Pretty house, you did a great job with the kitchen!

I think both stained wood and painted wood are classic. I don't think it screams 1980s. Definitely remove the floating wainscotting.

I totally get the feeling of fighting the room to be what you want. I think the stained wood, while beautiful, is going to limit your paint and decorating choices much more than white.

That said, it's no small project to paint all that trim. I wonder if you could try finishing painting the walls a lighter color and see how it feels.

I think the room looks "classic estate home". I would not paint any of it. The kitchen is gorgeous and I think it is fine to have the separate paint vs. no paint.

In a family room with a big tv I think it is ok not to be airy feeling. I like the library vibe.

I like a mixture, but think one of your kitchen colors could be used instead of the white also.

RJ Elder Design · More Info

Your home is beautiful! I'm in the 'don't paint' camp, because I love such lovely stained wood, but do understand wanting a lighter, brighter feeling. If you could get a mock-up done of it painted, it might help your decision. Tough call! I think it would be gorgeous either way.

Yet another "don't paint it!" vote from me. I love the rich look of that cherry wood. Dated? Not at all. It's classic!

In most cases I prefer painted wood with stained wood pieces as accents. I love the look of wood but appreciate it more if it's used sparingly and draws the eye rather than just becoming a backdrop.

That said, if it were my home I would not paint the wood. It's really beautiful and I'd try some of the above suggestions re painting walls to lighten up the space.

Lovely home!

If it's a dark room, it's a dark room! Your best option would be to move to a house that doesn't have dark rooms. Painted wood is trendy, beautifully finished wood is not. You'll be painting and repainting that wood as frequently as the trends and styles and current colors change,not to mention the inevetible chips in the paint.

I have to say, having lived in quite a few 100+ year old homes over the years, I think white painted wood is just about as timeless as stained, if not more so.

I agree, robo, but I bet most of the painted wood in old houses got painted in the first place, instead of beautifully finished like this is.

Honestly, it boils down to what YOU like! Life is too short....don't be a slave to something that isn't your taste just because it is *gasp* wood. Your home isn't a historic monument...it is your home! If YOU find the wood dark & oppressive...paint it. I think painting the trim the color of your perimeter cabs or a touch lighter would let the room breathe. I really feel like the kitchen & family room don't really "go" together as is. However, they are indeed separate rooms so really it boils down to your taste. Good luck with your decision! Your home is lovely, and I adore your new kitchen!

If you painted the wainscoting, what would you do around the fireplace (where there is wainscoting, too)? Or in the corner of your first picture where the wainscoting meets the bookcases? That would be an odd transition. I love painted wood but I understand your dilemma of where to start and end with it. In this room, I'd think long and hard about what I would paint and what I would not or it will look choppy and haphazard. If I was inclined to paint, I'd paint everything white except the fireplace mantel/legs and the bar.

However I think you should embrace the dark coziness of the room and work with it. As noted above it's separated enough from the kitchen that they don't have to blend. Coordinate the wall color with the kitchen, as you're already thinking.

I love the wood, and if the room is dark, and has no way of bringing in natural light, I'm with everyone else that says embrace the cozy. It seems you already have a light and bright living space, why not go with one that is different? You could definitely add mirrors to reflect pools of light within the space and add lights in the bookshelves themselves, to create focal points (reference picture above where there are swing arm lights pointing directly at the book cases). Wall-paper with metallic in it on some of the space?

I think both spaces you show are gorgeous! Maybe go with a dark, rich gray with the natural wood, echoing your island? I'm totally on a antique brass kick right now, so I can see that working really nice with the tone of the wood shelves and a dark pewter-y wall color.

But it comes down completely to your preferences, and I think that either way, the space is amazing, so thankfully, there isn't a 'wrong' choice. I personally though, would not go with a color on the built ins, if you decide to paint, I would stick with white. I think that, of all things, does look less tied to a style, if you worry about that.

I'm in the no paint camp. I like the idea presented earlier of lining the bookcases with something...and, what about mirrors...somewhere in the room to reflect the light that's in there. I would try the other options, look at pics and figure out what would work. Don't fight what it is, just find a way to express yourself in there. have fun!

I think a mirror or two might help, but I'm not sure there would be much benefit to lining or painting or mirroring the backs of the bookcases. They don't seem visible enough to warrant the work.

Wow, thanks for all the wonderful opinions and ideas! I honestly could not sleep last night thinking about this. It is a tough room to "figure out". If it were a library or study we would have no hesitation to keep all the dark and cozy wood, but b/c it's our main living area, we've been trying to figure out how to open and lighten it up, while retaining its charm. I love the suggestion to go with a hybrid approach, and I think that's the direction we are leaning.

We *think* we are going to:

• Remove the wainscoting (this seemed to be universally recommended, from both wood lovers and dislikers!)
• Paint the trim off white (same as rest of the house), including crown molding and windows
• Paint the walls a lighter color to blend w/rest of house

And leave everything else as is. And as was pointed out, we can always go back and change it up later. We will probably do something with the mantel at some point (stone, etc.) But I think these steps will help to lighten it up a bit, without destroying the character of the space!

I did not show a picture into the OTHER hallway (sorry for all the pics!!), but I think this way it will also blend really nicely into the rest of the house, which is all painted fairly consistently w/light gray walls and off white trim:

One last question that's throwing us is the baseboard. If we do paint the crown molding off-white, is it necessary also to do the baseboard? Or would it be ok to leave that stained wood? It is very hard to figure out where to start and stop... Don't know if there are any rules of thumb about crown and baseboard being the same?

Thanks again for all the input!

PS They are installing trim and finishing barrel vaults tomorrow, hooray!! :)

If you are painting the window trim, I would do the baseboards, too.

Great compromise. I'm a big painted trim fan, so I would paint. Agree with nini to paint crown and baseboards.

I think it's really pretty and wouldn't paint it, but it's not my house. I like the idea of painting the trim and baseboards, but then you'd have to paint the wainscoting and would lose the built in look. Have you tried photoshopping the wood? White and photoshopping tend to look wonky, but maybe someone here can be of help. I do LIKE painted wood and think it would still look nice painted, but what you have isn't ugly by any means.

I would also paint the baseboards. This way it will flow and look more intentional. It will also flow better with the rest of your home. Can't wait to see all of your pics when you are done!

I would prefer all the wood in the library/den/study rather than the family room, but since that is what you have, I would keep it rather than paint it- in style or not, it is very nice! ...

since you already installed the wood bar, I think it would look best to keep the other parts stained too-- what I would consider is painting the crown molding whatever color you paint the walls (except in a satin sheen) unless you paint the walls a very dark color- I'm not crazy about dark stained crown against a light wall and ceiling...

I am late to the party but here is my two cents :).

In a nutshell, treat the built-ins and fireplace as furniture, and leave that beautiful stain.

Paint the trim (baseboards, window trim, and crown) to make it consistent with the rest of the house.

I personally wouldn't remove the wainscoting. Just treat it as an additional architectural feature, but paint it. It will give another layer of texture. I don't know whether I would paint it to match the trim or the same as the walls but in a different sheen. That is a tough one, but I still think I would leave it.

You have a beautiful room and I understand wanting to "lighten" it up.

My vote is to Paint... I think it would be beautiful !!

I would consider painting -- I think the kitchen is beautiful and painting would make everything make sense together.

Please don't paint it. It is just classic now. With some well-placed lamps and other lighting suggested by others, you can make it even more beautiful.

Don't paint anything. It is cohesive. I don't find it too dark. It is classic and does not scream 2015. Amp up the lighting if you feel it's needed. That window trim and crown is timeless and a beautiful shade of brown. Be a leader and don't follow the trends. Exchange small art items for large pieces. Large rugs if you must spend money!

First of all, thank you all SO MUCH for taking the time to provide such awesome feedback! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the input. This forum is so incredibly helpful to flesh out ideas!! We are *still* not totally finished with our project, but the painters left yesterday, and I wanted to update my post with some pictures. (The lighting isn't the best in some of these, but if I don't do it now, I never will...) We LOVE the way it turned out!!! It's so much brighter and more cheerful in there!

We ended up painting the crown, baseboard, and all the trim, after removing the wainscoting, and left the wood shelving as is. Even our painter cautioned us against painting it, as he said those types of surface can remain "tacky", and that you have to do so much more ongoing maintenance of painted shelves, especially when you move things around on them (such as we do, with all our books!). So I think this was a great compromise. We will ultimately do something different with the mantel (and get a new rug), but that will be in the next phase after our home improvement money tree has had a chance to bear new fruit (lol!). Anyway, thanks again for all the great advice that was shared -- you guys are awesome!!

Painting the trim was brilliant. It looks fantastic! The built-ins are gorgeous too. I think leaving them as is adds some warmth to the room, but the white trim brings the room "up", so to speak. Great job.

It looks very nice. Most importantly, you are happy with it! Yay!!!! Thank you so much for coming back with updated pictures. : )

It looks FABULOUS!! You did s wonderful job. Perfection!!!

Before:

Before:

Thanks for coming back with an update. Love the transformation, and so glad you are happy. It looks great.

Much, much brighter. What an amazing change.

What a lovely room! It's a nice change--the best of both

worlds, so to speak. I think the painted trip really brightens up the whole room.

OK I know I'm running the risk of oversharing at this point, but I was working in here on the couch this morning and thought that the morning sun would better convey the warmth and brightness of the room better than when I took those last pics in the late afternoon. (Funny how the dog seems to be in the same place no matter what time of day, lol!) It's such a happy room to be in now! I wish I had better "before" and "after" shots to compare (thanks tibbrix!), but lesson learned for next time... I also can't wait to share the before and after shots of the kitchen, if/when we ever get everything in! Just waiting on a couple of back ordered light fixtures and the table. (Do these projects EVER really end?!?!) I got so many helpful tips from this site, both from directly asking questions and from lurking, that I'm really looking forward to sharing and hopefully helping someone else down the road who may be struggling with some of the same decision points that we did!! :)

Beautiful. You made the right choice.

Beautiful. It looks so open and cheerful.

Just beautiful! The bookcases stand out even more.

Oh, I knew it would be awesome! It looks gorgeous with the peek into your kitchen, too...really perfect! So glad you are happy!

Thanks so much for updating with the "after" - it looks great! Love that last shot.

wow this does look really good. I would continue to work at this. I think the idea of lightening up the inside of the bookcase with the fabric wrapped foam would also help bridge everything. also maybe decorating the mantle with lighter objects to pull the lighter color over to that wall. maybe replacing the the stone around the fireplace to something lighter as well. overall it looks really beautiful; I'm just nit picking.

It's so much fun to see the transformation! I'm so glad you didn't paint all the wood. It's a perfect ratio of clean and classic. Your house is just gorgeous!!! I'm envious of that wine & beverage wet station in your living room!

Gorgeous!

What a lovely space. I like the transformation!

It is so beautiful! Great job! You have convinced me that I need to paint my stained trim white in the master bedroom, mater bath, office and hall.

It looks beautiful!! Love the transformation. Enjoy!

It really is beautiful.

It does look best this way.

What a transformation, The windows, trims and walls painted, make the room so inviting. Well done in taking the plunge.