a 2nd pet peeve about decorating magazines..

the rooms aren't real..they are staged to look good in the photographs, I love what Lynette Jennings has said, she is a famous designer and author..she says, those magazine settings don't represent real life, where kids come in and drop backpacks, and where you are looking at a magazine or reading a book or drinking a cup of tea and having a snack.

you know how models are airbrushed..magazine layouts are tweaked to make them fit into the picture and look good..you know how hard it is to take a photograph of your room, duh..they move it all into the photograph so that it fits in the lens..light it with all kinds of reflectors..and often a lot of the color comes from fruit and flowers..rather than something that will live on for more than a week..something to think about.

same thing with TV..the sets are one or two sided..and like a stage..there is no real HOUSE there..well a lot of the things you see in magazines are sure real houses..but the stuff is tweaked and moved to make it fit well in the picture..not necessarily so you can really have a conversation or watch a t v ..

Better Homes and Gardens has been on a neo Foursquare neo Craftsman thing for a couple of years. Most magazines have a signature type of house they favor, unfortunately. BHG used to have more variation, I think.

Stained woodwork is a very regional thing. In my area of the urban Northeast, white woodwork is the norm EXCEPT for beautifully detailed old or old fashioned woodwork. Ordinary "sanitary" or "colonial" millwork in the 4" width is never stained except in suburban or rural houses around here...you can almost tell how far "out" a house is by this, when you see pictures. When I lived in the Midwest...everything was stained. When I see houses on here with certain types of woodwork I almost feel like I can peg what region they are in.

I hear you Carol! I too have stained woodwork. Where I live (so. of Chicago) all the high end homes have stained woodwork (not that mine is high end), lol.

If you have a larger library nearby they should have a good selection of home decor magazine. I would look through those and ascertain which fit your style the best and concentrate on those. I subscribe to Veranda, Traditional Home, House Beautiful and Elle Decor, with the latter two being my favorites. I've certainly seen dark woodwork in these magazines. Granted, the homes they feature are in a completely different budget range from mine but that doesn't mean I can't borrow ideas about color combinations, furniture groupings, accessories, drapes etc. Books and magazines have really helped to educate me about interior decoration and hopefully have given me a better eye for what's beautiful and what works.

BH&G isn't a decorating magazine, it is more like a lifestyle magazine for the child oriented family, the Pottery Barn life. That isn't a good fit for me or our life.

You just need to find a magazine that fits you.

There's a show on TV that I "think" is about BHG. It shows from start to finish how they set up a house for the magazine.

They spend days brining in and setting up all kinds of "stuff" for the pics. When they are done the editor comes in and the decorators get all nervous, hoping she likes it, she must be an ogre or something, they get sooooo worried.

She goes through the house and don't ask me how she does it, but she finds little tiny things that she wants changed.

It's funny, because I never see a real difference when it's changed. lol

I wish I could remember the name of the show. I've only seen it a couple of times but it's very plain to see how it's staged for a magazine and no one would ever live in one of these rooms.

Oh my god! When I read the title of this thread on the main page I was thinking to myself, "No photos with anything but white trim!" and what do you know?! I am not alone!

My current home has white trim which I love but my new home has thick, walnut trim and finding inspiration photos with dark trim (that aren't of craftsman homes, mine is more modern) is next to impossible. I've thought about going through the photos with a brown magic marker to get a feel for how they'd look because that is the only way I'm going to see it!

You might want to check out "This Old House" website. They of course work on older homes and many have stained woodwork. Worth a try.

Unfortunately you are as unlikely to see a design magazine with the average American suburban 1980s-90s house featured regularly as you are to see a fashion magazine with the average American woman (5'4" 162 lbs) or man (5'9" 189 lbs)

The most you can do is pull ideas from these magazines. Actually Southern Accents usually features one house with vaulted or higher ceilings, but the house itself generally far from average. Sometimes the advertising or other editorial content is as inspirational as the layouts.

My pet deco. mag. peeve is a room that is ALL white or black with one single bouquet of red flowers. Now what are we supposed to do, keep running out and buying red fowers every week?

People with all black or white rooms with colorful flowers that get in magazines don't run out and buy flowers every week. They have their assistant do it for them.

caroleoh, I feel your pain. Two inch light oak stain here. I always have a hard time with paint because every example is with white trim and everything looks good with white. And my recent rant has been major appliances and color. Beige appliances are being phased out. What goes well with my light oak cabinets-beige. ARRRGH!

They're intended to inspire (and sell products). Don't look at them if you don't see what you want to see. At some point, they become obstacles and unnecessary; but if you're looking to make changes -- they can be a great inspiration.

Caroloh, go to one of the big bookstores and browse through their house and decorating magazines. Much more variation there . . . and you can buy a couple if they have ideas for you.

Or look at the decorating / painting / etc. paperbacks at Lowes or HD . . . some great ideas there.

I agree -- so many magazines seem either to be "samey" or so far out of reality that I can't relate at all . . . the overdecorated, cluttered look that doesn't turn me on.

caroleoh, I think this forum gives a lot of examples of "real life" decor , I would not want to pay 7$ for a magazine full of those pictures though.......

i like to see the polished decors in my favorite magazines, it's something to shoot for and like Ingrid said, it helps you develop an "eye" for what works and how the pros do it. Specially with the accessorizing, and the scale of everything.

I'm another one with stained woodwork! Although I'm in the NE (CT), I had it in my 1987 spec Colonial and really liked it (doesn't show scuffs from the kids as much as paint), so ordered it with my new modular in 2007. What cheap stuff they put in (3.25" pine baseboard, 2.25" pine casing)! But I have to say I really like the looks of what I have stained (honey maple) against my painted walls. Only time I wish I had white is when I look at pics of stairs and/or wainscoting. Still trying to figure out how to finish off my stairs with the 1" thick pine stringer and gaps at the wall. You can hide so much with paint!

Good thread! Red flowers.....yeah! :0)

I purchase Colorado Homes & Lifestyles to see typical homes in my area. I then have to purchase a video magazine to see how to display a TV in my livingroom.....:0) (My livingroom has a corner fireplace, next to a window, which leaves no place for the TV)

Caroleoh, I'm a wood stained person living in a white trimmed house.

When we were planning our new build (Chicagoland), and inquired about trim packages, we were told that you have to spend a mil+ to get the stained wood as the homes in our price range, all had paint grade trim. A day late and a dollar (actually, many) short. *sigh*

I know that the cooler and clearer paint palettes are 'in' but I prefer my muddy warm colors that look so nice with wood.

If you like to see pictures of homes with vaulted ceilings and wood baseboards, you can check the MLS, homes for sale, listings in the major Midwest cities. Make sure you're looking at the very expensive ones as those will most likely be 'staged'. You might get some ideas from those.

Thanks Parma - that's a good idea.

I guess it's true whoever said homes are like models, you're not going to see a 5'4" pudgy middle aged woman modeling the newest fashions.

But, houses are a bit different because there are alot of people who do like stained trim - and in many cases it is the higher end homes that have them so why not showcase a few rooms with stained trim in your magazine?

I really think a wonderful magazine idea would be to create a home decor magazine like the Taste of Home cooking magazine. Use real life homes and interiors and show some of the best decorating ideas for the open floor plan home, or what to do with that huge vaulted wall or plant shelf etc.

Maybe I should start my own magazine. Yes, I like to look at Veranda, Home Beautiful etc. but those houses are not me or my family and while they're fun to look at, don't really help me at all in decorating my home.

One other way I like to get decorating ideas is to go to the annual Parade of Homes because at least those homes are generally decorated pretty close to normal - although some are still over the top.

be thankful you can afford stain quality trim ..the reason most new places don't use it is the expense..most trim now is either crap wood put together to make "paint quality" and or it is made of plastic..painted..

only really quality trim is stain quality so be proud of what you have and realize all those photos you see are just builders trying to save a buck

Ditto, Parma! "I'm a wood stained person living in a white trimmed house. When we were planning our new build (Chicagoland), and inquired about trim packages, we were told that you have to spend a mil+ to get the stained wood as the homes in our price range, all had paint grade trim."

Also in Chicago land, also living with white painted trim, boring 2 1/4" narrow colonial. My baseboards are only 2 inches wide! Makes me wonder why they bothered.

I would LOVE to have stained woodwork in all my rooms. I have put in stained oak baseboards in my foyer and kitchen but have not felt up to replacing it everywhere. IfÂs itÂs done at all itÂs DIY. Not sure either how to integrate with casings and 6 panel fake wood colonial doors, or painted wood windows.

In decorating magazines (which I only read in the dentists office) IÂm tired of seeing white distressed furniture. Or black distressed furniture. I like WOOD and all its colors. I need to know how to paint, decorate, etc., around rich warm wood.

One of the reasons that you don't see typical development houses in magazines is that they don't have a lot of architectural merit. There are entire books and coursework pertaining to the loss of design sensibility in modern American residential architecture.

This is not to say that the houses are not nice to live in. (and many an architectural masterpiece unlivable for most of us).

As for woodwork, if it is beautiful woodwork, I say stain it. However, the era of beautiful woodwork being routine in typical builder's homes was over by the post war era.

There is nothing more disappointing or difficult to work with than paint grade, finger jointed, inferior woodwork that takes stain unevenly and is so poorly done it feels like sandpaper when you touch it.

With the exception of the most recent Country Living installment that I picked up on a whim, I don't buy decorating magazines anymore. I find that they tend to be so "one note", and seem to just regurgitate the same styles over and over -- as though to drill into our heads that this is what you MUST buy. No thanks. My own style is so "different" that I'd never expect to see anything similar or personally inspirational in a magazine, so I find myself poring over my collection of southwest/Mexican design books regularly.

Linnea56, aren't those fake 6 panels the pits?

Our builder actually brags about them in their literature.

For me it's ceiling height. As far as I can tell, 10' is about the lowest almost any of them will consider picture-worthy. Unless in`a 200-year-old cottage with 2'-wide plank floors, but only then. When I was making decisions and trying to get ideas for this house, I flipped through them and used a second magazine to cut off the top 3-11' or so of each room.

Caroeloh, I feel your "pain"---multiplied by about 1000! Not only do I have stained trim, I have stained walls and ceilings, too! (I live in a log home.) Most decorating magazines and TV shows are all but useless to me and other log home owners.

When we first bought our home, I bought several issues of Log Home Living to get an idea of how to decorate and furnish our log home. By about the third issue, I could see that every featured home looked the same: leather furniture, fake animal skins, Native American designs, Western accessories, etc. I "bookmarked" the few elements that I liked and stopped buying magazines.

That said, you can still find inspiration in magazines, TV programs, and forums. You just need to train your eye to look past the "perfection" in the staged photos. And look in the background of the photos for ideas that you can incorporate into your decor.

I've also found that I get inspiration from unusual places, such as catalogs for cabinets, furniture, tile, plumbing fixtures, lighting, and bedding. But again, in most cases, I have to "not look at" the painted walls and trim and try to picture how the individual items would look in my home.

I'm with Mitch on not paying to look at "real life decor", and others who expect inspiration from magazines. I'm buying to learn from the pros what I may choose to apply to my own home. Close scrutiny of little details can educate anyone's eye, though you may not be able, or want to duplicate the whole.
But I do know what you mean, and too rarely will a mag. feature a great re-do of an average 80's tract house. As many on here have done, my DH and I transformed a previous home from a'70's "sows ear into a silk purse" with new floors, windows, and mouldings/woodwork, etc. All it took was an educated imagination and $$, though much of it was DIY.
All the design decisions were made far more quickly, and with greater confidence because of all the prior years of studying magazine photos of rooms I loved.
What I would give for a cherry or walnut paneled library, and matching woodwork! But, as palimpsest states, if the wood isn't worthy, it's really better painted. But hey! Doesn't have to be white. Many gorgeous, historical homes (and new) feature woodwork in gray, green, gold, etc, etc. It's not stain, but can give a similar, warm feel.

Metropolitan Home and Elle Decor have both featured layouts of conventional new construction within the last year. However, the house itself was "minimized": the shots were rather tight views of furniture and decor and lacked the normal long and general views that are often featured with "architectural" houses.

White slip covers. Oh sure, they say how wonderful they are - just toss them in the washing machine?? Like maybe every other day! They'll show a family with a couple of kids,three dogs and a cat - surrounded by everything covered in white. Are they kidding or what??

We should collectively start a new magazine: Real Houses

Caroleoh I hear your problem but I haven't seen houses with stained trim in shelter magazines unless they are VERY high end snow-country ski homes (western decor) or historic homes with the thickly polished, heavy woodwork that was typical in the early part of the last century.

I'm not trying to be difficult, but I read magazines for inspiration and I guess, aspiration, and I don't need to see a 1980s tract house. It's not going to inspire me.
I don't quite understand the deal with stained trim--can't you just paint it?

"I'm not trying to be difficult, but I read magazines for inspiration and I guess, aspiration, and I don't need to see a 1980s tract house. It's not going to inspire me.
I don't quite understand the deal with stained trim--can't you just paint it?"

Nah, their arms are probably too tired from painting all the outlets and switch plates in their houses.

this is a great thread. I used to dislike the magazines b/c the houses in them had nothing to do with houses like ours ('67 cookie-cutter colonial). Now that we are in an old farmhouse, I like them even less-- just a reminder of how great our house could look and how much money it would cost to get it that way.

I'm not talking about showing pictures of basic tract houses. I'm talking about taking any house and showing it decorated with stained trim. It could be a $5 million dollar McMansion, but the color choices and fabric choices to choose around stained trim are different in some cases when you're working with white trim.

I'm not saying I hate my stained trim, I'm just saying it's hard to get some good inspiration ideas when everything is against white trim.

And while I've thought about painting my trim, it's very nice wood - solid 6 panel doors, plus it's alot of work to sand and prep and paint all the trim in an entire house!

I'm not saying white trimmed decor is wrong, I'm just saying share some of the space - these designers are all decorating about the same anymore. Dark trim would be a challenge!

Architectural Digest, Old House Interiors, Dwell all regularly feature houses with stained woodwork. They tend to be $$$, antique, and "green" in content, respectively.

Fine Home Building has an Annual "Houses" issue that generally features lots of houses with stained or natural wood interiors.

oceanbaby, re the white slipcovers...Oh yeah! I have slips on my f.R. sofa( not white). They aren't loose- shabby chic, and though I love switching them out ONCE A YEAR, it is a bit of chore. I'm guessing the white slipcover/upholstery folk with kids or dogs go my route: When not wearing slipcovers, I place a nice looking quilt on the seats, and remove it when I please. Otherwise,the dog's muddy feet(this is her one sofa) and kids spills could be tough to deal with. Without this device, on white, I'd need a maid to wash them weekly!
caroleoh, not to start up "McMansion" talk again.... and I guess there have been many, though I've seen only a few....I really wish the expression was used vs. abused, before it loses all meaning. In most parts of the country a 5 million house would be a large custom built home, and other than a few places such as Ca., usually come with some land. A McMansion, refers to very large tract house. Though large, there are many of them, all the same...Mcmansion.

Caroleoh is right about the under-representation of decors with stained trim in the various mags. Maybe we could start a collection of pictures here?

Parms--you are the sly wit, aren't you? Wait til I unload about dirty grout.

Decorating magazines to me are on the same level as cooking magazines. Nothing I will ever make with looks as good or tastes as great. They inspire but can never be duplicated.

People's homes look like people's homes. I have been in many recently and it only reinforces the fact that I spend too much time worrying about the perfect this or that. No one has a perfect home.

"Parms--you are the sly wit, aren't you? Wait til I unload about dirty grout."

Two words...grout sealer.

Kind of amazing that so many people have never even heard of it.

"Decorating magazines to me are on the same level as cooking magazines. Nothing I will ever make with looks as good or tastes as great."

Unless you're making a recipe by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Every, and I mean every, recipe I've made of hers (and I've made 100+) comes out looking and tasting like it should. And I love her style...it's so relaxed and welcoming.
Maybe she should put out a decorating magazine. She even has laminate counters in her kitchen, so for me, she's the cats a$$ ;o)

I do get that decorating magazines are supposed to be for inspiration. I would, however, like to see how-tos for transforming the 1980s basic colonial into a stylish, functional home for today's family.

Sort of like, "If you like this look, try this..."

I have found more real life inspiration on this forum and on personal blogs. There are many posters on here that show their before and afters and they live in homes that I would consider more typical, or should I say more like mine that I identify with. Those real life before and afters are true inspiration to me!

Oh, and to the original poster, I had the same situation as you with the trim. I tried and tried to work with it, but in the end had it painted over. And, yes, it was a LOT of work!