Should I paint my oak trim? The ~100 year old house I am renovating is full of natural woodwork. The living room & fireplace room have a nice closed-grain wood (cherry, maple or birch, not sure) and the rest of the house has oak trim. The dining room is oak, but in a darker tone. Photo link is below. The lower & upstairs hallways are oak, but have a real super orange shellac look to them. Here's the worst part though - a misinformed contractor took a sander to some of the trim in the 2nd floor hallway!! So now some of the trim is now both orange and damaged. What a dare ask is: what if we painted the lower & upper hallway trim, doors, stair risers and banisters white, and refinished the natural wood railings and newels (leave them natural). I would never touch the living room, fireplace room, or dining room woodwork - but the hallway just seems ready for a possible makeover, and stripping/refinishing the woodwork would take forever or thousands $$...and, in the end it's still oak. I look at the big arched window, and imagine it in a nice glossy white, and imagine something really classy looking. Any votes? Of course there's two issues here: 1) painting ~100 year old natural woodwork, and 2) having different kinds of trim in different parts of the house. Here is a link that might be useful: Woodwork Photos

It depends. Cheap skinny oak strips and flimsy hollow modern doors - sure why not. Vintage original quarter sawn oak from early-mid 1900s - NOOOO! I always have to ask, why white? Those sad skinny strips that pass for woodwork nowadays really dont need to be emphasized do they? Id do it same color as walls, or maybe something that is a different color but relates closely to the wall color.

The first thought that came to mind when you said "more contemporary" was black or deep green. Here are some inspirational photos. You didn't ask, but I would also remove the old schrubs and put in new landscaping. It would really move the home's look to the next level. Paint or replaced the front porch handrails your trim color and if you could replace them, select straight line ironwork. Add a new stainless mailbox and house numbers and change out your lighting. All these details will help you achieve the look you are aiming for. However, you can't totally change an "English bungalow" to a modern building without more structural changes, which I wouldn't do at this stage.

IMO I would do all white.