I don't think it would be weird at all to paint the whole wall white (or any other colour) including the chair rail (that's the line of trim around the walls. The idea is that it protects the walls from being marred by a chair being pushed back from the table). Of you don't like the chair rail you could check under the one on the dividing wall; if the wall under it is nice you could probably take it right off with no problem. You might have some nail holes to fill but that's pretty easy. I really like white walls with oak trim. There are a lot of nice examples of it here on houzz.

you can't turn Red Oak into White Oak. although both oak, they have their different tones and graining. Most likely, if you have an original craftsman that's 100 years old, it's Red Oak. Post a picture of what you're talking about. The 'honey oak' term came from the 80's when they started doing homes w/the cheaper quality oak trim and cabinets, and stained them a 'honey' color. That wood was red oak. this is a vintage craftsman w/oak trim. most of them were this darker stain

We are planning to paint honey oak trim, windows, doors, cabinets, and builtins white. Does anyone have any advice or experience on best way/materials to do this? We have 3 small children and a dog- we want to make it as durable as possible (so we can wipe it down easily and avoid chipping). Some people recommend sanding, while others do not. Any experience is highly welcomed!

Whatever happened to people putting gel stain on oak they don’t like? When I did my kitchen in 2003, everybody in the Kitchens forum was doing gel stain. It seems to me that those honey oak trim pieces are going to continue to scream their age out at you with every glance in their direction and it will look like you were too lazy or cheap to fix them (no insult intended, just trying to explain the effect they will have.). If you want to keep that honey oak look, fine. But you can’t fudge on it. You have to commit. Celebrate it. Or paint it or stain it. Don’t half re-decorate and think it will look good. Honey oak was just too....honey oak!