We originally wanted only very dark floors (brazilian cherry or bloodwood) and painted trim. We're also building a Craftsman style farmhouse. When our builder took us to see another house he was building so we could look at something totally different, we fell in love with the cherry stained woodwork, doors, and floors. While actual cherry trim and woodwork is prohibitively expensive, we got the same look by going with poplar stained cherry for our trim and solid doors. Our floors and kitchen cabinets are all cherry and everything matches beautifully. I love my stained wood now. Generally, if you request painted trim and doors, you'll get paint grade wood, which tends to have more imperfections because the paint covers them, or even MDF, which can save a lot of money with the same look. But if you're really not sure, I'd go with stain grade wood because you can always paint over stain if you change your mind, but you can never stain over painted trim. Even if you try to strip the paint (a HUGE hassle and mess), the wood underneath the paint might not be good enough to show through the stain.

I am looking for the same thing, frankly. I had PLANNED on painting every single stitch of stained woodwork in our 'new' 60's ranch. But am rethinking this as well. I did, however paint the woodwork in our rehabbed kitchen and family room, and am not disappointed. We also have a more orangy finish on our stain too. I will say that with the 'orangy' beams in our family room, which we intended to paint too, we decided to just darken the stain to an ebony color and it looks great. All we did was wipe it on, no prep work at all. So you might want to considertrying that in one room since I DO understand that that color can date a room. Also I have seen some rooms where they paint the trim/casing around the windows but kept the actual windows and mullions dark wood. Wish I could find those photos now. So, in conclusion, I feel your pain lol And also would like to see some rooms with stained trim.

Now you got me started. I was going to comment that the molding and the floors look wonderful and should stay the colors they are. In many older houses with stained ww, the floor is lighter, giving some interest to the room. Then you got me started on base shoe, my FAVORITE topic. IMHO, you must put the base shoe up. It's the finishing touch on fine woodwork. I've always wondered why it is called base shoe and finally determined that it's like putting on your best clothing and then going barefoot. It just looks unfinished. My former house had all natural molding, what I wouldn't give to have it now. I love my house, but the white moldings can go...and the upkeep. My guess is if you're using the original baseshoe and it's held up all these years, it'll will hold up for many more. New stuff, unless you buy oak, not so much. Have fun. The house is beautiful.

From what I can see the trim looks in good condition - what are you hoping to accomplish by painting it?. Get wall colors that work with the color of your wood, instead of vice versa. (there are an infinite variety of greys so you should be able to find something that will bring out its beauty while still being something that you like). Colors are all about how they relate to other colors. Once you start on the slippery slope of painting woodwork it goes downhill pretty fast. The first coat looks pretty for a while but eventually it starts peeling,chipping, getting stained & discolored, getting re-coated with more layers of paint that starts looking like a lumpy mess. Paint layered on window sashes eventually starts messing up the functioning of the windows. If it's you who ends up having to remove multiple layers of paint (which eventually needs to be done even if you are just repainting it) you will regret the day you ever went down that path! I would stain the trim before I'd stain the floor just because its a more manageable job and dark floors are a PITA to keep clean. What kind of wood are we talking about, oak? There are products that would really beautify and enrich the color of oak without being a heavy pigment stain that obscures the grain - look into shellac, waterlox finish, or even a dye stain for first coat under the finish coat. When you put a dark pigment stain on it obscures the grain but also goes deep into the grain which can only be removed by deep sanding (bear in mind there are only so many sandings a floor can take before it has to be replaced.)