I think gray goes really well with wood tones.

Here is a decidedly contemporary space with fir trim stained to look like cherry and match the cherry floors.

These colors would also work.

I would pick a cool white or gray color versus a warm, to balance out all the stained wood. Therefore I would stay away from antique white.

You have classic wood in your home. Do not paint it! I wouldn’t go with gray, but rather a off white, creamy toned wall to compliment your gorgeous bookshelves and woodwork. Classic doesn’t mean “old fashioned.” It means that it has passed the test of time, fads and trends. Depending on your market, location, price point, gray is fading as a trend. I do think that you can interject a more modern than traditional vibe with your furnishings, art, accessories, with a light neutral wall color. Who knows…in 6-7 years, you might have to repaint in some other color when a new trend emerges!

When do you plan to sell? Gray is trending out in many areas already. White and off white are trending up.

Classic. Don't touch that wood -- especially since you aren't planning to stay long-term, and this would be a major amount of work.

No to gray. This wood tone is warm, and gray is cool. Antique white, though, would be a winner.

Consider looking at a room by looking at blocks. Blocks of color, blocks of texture, items in foreground vs background. Look from paths of travel, look quickly, look slow. What catches your eye? If what catches your eye is something that tells the story of your home then highlight it, give it support. If what catches your eye is not something you want focused on, then make new blocks of intrigue to draw the eye in the direction of the story you would like to tell.

If you followed this, it would make sense that I would tell you the cherry stain should probably go. I don't want to notice a door! If you were willing to do something dramatic like dark paint, then get into rich tones and a lot of textiles, then by all means go to town. My guess is that a better approach would be to paint it out. Ditch it

Mom acquired vintage dark mahogany furniture in the 1950s and painted it white in the '1970s. My sister inherited it and meticulously stripped it 30 years later. Time to repaint it, I guess!

@worthy The post I made above would apply, furniture is certainly a different story as it often doesn't create a block of color that can't be broken up with items, textiles or any number of other decor. I would usually try and keep furniture in its natural state of wood as a very blanket statement. There is of course the case of having too much of one thing.

Those doors don't look well done to me. Appears someone just wiped on a gel stain and it didn't take well in some spots. Consider the demographic that is moving into your neighborhood. If they're younger, you won't go wrong painting the stained doors white. The built-in looks to be a bit better, but still not sure. Meanwhile, you could do a better job of styling the shelves. Too many photos. Put some of them on table tops around the home. Try filling the shelves with 1/3 books, 1/3 large decor items and leaving 1/3 open space. Don't line items up like soldiers. Use books standing, leaning, stacked or as risers to hold up other items. Limit photos to only 1/3 of the shelves, and none of them next to each other. Sprinkle photos around and layer them: a big one in back with a medium and smaller one layered in front of it.

^^^^

Now that I look closer, not well stained at all. So no great loss.

*****

Books as decor isn't everybody's thing.

Jazz critic, historian Nat Hentoff at his Village Voice office 1968

HU: Cherry wood is classic and never goes out of style❣️I have a Shaker style bedroom set of solid cherry wood, and a solid cherry wood armoire in my living room. My whole house is painted antique white. Light gray or antique white is a great choice for your walls. Your wall lined bookcases in cherry are lovely❣️

If re-sale is in the cards, don’t paint your walls or trim gray. As said above it’s past its prime and in 6-7 years it may be known as ’so 20-teens.’

A warm or nuetral white on the walls and shelves that are styled with books and more updated accessories will make that look classic.

Kculbers, this is cherry stain, not cherry wood. I would paint it white

yes the doors were stained awful-i assume we could sand them down and restain if i decided to keep the cherry color. i think the book case was done well though. The wood is just oak with some kind of cherry or red oak stain- not cherry wood. im between keeping this or replacing all base, trim, and doors with white and painting the book case white as well. My question, was ultimately if this cherry stain was outdated or not and whether people would keep it or go white with everything, bookcase, doors, base, trim. I like to mix a little bit of traditional with farmhouse.

It's difficult to know exactly what type of wood the doors are, since they look to be polyurethaned, and badly too. Stripping and staining them is a lot of work, but painting them would be also. I'd try to strip a small portion to see what species wood they are. If you like them, and don't mind the work, then strip and re-stain. But if you find out they are pine or maple, or any wood you don't care for, then paint them. I'd paint all the trim white.

Definately oak or red oak.

Given that this is stain and not natural cherry wood, does this change any of the advice/opinions above? It can be kept without looking outdated?

Personally I like the look of painted trim with stained doors as Diana suggested above.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/shingle-style-home-in-hanover-nh-victorian-living-room-burlington-phvw-vp~106084

Also, @paige5045, rather than thinking of something as "outdated," perhaps look at it in terms of the quality of the workmanship. If your wood looked like the beautiful cherry wood in the photo that kculbers posted, then I'd say don't paint it. If something is of good quality, and crafted well, then you can call it a classic, and leave it be, IMHO.

Those doors or horrid so painted or re-stained it's a horse apiece. What I think you should be looking for is VALUE. That is driven by region. Where I am beautiful wood--any sort-is much more valuable than painted anything. Paint removes character and the beauty of the wood and with it it's value. You could have cheap crappy pine or particle board under a nice paint job! Refinishing to keep up with trends is also a fools errand. That will be expensive and you risk JUST missing the trend when you go to sell.

Consider covering the back wall of shelves with a brighter covering or pretty wallpaper but so it can easily be removed. Simple update to keep the wood.

We had a similar situation. Kept door and trim around doors and windows in original cherry, but the stained non-descript basic baseboards did not match so we replaced and painted those white to match the walls. We have a small house that is very open and continuity throughout keeps it from looking choppy. See example. We also replaced all of the floors with hardwood,except for tile in bathrooms and laundry.

This is a tough question to answer. But as someone who had a house to sell a couple of years ago, I can tell you that painting all the wood trim and doors a clean, glossy white will increase the value of your home. The wood does NOT look high value but having well-done white trim in any home, with soft cream colored walls, will appeal to more buyers. Paint the bookcase unit a deep navy, or even black, to update it. You have resale in mind, not your own taste. The entire exterior of my house and barn were painted white (from a deep blue) because my realtor said white with black shutters was better. We also professionally painted my cherry kitchen white, with a white backsplash.
She was the only realtor who made me do all these changes, and was the one who sold my house.
I also agree gray is on its way out.

It's a tossup for me on your built-ins. Painting would certainly brighten your room if you paint them white. However, I can see where it would grow on you as well. If you want to keep the wood texture but lighten then color you could always consider pickling. That would require stripping the existing built-in and applying the new finish. Good luck!

If it were me, I would want to see taller baseboard and wider casings. I would take the opportunity to extend the bookshelves to the ceiling and install crown as well. Then paint it all white!

I inherited pickled interior doors in my house. They only look good with ivory walls. When I bought the house, the walls were light khaki and I hated the doors. Pickling them is a very limiting design decision.

I like natural wood trim when it is done well and with quality materials. This wasn't. The staining is incredibly blotchy and uneven.

If it was my house I'd fire up my Titan airless sprayer and spray the whole shebang white.

I agree with @calidesign. I would paint the walls the antique white or another warm white. When you are staging the house for sale, remove just about everything from the shelves, except for the books - and add a few more books on a couple of the shelves - plus, just a couple of pieces of pottery. Leave some of the shelves empty. When you are selling the house, you can get a stager to help you with this, if you need to. And I would just leave the wood, as it is.

Along these lines:

Rough mock-up, staging for sale:

The buyer will either appreciate the classic look of the woodwork and keep it, or they will change it. So by leaving it, you allow the next buyer the option of either enjoying it as it is, or doing what they want; and in the meantime, you save yourself the work and you can continue to enjoy it, too.

I disagree that paint increases value. Having sold real estate, I always saw paint as a way to hide whats behind it. people spend endless hours restoring. By the door knobs, this house looks about the age of one I had. Study the era of the house. You'll have fun learning. Keep its charm.

I agree with Hallett about the scale and proportion of the trim. It's very narrow and short, so painting it will allow it to blend into the wall and disguise the less-than-optimal proportions. Unless of course you want to replace it all.

Regarding resale, the OP stated they will sell in 6-7 years, which is quite a long way off. Decorate for yourself and deal with resale when the time comes.

I disagree that paint increases value. Having sold real estate, I always saw paint as a way to hide whats behind it.

I agree with you, but I'm 50-something. My daughters, who are in their 20s dislike "brown furniture". To some extent, it's a generational thing.

Talk to your real estate agent if you plan to sell within the foreseeable future. They have the buzz on what is selling and predictions for YOUR area. It is different than other areas. Trust me.

I think the bookcases are fine (and some buyers will love them), but I'm with deco that I would get nothing out of lots of wood doors -- doors are a function, not an art piece to me, and so much cherry would get bossy. I'd do the trim and doors and leave the bookcases. Of course, that's a ton of work, so pick your battles!

Real cherry wood will never go out of style and keeping the cherry built ins will be a huge plus for the resale value of your home as will real wood doors with wood finish.

If you truly want/need to get rid of some of the dark, painting all your trim the same color would be the way to go especially since the darker color emphasis how narrow the door trim actually is. If some of your baseboards are already white (as the hall appears to be) there is no reason why you shouldn't go ahead and paint all of the trim the same white other than personal taste.

Agree that ceilings need to be refinished -- smoothed and repainted - as your priority. That will not only make you like them more but help the value of the home for resale.

For the walls, don't hesitate to add the color you like best ... good quality wood features go well with almost anything. Personally, though, I'd probably avoid off whites with a pink or yellow hue ... not a fan generally and pink/red colors or hue could look like a failed attempt at a matchy-matchy look .

if you like the cherry, keep it! something I would (personally) want to do to it is knock down the sheen. this wood color in more of a satin or matte texture is more up to date. see how beautiful kculbers's cabinet looks? part of that beauty is the low sheen.

this could be done by coating it with matte clear coat - but you'd have to clean it well first and use the right product that wouldn't peel.