With a traditional house, an ogee-topped base is nice. The more current flat topped base has an increased tendency to catch dust because it is horizontal. Both need to be wiped of course, but the ogee also faces out, and wiping the top will burnish the wall paint less than having to clean a flat surface that adjoins the drywall:

Good call on the dust. With several dogs, I dont need to make it any easier for dust to collect. Here is my current situation. Notice the dated wall texture, too. UGH!

We also live in a house built in 1995 with short baseboards. My husband is replacing them room by room as he paints each room. We are using baseboards similar to what the previous poster showed. It's a lot of work but my husband hates the original ones so much he is not too unhappy to do the work. I imagine if you had to pay someone to do all of it you might have to learn to live with it. The textured walls are harder to get rid of . . .

Does your 90's suburban house have a huge 2 story foyer and round top window? Or corner stepped up jetted tub in the Master? Slate floor or -looking mosaic backsplash? Would replacing the entire millwork make a dent in masking those major 90's items and many others? Don't you think the golden oak color was "considered appropriate" at that time? If you have $10K-$25K sitting around to blow on replacing a golden color wood with a darker color wood with a different top profile that no one will notice, would it be better spent on remodeling a bathroom, kitchen, or something?

You're free to spend your money how you want, but maybe it's best to approach the house holistically to incorporate an updated or timeless style that works with the layout, the massing, and neighborhood, and be consistent throughout in choosing all of those design items.

I agree, there is nothing really wrong with the profile you have and unless it is dinged up and damaged in a lot of areas I don't know that I would replace it. It is a classic profile, I lived in a house from 1840 that had this (albeit taller) in the upper rooms which had simpler details and even the more complex base on the main floor essentially was topped with ogees. There are probably better ways to spend your renovation budget.

Thankfully, our house does not have any of those things. Some of our neighbors do, though! The previous owners did quite a few cosmetic updates which is great but their style was a bit....mature for my taste. I am getting antsy and ready for some updates after living here for four years. I am currently knee deep in a kitchen facelift. Good bones but bad accessories so I am painting the cabs, installing a backsplash and updating the countertops. I cannot imagine it would cost 10-25K to update the trim but I suppose it would add up even as DIY. It always does.

Doors, window casings, assume an open upstairs loft with lots of railings . . . . it adds up.

The essence of what I'm trying to say is to not throw in Craftsman detailing on the window heads just because it is "appropriate now," when that style would clash with an open concept, round colonnade around the Dining, or whatever your 90's palette has. Say you do like Craftsman though, then it might be better to look beyond adding just a Craftsman "frosting layer" with millwork, and consider enclosing some walls for a semi-open concept, or replace slider windows with DH lites, etc that is consistent with that style.

We have a two story foyer with the circle top but I would not call it huge. We had hardwood installed on our first floor and replacing the baseboard just mad it all look much nicer. After 30 years the base takes a beating and just looks so much nicer with new. I think it was less than $500 for material and install. I stained it to match the floor because I am a control freak!

You need to plan everything now so you don’t waste steps- your current baseboards are likely 5/8” thick with 3/4” thick casings (just a guess). If you go back with thicker casings you have the option to put in thicker baseboard. Thicker casings are probably wider though (3 1/4” vs 2 3/4”) so then you would need to redo all the baseboards. What about the window sills? Aprons? Plan once and execute over time. Also will be tricky matching the stain color to existing.

I'd like to replace every bit of woodwork in this house starting with the baseboards then eventually moving to doors, jams and window sills.

You need to start with the jambs, then the door casing. Base is last. Windows can wait because they are independent of the the jambs, casing & base.

Reason is that the base butts up to the casing. If you do the base first and then the casing, you will need to remove the base. Depending on the width of the new casing, the already installed base can be either too long or too short for the space.

I am not interested in painted. I'd rather stick with wood.

Stain grade wood trim is going to be a lot more costly than paint grade just for the material. Then the labor of staining & finishing it AND the need for really skilled labor to install it. Install needs to be perfect because you can't use caulk & paint to hide the boo-boos.

My husband is a trim carpenter. All I can say is don't skimp, hire someone who has a lot of experience with this. He spends a lot of his time fixing shoddy workmanship on the homes we live in and for others. It really is a specialized skill when you are working with real wood and want real fitted stuff. As Cilantro states, you can't fix boo boos with paint and caulk and the boo boos look awful and are costly to repair.

This is 30K expense, with absolutely zero payback in value to you. It’s a spa treatment or vacation. Money spent purely for your pleasure. Forget any if it.