This open floor plan house in question has warm brown/tan ceramic tile. Orange-red wall, gold wall and creamy beige color and all ceiling one shade lighter than the creamy beige walls
The trim and doors are a medium wood stain that compliments the cabinets in the kitchen. Is the trend to paint the trim white going out? Should I paint the trim and leave the door stained? I would love to hear your comments!
do you like what you have? That is really the question that you have to answer....Your home is to be your peaceful refuge away from the craziness and chaos of the outside world..
personally - when we decorate with whatever the current "trend", it can appear dated when that trend changes...if you decorate with what you like, then it may not look "dated".....
I noticed that alot of the new homes we go to open houses at now have the wood trim, stained natural wood color, not white anymore. Maybe it was somewhat of a trend, like white cabinets. I personally like white interior trim, however my house is all natural wood trim. It is very warm and rich looking. I've though a million times if I had the money I would change it up, but then I think it would also dramitically change the look of the house. So probably not.
I think the end of the story is this, wood will never go out of style. Poeple pay huge amounts of money to put wood flooring in their homes, so again I think it will stand the true test of time and look beautiful 100 years from now.
I personally do not like white trim. I think the wood stain has a timeless look that is warm and home-y. Don't know if the white is going out of style now or not, but I do think you should do what makes your house feel like home rather than follow a trend.
Posts: 243 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: Aug 17, 2006
i have seen some stained wood trim that i think would be better painted white. My GF and her DH have dark stained wood trim from the 70s and it is just pine......probably better painted white these days....
I have wood trim throughout. A warm fruitwood. Wouldn't dream of painting it white. I like the warmth it brings into the home. I agree it's cheaper for builders to throw on the white painted molding. Staining the wood molding costs more. Keep the wood.
I have a house with all painted white trim. Doors, baseboards, moldings, you name it, it's white. I bought it in spite of the white.
It also had all white cabinetry, white walls and white staircase railings. Well, the cabinets and railings have been replaced and the walls have been painted. If it weren't so darned expensive, ALL the trim would be replaced with stained, too.
I can live with the white but it is most definitely NOT my first choice. Given the choice and budget, the white would be out out out.
Not to be a broken record, but it depends on the house. I have white enameled woodwork in the formal areas of my home (crowns, baseboards, wainscoting, windows) and stained solid core doors and fancy baseboards and wood windows in the rest of the house. My bedroom door is painted on the side facing the room and stained on the side facing the hallway. We want to have the entire house painted. Got a quote for $32K ,choked and it's on the back burner for now. We will eventually do it but it needs to be a top quality, professional job (or it looks bad.) I do think stained goes better in some homes and painted in others.
In our AZ house we had stone baseboards that matched the stone floors and white in the carpeted areas and white doors. We prefered that. It was a custom house and we could have had whatever. I can see natural there, too. Again, it depends on the style of your home and furnishings. The feel you are going for. I was not a big fan of the natural knotty alder doors that were popular in AZ in some high end homes. JMO
This message has been edited. Last edited by: BD2,
AZmama, I'm sorry. To answer your question, from the color scheme you explained, it sounds like the stained wood might look better. If your furnishings are more relaxed and not so formal, I'd think the stained would look good in an AZ house.
Think what people object to with painted is when poor quality trim work is used and the builders slap paint on it.
We just finished painting all of our trim white and let me tell you it looks great! Our house is 12 years old so it had the orangie gold oak trim. We wanted a more contemporary look and along with updating the kitchen the trim helped out a lot.
Im sure in a few years white trim will be out but it was a nice fresh change for us. It was a giant pain in the butt though!
Posts: 29 | Location: ohio | Registered: Aug 14, 2007
My two cents. I prefer white trim. It was on my must have list when house shopping. I would not even consider a house with stained wood trim. For me personally white trim always looks crisper and there isn't a paint color that goes nicely with wood trim. My only exception is a craftsman home.
It is a regional thing. I have lived in different parts of the country and medium oak trim with oak cabinets is the norm in a lot of areas.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: JTB,
Posts: 3088 | Location: CA Zone 7 & WV Zone 6 | Registered: Jan 03, 2005
Originally posted by JTB: M For me personally white trim always looks crisper and there isn't a paint color that goes nicely with wood trim.
This has been my problem lately. Our house has a dark oak or walnut stained trim throughout. We painted a bedroom a medium blue, and the wood trim just doesn't fit well in the room. We are planning on painting the trim white, which i predict it will give the blue the extra pop it needs. In my opinion, stained trim looks great with white walls. Our entire house was this way when we bought it. As we have been painting rooms, we have noticed the wood trim just doesn't do the room justice.
Posts: 34 | Location: decatur, il | Registered: Aug 03, 2007
I just painted my kitchen cabinets, wall cabinets white, base cabinets taupe. I am about to tackle painting all of the trim, doors, and windows. We just bought a 1956 ranch and the trim was not maintained. I guess The only time that I like wood is in older homes. Older than my home, anyway.
Originally posted by BD2: Not to be a broken record, but it depends on the house. I have white enameled woodwork in the formal areas of my home (crowns, baseboards, wainscoting, windows) and stained solid core doors and fancy baseboards and wood windows in the rest of the house. My bedroom door is painted on the side facing the room and stained on the side facing the hallway. We want to have the entire house painted. Got a quote for $32K ,choked and it's on the back burner for now. We will eventually do it but it needs to be a top quality, professional job (or it looks bad.) I do think stained goes better in some homes and painted in others.
In our AZ house we had stone baseboards that matched the stone floors and white in the carpeted areas and white doors. We prefered that. It was a custom house and we could have had whatever. I can see natural there, too. Again, it depends on the style of your home and furnishings. The feel you are going for. I was not a big fan of the natural knotty alder doors that were popular in AZ in some high end homes. JMO
Yikes! $32K! My DH should see this and appreciate me more! I have been painting our houses for over 30 years. I hate to brag but I do a better job than any professional painter I've ever seen. I am so neat I don't even drop cloth and I don't leave brush marks. Of course it does take me a lot longer than the professionals, but I think it's worth it. I have to admit I am not good at much else tho
*** Just my opinion, your mileage may differ ***
Posts: 305 | Location: California | Registered: Sep 04, 2007
I also think you have to have high ceilings to pull off the wood trim.
I agree that bungalow/mission styles should be wood.
I see quite a few '80s faux-Williamsburg ranch homes around here, and the wood trim and chair-rail strips going around the room make it appear cut in half. The type of wood matters as well. A "busy wood" - lots of grain - can be too distracting. Some woods match golden-orange and some green colors best, so if you intend to go with the new neutral grays, blues, then natural wood might not work as well, or just don't use those colors.
In bedrooms, I think white trim is best. More calming, less like a family room.
It is really hard to answer this question with out a picture.. my sugestion is if it is.. just boring plain wood you could paint it out.. If it is nice large wide maple/ oak trim leave it be. I only say this because some people paint out the wrong type of wood in a nice old home.. Some times this is the beatuy of the home. the one thing that makes it say wow to potential buyers. Is ther anyway you can post a picture.
Posts: 2906 | Location: Canada Zone 5 | Registered: Nov 28, 2005
I love white/painted woodwork but when you described your room I thought that stained really sounded better for your room colors but it's hard to tell without a picture. It's a matter of personal choice. I disagree with those who think painted is cheap--there are many historical, expensive, beautiful homes with painted trim and they definitely aren't cheap looking.
I don't particularly like bold colors on walls but i love the combination of the bolder colors with a soft white trim, and I love wood trim with off white walls.
*** Just my opinion, your mileage may differ ***
Posts: 305 | Location: California | Registered: Sep 04, 2007
,choked and it's on the back burner for now. We will eventually do it but it needs to be a top quality, professional job (or it looks bad.) I do think stained goes better in some homes and painted in others. 
