Thanks brickeyee and Ron for this info! It really helps me learn what to ask the carpenter about. scsr5200, thanks so much for all of the points that you mentioned, especially the electrical one. There is an outlet in the baseboard that's about a foot from the right edge of the window, and on the exterior side (the enclosed porch side) is an outlet about in the same place. It's a good point to worry about how the wiring is going through the wall. The house was originally built in 1897, and I think the woodwork (baseboards, trim, etc) is from the original construction, but I could be wrong. Our house inspector, who knows old houses, said there are signs of remodeling circa 1950's, which is when the previous owners bought the house. Ron, my gut feeling was that the whole baseboard would have to come off, but the room is so long, that taking the whole thing off might cause more problems than cutting it in place with the sawzall. At least, thanks to you all, I can have an intelligent conversation with the carpenter about the options. :-) Thanks again! LA

Hi Lukkiirish. Painting the doors the same color as the rest of the trim has always been the way they do things in Europe. France has never seen a painted door it didn't like. On the other hand, doors stained--generally mahogany, since that was the fashionable wood at the time--to contrast with white trim became the standard in important houses in 18th Century England. And since what we call 'Colonial' is merely a simplified version of what's considered Georgian style decor in England, places like the White House have combined stained doors with painted trim for more than 200 years now. It's all good. Baseboards often match the rest of the trim, but not always. In grand houses they were often colored marble, and in less important houses, they were often finished in faux marble rather than pale paint, the better to hide the soil line from dirty mops, which is why they're still called 'mop boards' in England. The last time I was at The White House, the baseboards in the Blue Room were painted in imitation of yellow Sienna marble. In other words, when it comes to painting doors, whatever you decide do to, you'll have plenty of historic precedent behind you. Situations where it's literally impossible to make a wrong choice don't come along very often in decorating, so when it does happens, you ought to take advantage of it. Regards, Magnaverde.

When I moved into my current place, I had the same problem set. I actually did choose to replace all of my base molding throughout (yes, even in the closets), but kept all my original door casing. I have a variety of ceiling heights throughout the space and, while a crown treatment wasn't an option given my rooflines, I wanted to make sure that my base treatment created harmony throughout all the spaces and flowed without distraction. It gives the same level of finish and polish everywhere, which is a uniformity I wanted. I just made sure that it would coordinate well with my existing door casing (and my windows also have just an under-sill treatment like yours - no casing around the sides or across the top). It was one of the first projects I did, and I've really loved how it turned out. I did the 5.25" flat-sided ogee-top profile and it's worked out great as my style has filled in other parts of the plan around it.

I like the way this house is finished with simple cove crown molding. I like that the molding is white, but the door is stained wood. Where the ceiling is slanted they omitted the crown molding; much cleaner look for that area. The base molding is quite generous.