I generally use semi-gloss for trim. It's sturdier than lower sheens and generally easier to clean. Question for the people voting to paint the columns: It looks like the existing wood lip around the blue carpet and the riser are oak and matches the columns. I don't think the lip be effectively painted and it doesn't sound like the OP is planning to replace or restain it. Does that affect your vote at all? Would you paint the riser? What about the lip?

Rachel - thank you - you shared great photos - I will post pictures next week after the walls and trim are painted in Dove White. I really like that black paint idea on fireplace- such a bold move but I love the white fireplaces you show which seem safer. Black happens to be in the wallpaper I am currently hanging in the foyer today. Pics attached. Changing trim and walls white all over the house is a huge transformation from my dingy dark trim and walls and I am creating a monster that is snowballing. The dining room rug looks horrible with my wallpaper so I am now in search of a new rug there and one for the family room and now I need new furniture in there as well. Suggestions are welcome from anyone - It is painted Dove white and you can see the new foyer paper with the new blue study. What about a blue or green velvet sofa with all white room. I have 2 cats and someone said that they are not as attracted to velvet. I am not painting the built-ins around fireplace just yet because I have not picked out kitchen cabinets. Maybe I can have the built-ins sprayed white or the blue??? I could also try to change the trim or molding to make them more modern and even wonder if wood shelves would look good to match my dream beams. Ripping out the built-ins and replacing will be costly unless I find some cool furniture pieces to go there. I will also hold off on the painting the fireplace so I can see what the brick looks with an all white room. My painters love me and they come back every two weeks for my next Phase of renovation. : )

Everybody slapping up photos of MCM houses is getting funny. It reminds me of that old New Yorker cartoon of an executive sitting in his MCM office, talking into his desk intercom to his secretary, pleading: “Could you please bring something round in here?” At some point somebody who owned this house wanted some curves. If you paint out the curves with dark-toned paint and get rid of the beehive mailbox and the round doo-dad over the garage, it will solve 90% of your problems, and you can focus on getting the curves out of the landscaping and hard scape. With a couple of hundred thousand $$$$$ you can use this house to approximate the look of a MCM masterpiece — but as noted, brick really isn’t an MCM material, so you might not end up with a very impressive result. With 15 thousand $$ you can use paint and landscaping to reinforce the great angles your house has, and they really are great, so look for a paint that makes you happy seeing next to the brick and the roof.

New modern art, rug, lighting, window shades and great looking sectional sofa that all work with the warm floors would get you off to a good start. It's not the mantel that's the problem, it's the enormous TV that needs to go on the side wall and the man cave sofa and chair. Work with your trim, floors, and cabinets but go a little out of the box with great well-designed fairly modern pieces. Go on Craigslist and see if you can find a wide console for the TV. Search for "midcentury or MCM console, sideboard, dresser" Art for over fireplace in this palette of golds, touch of blues, gold/orange, green you can echo in rug and pillow. Go online to Etsy and just put in "abstract paintings" and see what comes up. From your art, choose a rug--something like this with golds but with green from your art. Sectional sofa in camel/gold leather. Not a bunch of things in this photo--low lines of sofa; window treatment; great piece of art in corner; graphic rug You'll want a round coffee table to tuck into the "L" if you get a sectional. Go with wood with maybe a pullout to use from both ends of sofa. Get modern nesting sides tables as well so you and guests have a place to put down a drink while you're either looking at the fireplace or the TV --Get a modern round white tulip table for your kitchen dining area. It's too dark in there to be inviting. Bigger tulip table than this, but keep your current chairs so you don't have to change everything. Save your money to put same window treatments--roll-up shades in your bay window. Ikea has a decent sized tulip table. This shows how great any kind of dark chairs look in contrast with the table. While you're at Ikea, get a modern white pendant to drop over the new table: