I can tell you what we have in our house. All the windows have stained trim (in a honey color--maybe the one you don't like in yours? But I love it!) Anyway, the windows were all replaced by the PO, who installed and stained the new ones. The rest of the house trim and baseboards, however, are still original to the house (1939) and are all painted white. The doors, also mostly original, are painted white as well. The only new (french) door we added as part of an addition, we stained to match the window woodwork--that is the only door with stained trim. In our house, I think the combination works well. We have a lot of wood furnishings, as well as the floors, that are a similar tone to the window trim, and the white works well with our cottage/country-ish decorating style. We have talked about painting the windows, but my DH is against it because once you start repainting windows (which eventually needs to happen), it starts affecting how well they function (as we have experienced in other older homes we have lived in) How well it would work for you might depend on what color your doors are, what color floors/carpet are and how those blend/contrast with the stain or paint color.

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

1. I've included a link so you have a visual of dark baseboards and painted window trim. I see no reason you can't paint only the window trim. If you decided to paint the baseboards then I'd go ahead and paint the door trim also. My house is all white trim & baseboards with stained pine doors so I know how great the look is! :~). 2. Your doors and trim may only need a good cleaning, a touch up with stain and then sealed. Replacing will be much more expensive and labor intensive than just painting. If you decide to paint them, talk to someone at a paint store (not a big box) and ask about the products they now have that you can use instead of sanding. If the surface has really shiny finish then you'll probably need to do some light sanding. Here is a link that might be useful: white trim, dark baseboards

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.