Well, I used to be die-hard fan of Zinsser products and they are fabulous -- (Cover Stain or Smart Prime) will cover most anything. I've also used the Sherwin Williams product called PrepRite Pro-Block and was NOT satisfied. I've recently stumbled upon KILZ MAX Primer by Masterchem and it is the bomb ($33/Gallon). Dries fast, little odor, covers completely with no bubbles or bleed-thru, sands nice ... I'm in love. LOL. I've used this product on drywall, stained paneling and an old rustic stained/painted rocking chair and it covered/sealed superbly with one coat. I'm just an amateur but that's my 2cents. A professional will certainly weigh in and give you more informed advice. Good luck! This post was edited by PinesEverywhere on Fri, May 3, 13 at 21:22

You may not want to prime it. You may want to stain it with a solid color stain. Those are usually self priming. Is the wood in sound condition? Is it clean? You can choose a variety of wood stains in various colors. My daughter painted a roughsawn cedar patio room with Cabot Solid Color Siding Stain in cream and it looks gorgeous. It's called PRO. V.T Solid Color Acrylic Stain. Michael

Usually with two different types of wood, you need to do two different stain matches or sometimes thinning the stain with paint thinner to lighten the color of the stain will work. To lighten it after the stain has dried you can dip a rag in paint thinner and try to pull some of the dark out but this may be hard to do after the stain has dried. You can use an oil primer over the stain and then paint with the topcoat of your choice.

Gorgeous door. I had painted wood banister and woodwork in my last house. It does show scuffs. And mine was the old oil based paint so much more durable than modern. This is how I feel about painting wood - if it has great grain and looks really good, then don't paint. I don't see either situation for your woodwork, but I also like wood and am really lazy so I would not paint. As far as bang for your buck, a new window is relatively inexpensive compared to all the years of joy it could bring you. As far as dark, your dark green carpeting is not doing you any favors. I had carpeting on my stairs at my last house and stuck with it because it makes the stairs seem less dangerous if I fell down them. But I would definitely go with an indoor/outdoor close weave kind of carpet, made for heavy traffic areas. Just do the treads if you need to save money. I love the idea of wall lights, sort of like what pot lights can do only appropriate for the style of your home. Gorgeous home details, BTW. Not sure how much your budget is and how much you want to tackle. I can't see how painting your woodwork will go with the style of your house and it doesn't seem like you want that much of a redo on everything else. Why do you have your entry way rug taped down? I could see adding a larger lighter rug there to tone down the dark of that groovy floor tile.