I’m in the same boat, we bought a house that was built in 1980 and is filled with dark trim with matching solid wood doors. I would like to paint the trim white but it’s going to turn into a big job and then I feel like I also need to paint the doors white to match the trim. My wife and I have different opinions about this so we haven’t done anything yet.
Please post any additional pics that may help us decide one way or another.

The trim is pretty as it is. Has a mid-century modern vibe. Colorful rug and maybe some funky curtains on some but not all of the windows would be nice.

For me, it’s the color of the stain that I’m not fond of.peg[haps stain it darker. The ceiling beam needs to be painted. The 80’s track lighting is the most offensive visually to me that makes the window trim seam dated. Fix the lighting and the e’rest should look much better.

I like the stained wood trim except for those rosettes which destroy the modernish vibe.

Stain grade trim is a significant upgrade over paint grade trim. I wouldn't be too anxious to do a lot of work prepping and painting trim only to downgrade and create more work down the road repairing chips and nicks in the paint.

No.

Henry - it is fine to paint the trim and leave the doors wood. Buying solid wood oak doors would actually cost more than white painted doors - which are usually MDF. This is because MDF is more stable as to seasonal movement than wood. The seasonal movement of wood due to changes in temp and humidity can cause hairline cracks in the paint at the joints. Also, white doors are much more of a cleaning upkeep, especially if you have children. Just keep in mind that the "fashion" in what color or wood tone of house trim that is trending changes every decade or so. Hang in there and the wood may come back in style:)

White trim with wood doors:

Beacon St. Residence · More Info

A mix of white and wood:

Santa Mariah Deposit: Charming Cottage! · More Info

Love the natural wood with the white, very on trend

More idea pics -if you are keeping some of the wood :

This is actually a new remodel which changed out white trim to wood:

Pinterest · More Info

One way to take the attention away from the wood trim and window trim is to add the warmth and texture of window treatments.

Very nice room. If it was my house, I would not paint the trim. I would replace the track lighting.

Looks like a very warm and lived-in home. I’d enjoy the baby and the cat, and leave the trim alone.

jhmarie, your second photo where the trim is white but the inside trim and window itself are wood are one version I was thinking of.

a few ppl asked for more photos to help understand, so they are below. we are redoing the kitchen and floors and I would like a wide plank French oak / lighter color floor.

it's cold and snowy outside so the white we have reads a bit colder than it really looks (Benjamin moore white dove.) we had the whole house painted and popcorn ceiling removed before we moved. and replaced the ceiling fans. the track lights are on the list.... before the house was very yellow and orange. it was... interesting. but much to yellow for me.

at some point the stair railings will be updated too.

I definitely understand that that we need drapes and more consistent / better planned rugs too

I would start by addressing the lighting change all the bulbs to LEDs in 4000k then that yellow cast on everything will disappear. The colors will then look the same all the time .That track can be changed to an LED one. The arched windows and rosettes keep the space from really feeling cohesive in style. Paint all the ceiling stuff the same color white. I think a rug with more color would be nice . The scary thing with painting woodwork is where to stop, in your case with everything so open I would try just window coverings first to see if that takes some of the wood out of the equation before starting to paint.

We moved into this house a year ago and are planning a kitchen and floor renovation this summer.

I count at least three different wood floors so I see why you want to renovate the floor. I would wait until the floor is done before making a decision about the trim. Yes, ideally, one would want to paint the trim before new floors are installed. But, in this case, I would want to see how the existing finish on the trim plays with the new all-one-wood floor. It feels helter-skelter right now, IMO, because you have too much going on w/ all the different floors and transitions. Going to feel a lot calmer once you have new flooring in place.

I very much like the rich 'mellowed old pine' color of the trim. And love it paired up with white walls.

The track lighting should be removed 1st, hang a chandelier that matches your taste, then decide. I really like the trim as is and the beam!

I would wait to cover that much trim with paint. Not only is it a huge job now, but you’ll have to maintain paint trim over the years. Try decorating around it before you do something that can’t be undone. Our house has a ton of wood trim and I painted the whole house SW Antique white, which looks great with all the wood.
Ultimately you can cover the windows with drapes.

okay lots suggesting that we keep the trim which I can definitely appreciate. how about the floor modeling then? when we redo the floors the contractor felt we would need to replace it... and it will be really hard to match again.. can the floor molding be white? it goes up against the sliding door trim

I am usually one of the "don't paint" people, but your trim reminds me of mine when I moved into our home. I did live with it just fine for many years, but like you when we started to make other changes, the dark trim did not work. Mine was dark stained pine so I felt no qualms about painting it. My home had been a rental for a few years and many parts of the trim had nicks in the wood showing light wood underneath. It was just about as much upkeep as keeping white trim white:)

My house was built in the 70s and is in a different style than yours - no difficult to paint high ceiling. My changes were more towards the warm wood of the 90s and away from 70s harvest gold. So we replaced harvest gold carpet and vinyl with traditional solid wood floors, broken / cracked hollow core doors with paneled natural oak doors and the old dark kitchen with lighter oak. The dark trim did not go with these changes so I slowly - a room at a time - painted the trim white. I used 2 coats of Zinssar 123 and 2 coats of an acrylic enamel paint (NuCling by Diamond Vogel - a midwest quality paint store). That was 20 years ago and there are newer products, but what i used has held up very well.

My trim was not at all shiny, and I did not sand, though did thoroughly clean. In some places I replaced the trim - much easier to prime and paint stock trim on a couple of saw horses - but I am not good at coping corners and don't have a nail gun, so I did have to pay a handy man to install when I did new. At the time I painted the trim and the windows and mutton bars on the main level, but a few years later we bought new white windows which made the upstairs much easier.

I like the white because it brightens the light coming through the windows - also lots of snow outside here and too many gloomy gray winter days:) The wood brings warmth so I like the combo. I also have flexibility to use wood when I want and white when I want. I painted a large dark built in bookcase white, but left the mantel wood. The powder room cabinet is white, but all other bathrooms are wood.

I am totally jealous your popcorn ceilings have been removed. I have removed a couple during other renovations and have one more scheduled to go, but many are left!

My house is a traditional colonial so not the style of yours, but I do have the wood doors with the white trim - lighter wood than yours. I do find that the white trim and daylight bulbs helpful in giving the wood a more brown and less orange tone, mostly in the kitchen. This is how it looks in my house which I have in a vintage / cottage style:

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784236

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~93784291

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~47409722

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~88642832

That was a lot of work Marie, but it does look much brighter.

Not being mean, I just wanted to point out to the poster her stair railing spindles.

They are not installed properly. If she looks at your 3rd picture, you can see

how they should be done. Best to get them fixed before painting.

BTW the stairs look lovely also.

I love the wood trim around your windows--but I don't like what you did in the bedroom. The window there I would paint white as well, if you wanted white trim in the bedrooms. But those living room windows with the wood make me swoon.

I used to think that wood trim was the only way to go. I've changed my mind. If your wood trim is beautiful and exceptional, I would keep it the way it is. If it is "run of the mill" type of trim and is nothing special, I would paint it. I think painting it white would give the room a lighter feel. If you are going to paint it dark, I would just leave the wood.

Beverly -- THANK YOU!!! I've been trying to explain why / how curtians would help to my husband.... this is so helpful.

Omg, love the drapes with the stained wood trim! Nice chandelier as well, just need to paint the beam to match the ceiling and replace those 80’s tract lighting or totally remove.

Not a Pro.

You have a beautiful room and I love how @BeverlyFLADeziner helped you envision the room.

On a side note......I must say, my eyes went straight to the track lighting. Take that down :-)

I like how you painted the trim but left the inset portion of the window wood.

***if you are going to redo all of your floors, this is moot. remove all of the baseboard molding and replace w/ primed MDF in a 5" or taller size, after the new floors go in. Paint white. this saves you the hassles of prepping all of that wood baseboard and painting it. IF you choose to leave it w/new floors, you'll have to use quarter round shoe molding next to the baseboards and that looks yuk w/all new floors***

this is a gorgeous room. I'd paint all of the window trim white, leave the actual wood window and the wood doors. (agree about that horrid track lighting! And what is that random piece of wood across the ceiling? Would be nice if you could clad the beam in wood)

see this ceiling? do the beams like this and get proper ceiling lights.

the staircase. paint it. here's a similar before/after

or replace it all completely

Yes paint the wood trim.

Paint out all the windows and trim.

No, do not paint the trim. That wood trim is more expensive than wood to be painted, once you do it, you can’t go back. It’s a richer look than just plain paint. Update lighting by removing the track lighting, then whitewash the brick behind the wood stove, that will lighten the room up also.

We had a similar situation and we decided to leave the wood trim around the arched window in the living room but everywhere else we painted the trim (but left the wood around the window).... I'd recommend your first focus should be finding the perfect wood floor you will use throughout (if you keep any stitch of the window wood). We knew we would be keeping the wood around the windows so we tried to find a new wood floor that worked with it (previously the house was all white tile and white carpet and wood trim everywhere). It freshened it up but didn't ditch the wood entirely.

I wouldn’t. It highlights the room’s architecture nicely. I would beef it up a bit, particularly on the piece running overhead—turn it into a full beam. And then decorate the room to complement it, in a sort if a natural northwest vibe.

I would paint it all white. Beautiful house but white will make it look like a newer house. I have dark floors. White windows and trim. SW eider white walls. And I’m so happy with it.

I’d paint the walls a light, fresh color and leave the trim alone. I rather like the darker wood trim. It doesn’t look jenky.

I second changing the lights on the track light strips. I’d leave the track, itself, yet change the actual lights. There are some stylish ones now that also have more energy efficient bulbs.

I would definitely not paint the wood window frames. Not sure if I’d paint the trim around the windows- definite maybe. If I had the budget I’d probably replace it with trim with a simpler profile and no rosettes. It’s actually pretty inexpensive to have trim replaced. I would paint all the rest of the wood trim and when you do new baseboards just go with white. As others have said changing the staircase will help with update. FWIW I recently raised the floor up in a sunken room so all my floors are level and I much prefer it. Easy (and not expensive) to do when you’re doing new floors so if you’ve ever thought of it now the time.

Hire a pro decorator to give you direction so it can be done right. Otherwise, you waste money and make mistakes. Your lighting is in need of upgrade. Window coverings: I would use black rods with white linen to keep it light and clean. But your rods are too high. Allow the arch to be exposed and place rod lower! Add canned lights and have the drywall beam wrapped in a faux barn wood. Replacing the spindles on the stairs with a simple black metal rod and a neutral carpet will transition to a more contemporary look. Have a pro do your floors and make them so there isn’t that threshold and it’s all one level.

leave it! it's coming back in style, warms a room up, and painting it is a huge and time consuming PIA!

Rethinking I love that pic the designer did with the drapes. What a difference it makes with the wood molding. So keep molding. Do the drapes. Remove the track lighting PLEASE. Recessed lights will be better and last but not least stain the staircase and railing wood and stair rail the same color as windows and floors. The lighter wood does not look right. It is a great room.

thanks all! we have decided to leave the window trim as is :) will post and update late summer when the Reno is done :)

I vote for painting the trim

I personally would not paint the wood trim around the windows or door. The person who said that it is an expensive finish is correct and once you paint it you cannot go back. However, I agree with the other pro when she recommended a 5” paint grade baseboard painted-any paint grade would be fine, it does not have to be MDF. I would recommend using a similar baseboard color to your wall color, either the same color or 1-2 shades lighter and in a gloss finish. It is totally fine for your door and window trim to not be the same as your baseboards. I would keep your walls a light neutral color.

Look for wood flooring in a coordinating color to your trim, but not matched. Mixing woods is fine as long as the tone of the wood is similar and there is a common color in the woods, eg if your trim has a charcoal tone in the grain, choose a flooring that has that same charcoal tone. Finding that similar color in both woods will give you a unifying theme between the two and the will look natural together without being too perfectly matched.

I also agree with the person who said “hire a pro.” A lot of residential interior designer offer consultations as a stand alone service. One visit from a pro to get ideas and advice may be all you need.

My advice on that is to make sure that the designer leaves you with their notes and considers the consultation to be a working consultation and not a meet and greet where they charge you for the pleasure of seeing your home.

In my business my consultation includes a home or video visit, a shared private Pinterest board, access to any notes and sketches I make, and one follow-up email after the visit. I bring a lot of value to the stand alone consult. Make sure whomever you hire does the same!

Paint window and door trims + stair railings black

how about the floor modeling then? when we redo the floors the contractor felt we would need to replace it... and it will be really hard to match again..

No, that trim will not be hard to replace. Looks like a standard colonial base.

well we did it! replaced painted the trim, left the doors wood. new floors, New stair railings new kitchen :) yes, next project will be the track lights and curtians. thanks for everyone's input!

You've been a very busy gal!. Congratulations it looks lovely.

Looks terrific!

Very well done!!! Enjoy your brighter space !

Wow, it looks GREAT! I love your new stair railing and the sleek kitchen. That backsplash is wonderful. You guys have been very busy. All looks well worth your time, money and effort. Congratulations on all the changes.