong factor as to how the windows and doors are to be finished. Are they painted or stained? Also, think about what type of window coverings you will go with-- blinds would hide much of the white sash and you would mostly notice the trim. If you end up doing the stained trim, wood blinds would hide the white windows somewhat and give more presence to the trim. If you're doing drapes then the top and bottom would be seen--if you really want to cover up the windows you can go with drapes plus sheers. Once you get furniture into the room the trim won't be such a focal point. You could cross post in the decorating forum, as there are lots of people with helpful information over there. I hope you get more ideas and find a solution to your dilemma.
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We did stained trim on the first floor and in the upstairs hallway which is visible from the foyer. The second floor bed and bathrooms have white trim. The stained trim gives the warm, casual look I was going for in the "public" areas, but the white trim allows for more flexibility in paint and furniture choices for the bedrooms. DD was truly relieved to learn I would not be ruining her purple/black/gray color scheme with my yucky stained wood trim. I don't know how it will effect resale value, but we're very happy with our decision. Totally Confused
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All my doors are stained white pine and I have all white wood trim........and white oak floors. I don't think it matters what you do with the stairs, but the white ballisters & stained wood sounds nice. :)
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Comments (4)
Hmm.. On the main floor I have a mix of light teracotta-ish tiles and maple wood floors. The upstairs has carpet in bedrooms and vinyl in bathrooms. Do I have to do the same thing throughout the house? I mean, do all the windows need to be painted or can I just go room by room and decide? How would it look to have painted baseboard and stained doors? I remember seeing one stained door/painted trim combo and didn't like the look of it. Does anyone have photos they'd be willing to share? I think dh will be adamantly opposed to painting the trimwork/windows/doors but the job isn't getting done and I'm sick of looking at unfinished wood. I am hoping that I can hire it out and then maybe just maybe it'll get finished. Astrid
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yborgal
15 years ago
My in-laws have stained doors throughout their home and the door frames, baseboards and crown molding are painted white. I've never thought about it very much, because it doesn't look odd at all. But maybe that's because the look is consistent all through the home.

My DH's business office has Hunter Green baseboards, door frames and molding while the doors are stained and even though it's a business and not a home it looks very nice.

Start with one room and see what you think. I'd probably start with the least used secondary bedroom and use that as a tester.
bigdoglover
15 years ago
My trim is all painted, and so are the doors.

I think it looks very bad to have painted doors and stained trim (as if someone has framed the door like a picture, or as someone said on another thread, as though they forgot to paint the trim.)

However, I think it looks fine to have painted trim and stained doors -- especially if the door is a very beautiful wood, stain color, and finish. In a couple of our houses we had all painted trim and doors, but added beautiful french doors and stained them. It looked great. But that was only because the wood door was really pretty.

If you don't like the look of your oak door, I think you should paint it, DH willing. Be aware that the oak grain will probably show through the paint.
nwpepper
15 years ago
In our upcoming kitchen/family room remodel, we are painting out our tired 80's stained trim, but refurbishing the stained doors...if we like it, we will continue through the rest of the house (which already has painted trim) by replacing the painted doors with stained.

From the pictures I've seen where this is done, I think it is a lovely look and timeless.

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