Aside from personal preferences, I'd say stained is a little easier to keep clean, and it'll look clean even if it isn't, unless you've got sunlight hitting it directly, then you can see the dust if it's dusty. Also, I think stained is easier to touch up, YMMV.

We have both and I prefer the stained woodwork. Once it is stained and polyurethaned, you are done! You never have to do anything again. Painted woodwork you have to keep repainting.

Well, it depends on what you are going for. I could see how stained would be easier to keep clean, and that it would never have to be painted. BUT, I prefer painted, because I find it easier to decorate around.

Look at pictures in magazines of rooms or rooms on the color threads/inspiration threads in the gallery. Which rooms are you drawn to?

Hope that helps - Boop (that has stainted trim and won't paint it but wishes it was painted) :)

Stained - hides dirt better, initial cost higher due to quality wood and extra attention to installation, harder to make certain paint colors to work and with wood floors and wood furniture you need to pick a stain that works with all you have. Can be painted if you tire of stained.

Painted - depending on color it might not hide dirt as well and might show skuff marks from vaccum. Easy to find paint colors to work with it especially if using a white, cheaper to buy and install as grade of wood doesn't need to be as nice and caulk and woodputty easily hides any imperfections. Color ranges in the full spectrum if you want something other than white. Can't go to stained unless you replace it.

To me, stained provides a richer look to the room it's in. I would NEVER paint stained good quality wood. If you end up changing your mind and want to get rid of the paint down the road, it's a pain in the backside to take it off. I know - we moved into a house with great trim and a previous owner had painted it. I stripped tons of it and I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

I've lived with both (currently have stained medium shade oak). I definitely prefer painted! Then all your wood furniture doesn't have to look like it matches. I've some beautiful cherry furniture in the living room that looks just so-so with the oak. I'd never buy a house again that has all stained woodwork. I can't imagine painting the coarse grained oak trim although my husband has suggested it.

At our last house, we had a mixture. Stained maple in the kitchen to match the cabinets and stained in the family room to match paneled walls and built in cabinets. Everywhere else it was painted. I really liked that house the best.

Our neighbors currently have stained pine everywhere except in their laundry room which has dark green painted trim and cabinets. Their house looks very nice.

Another part of our problem is an open floor, but that can be saved for another discussion sometime.

:p to Mari. When are you coming over to pick out paint colors for me if it is so easy ;)

I hope all is well for you in your new digs!

Mari- "like a zit on a supermodel" Love it! Ha, ha.

I just finished stripping, sanding and re-staining my 100 year old trim that had been painted over. It was so worth it! While I love the look of soft white painted trim because it gives you so much flexibility, making it work depends upon the house and your style. In our big family home, the trim was relatively plain and it looked better painted. In our empty-nester old house, I wouldn't dream of keeping the trim painted. It just ain't right for it. :]

Once you determine your style and how/if you can make that fit into your house, you probably will know the answer to your question. Big help hey?
Diane

Apologies for hijacking the thread, but... Mari, you are a hoot. Love your posts.

Both are good. Two things:

1. If stained, then the doors should be stained too, or else you have a large dark rectangle around a painted door. To me, that doesn't look good and calls undue attention to the trim and the door, neither of which are supposed to be focal points. If you have stained doors, then the doors must be good looking.

2. Stained trim and doors are going to be darker.

So, it depends on whether you want a light look or a darker look.

Personally, I prefer everything painted.

I have painted trim now and love it! My dogs used to drool on the old woodwork and it really ate into the finish. Same with any rain damage. The enamel paint is tough as nails and cleans up really nice.

Also, I have always had wood so it is a nice change. I expect that my make-believe retirement home in a lovely tropical location will have totally different trimwork.

I've lived with both. I like the look of painted better. It looks fresher.

Right now I am living with wood. What I do not like about it is that wood trim has a grain and is not smooth. I always feel that the grain traps dirt deep into the grooves.

With painted woodwork, when spring cleaning rolls around you can scrub it with some good strong cleaner. This is important if you have kids, pets, or smokers in the house or live in a city with lots of dirty air pollution or do a lot of greasy cooking which settles all over everything even in room outside of the kitchen. Grease and dirt seem to bond with the finish on wood and settle into the grain. Smooth painted wood is easier to clean and does not need any special gentle wood cleaners that are expensive and never seem to do a good job.

Personally, I prefer painted, but there are some homes where the design screams for wood, like craftsman or older victorian. (I know there's more but those come to mind first) I've had both and if I moved into a house that the wood kept with the design of the home or worked well with what I had to put in it I'd keep them, if not, I'd get out the paint.

I have dark stained quarter sawn oak trim throughout the downstairs except in the kitchen which was already painted white when we moved in. At 1st I wasn't thrilled w/ the dark trim & loved the white trim. 8yrs later the white trim in the kitchen works my last nerve (but it can look good). At every doorway (there are three) every door at knob level and the trim beside it is filthy all of the time because they are major doorways to the outside or the basement. It looks disgusting & I'm too busy too wipe it down every freaking day w/ a cloth.

That said the trim upstairs is all white & I don't have a problem w/ dirt showing nearly as much.

The stained trim floor level downstairs shows dust more but I just vacuum that when I do regular vacuuming. The white painted trim floor level upstairs actually physically needs wiped down since it shows any spill or snotty cat sneeze.

Upstairs in my MBR I have the dark stained doors w/ a rich cream trim and it's gorgeous. Downstairs I love the rich mixture of varying woods.

Which would I pick in the end? Simple - I'm moving to a house that has no window or door trim - just baseboards!

I live in a 1937 Cape Cod. All of the original trim and doors were painted (all different colors) when I bought it. The PO had done some 'modernizing' and put in stained wood trim in a more modern style in my office and bedroom. I couldn't wait to get that taken out of my bedroom and paint it. It's painted in my office but one day the style in here will match the rest of the house. I use an 'almost white' for the trim in the whole house.

But, I got a bee in my bonnet when I painted the teeny front entry in BM Wythe Blue last January, that the original door would look better stained inside. I FINALLY completed that stripping, sanding, and staining (Minwax English Chestnut) and polying, and the door went back in today. I thought it was part Douglas fir, but a man replacing my original threshold planed down the door a bit to put in new weather stripping and said it's all oak. Can you LOVE a door? The transformation cost me just a few dollars, and what pride I am taking in my little project. But, would I ever do stained trim, though? Absolutely not.

Before, when I was playing with paint colors to replace the SW Blonde -

And today - when the door went back in. 'Scuse the lamp shade in the lower right! I did other changes in the interim in the entry, too.

one word...Gorgeous

That is gorgeous my3dogs. It must have been alot of work to strip it.

Painted! I absolutely adore crisp white trim. I sometimes mutter as I pull out my gallon of BM white semi-gloss 'another coat of nature's perfect cleaner'. Seriously, I think nothing looks fresher and cleaner than white smooth molding. Be it base, door/window trim or crown, I would never do anything other than white. To me, stained is dark and dreary. Then again I live in the subtopics (and am REALLY hoping Ike doesn't visit us here in Miami next week). Sunshine, light and bright are very much my decor aspirations.

As for zits on the supermodel, that is another thing I love about white. You just freshen it up with another coat and you're good to go. Love, love, love my white painted trim.

Although having said that, I do agree that some houses look better with stained molding. Just not any of MY houses :).

Ann

I like both depending on the style of the house. For my house style, which is a rustic ranch, I would have preferred dark stained trim, particularly after lusting after some of the pictures of stained trim posted on this site by Allison, kellyeng, and others. However, although I ended up staining my front doors very dark I will be using antique white for all interior doors and trim for several reasons.

First, I have lower ceilings and not a huge amount of natural light, so I thought stained would make my house too dark. Second, I prefer dark stained trim with very light neutral walls, and my dh wanted to use some darker colors in some of the rooms. Last, I decided to use painted wooden pillars rather than rustic beams in my foyer and great room, and thought these would work better with painted trim.

My inspiration photos include rooms with both painted and stained trim, so I have no idea which way I'll go when we build our dream house (with higher ceilings and lots of windows) someday! I have a feeling though that the setting and location of our future home will set the tone for the house style (and trim) that we choose.

Phoggie, I've always lived in homes with stained wood trim and I love it. I know that painted trim is very popular now. Personally I think it has more to do with cost than looks. With wider trim also being popular it's all the more reason that painted less quality wood and non wood products have become the norm in new homes. If wood wasn't so expensive I don't think we'd have seen this trend so wide spread.
It's not that I don't like the look. It's just not something my hubby or I would choose for a home of ours. To use stained wood looks better. Richer. Because it is richer.
~Becky

My3dogs, stunning job on the door. Given the style of the door and the age of the house, that's almost certainly how it was supposed to be in the first place, and it looks wondrful. Did you strip-and-stain the exterior as well?

"As for zits on the supermodel, that is another thing I love about white. You just freshen it up with another coat and you're good to go."

Which is probably why there's about 20-odd layers of paint on my trimwork and doors, including the pretty detailed baseboards and picture molding downstairs that are now almost completely obscured by paint - "the white won't clean up nice anymore? Put on another coat of paint!" *chuckle*

Mari, I didn't strip the outside, as all the doors on my house are 'cranberry' on the outside. I agree that this door has been re-born, although I found that it had never been stained, only painted in the past.

I also have wooden storm doors in the cranberry color, so the exterior of this door wouldn't be seen well through the storms. It'll certainly be lovingly sanded smooth and get a new coat of primer and paint, though! The brass hardware on the outside did get cleaned and polished, though, removing all those years of crud build-up or supermodel zits!

Hi, have to ask advice in this same line. Built last summer, have clear pine baseboard and trim I've been finishing (some natural, some with a touch of Minwax Honey Maple gel where window jambs were turning dark with conditioner, sill was light so touched with honey to blend in). LOVE it with my Navajo White and also with Thornton Sage and Antique Jade walls. Really goes with everything. Here's the problem - installing Brazilian Cherry in dining room next week, open to foyer (dark green tile) and stairs (oak tread with linseed oil/beeswax, unfinished pine risers). What do I do with trim and baseboards (1 long wall from dining to front door) to make it look good with cherry floors (will darken with age) and oak stairs/furniture? Here are some pics. Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Snapfish floor pics

I love this thread because I am having the same problem. We have Oak stained trim and after 18 years, it looks awful, plus I hate the medium colour stain. Began painting them, but it's a nightmare. I quit and decided I'd rather have all the trim replaced.

My question (hope you don't mind the hijack), is whether a more modern look can be achieved with painted trim or should I stick with the light stained Cherry colour I used in kitchen cabinets?

I love the look of painted trim but then I see really nicely done stained trim and that looks good too!