One of the most commonly asked decorating dilemmas I get asked about involves what to do with older homes that have lots and lots of dark wood trim. A reader named Jodi sent me this email just a couple of weeks ago:
We have an older home and do not wish to paint all the trim white, but I do find the wood trim to be one of my biggest struggles when decorating. It's also very hard to find inspiration as most home decor magazines, blogs, etc only feature white trimmed rooms, as this is most common these days...but what about those with us who still have and like the look of wood trim? Any advice?
Painting wood trim throughout an entire house can be daunting (and pricey if you hire it out). I went on a search to find some inspiration pictures for Jodi and stopped when I saw this:
Rebekah Zaveloff via Houzz
I think it's a really perfect example of how to work around a house full of wood trim, if you're wanting to lighten things up without investing a lot of time and money. An overall light wall color softens the room but makes the trim pop. In other words, work with what you've got instead of trying to disguise the trim. They also layered with light upholstery and a big, light area rug.
And, my favorite trick they used here was to paint the crown molding white all the way around the top of the room. This is the perfect compromise for the wife who wants to paint every bit of trim and the husband who flips out at the thought of painting anything wood. It also draws your eye up, instead of making the room seem "cut off" at a certain point.
If you've saved a great inspiration picture of a beautiful room with wood trim, I'd love for you to leave link in the comments.
Once again, your timing is perfect! My husband and I are butting heads over this exact issue right now. I can't wait to see if anyone posts pics. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteLoved this post. This will be helpful as we look towards buying an older home.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is the perfect compromise! I think, too, it would be helpful to consider the condition of the trim and the color of the stain. Our family room had lots of oak-toned stained judges panelling that wasn't in very good condition. I finally painted it and we LOVE it.
ReplyDeletewhat a perfect solution! xoxox, Julia
ReplyDeleteIts always a constant struggle. To paint or not to paint...sigh.
ReplyDeleteRashon aka Mr. Goodwill Hunting
www.ilovethrifting.com
Since buying our 1970's home I've struggled with the same question about to paint or not to paint. This is the one room where I've decided to go ahead and leave it be. Mostly because I felt it really lends itself to the woods and quiet creek just outside that serve as a backdrop. I shared photos of the space recently in this post.
ReplyDeletehttp://misstrixiesfavoritethings.blogspot.com/2011/05/good-enough.html
In other rooms I just couldn't resist painting. I posted about our living/dining room just last week.
http://misstrixiesfavoritethings.blogspot.com/2011/06/spray-painting-crown-molding.html
Hope this helps!
=)
I struggled with painting our wood trim too but finally decided to go for it. I'm so glad I did! In my case the wood was an ugly yellowish pine - not cute, but I love your solution for someone that has beautiful trim they want to preserve.
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thanks for sharing! we are looking at some homes now and the wood trim always bugs me. i think i would paint it but htis shows me that i could make it work if i was too lazy to paint it! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great example of wood trim done well. I just advised a client to paint her trim because the room was small, had no light, and a very large wood wainscotting to go along with the trim.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Heidiopia. If the wood trim is in a great condition and it looks beautiful, preserve it. Otherwise, just paint it over to lighten things up!
ReplyDeleteJessie
www.mixandchic.com
I love the wood trim. I think it's gorgeous and gives a home so much character. I think your suggestion is perfect!
ReplyDeleteI'm a paint the trim kind of girl...the beefier the better. But you found a gorgeous picture that would make me reconsider.
ReplyDeleteI am just about to paint our trim white - I have lived with the wood for 3 years now, and would have left if, but new windows are the perfect excuse to paint the trim!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example of how to modernize without painting the trim. Having lived previously in a city filled with Victorian homes I always found the dark wood was paired with the traditional dark colours. That's when it feels really heavy.
ReplyDeleteWell that just says it all.....proof that dark trim can look good!
ReplyDeleteI think in many homes, the dark wood trim can be lovely. Our new home is 90 years old and once we strip off all the years of paint, if the trim is in good condition, we plan to leave it natural and dark. If the trim is not in good shape, we'll paint it white again. I think it's all a matter of what you have to work with to determine what will look best.
ReplyDeleteI almost always try to get people to paint it. This photo is beautiful, but it can be a problem in a kitchen, say, where there are lots of windows as well as doorways to the living room, dining room, hallway, powder room, etc, and it is just way too much wood. If it is light wood, it is also terrible o find paint that looks good with it. For husbands who won't agree to paint, I try to get them to stain it dark
ReplyDeleteStacy
I'm all for lots of luscious, painted trim!
ReplyDeletenattybydesign.blogspot.com
I typically don't care for stained wood trim but that picture is beautiful. Even though I prefer white I guess it just depends on the room!
ReplyDeletei love all white trim but the inspiration is gorgeous, a great compromise. we had to paint all of the trim in our house when we moved in since the previous owner painted it all to match each room, UGH!
ReplyDeletehttp://homesweetlilacdrive.blogspot.com
It really is an issue when you've got the stained trim, especially when it's more along the cheapo '70s variety that makes the room look dated (unlike this photo, where it's beautiful).
ReplyDeleteI was trying to help my friend redecorate her bedroom and the stained trim fought us every step of the way. We just couldn't get the light, modern look she wanted with it, so she finally painted it. It was a huge pain but looked so much better after!
only because I know how hard it is to strip off, it always makes me cringe when people paint nice old wood moldings
ReplyDeleteBUT I often see before and afters and really like the white
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ReplyDeleteWe had to deal with this after purchasing our first home - a 1920s tudor. The home had most of its original [beautiful] mahogany trim, and I felt soo guilty painting any of it! In the end we decided to keep the window trim and the baseboards, and paint out the crown molding. Our house does not benefit from tall ceilings, and so I found the dark crown molding particularly heavy. I'll share a shot of the living room, although it's very much a work in progress!
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ReplyDeleteI love white trim but I've seen it look beautiful in many homes. I guess that's not much of any help....sorry! :)
ReplyDeleteVery, very cool! I've been seeing a lot of dark trim lately in the model homes so maybe it's coming back!
ReplyDeleteI think dark wood around the windows in the inspiration picture could be softened further by having 2 drapery panels for each window. Of course, the man could say "But you're covering up the beautiful wood! That is why we chose this house" Ha! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteGreat solution, Emily. Love your idea and reasoning behind painting the crown white but leaving the rest dark. Not sure I would have come up with that, but I will surely be using it the next time I come across this issue!
ReplyDeleteGood advice, Emily, about painting only the crown. I think you found a perfect inspiration photo. What gets me down are homes with the orangey-brown trim and doors, especially when paired with warm colors on the walls. It's too much for me.
ReplyDeleteWe have just bought a home with a beautiful darker wood trim in the living room, office, and dining room that matches the wood trim in french style doors in the house. I don't think I can/should paint this trim. However, my dilemma is that my furniture is a stone color (no children) and the carpets in the new home are taupe. Our long-term plan is to maybe put down wood floors but we want to keep the carpets for the time being. Since I have stone (off white) furniture, wood trim, taupe carpets, I am really struggling with what color to paint the walls. I am considering Behr Collectible or Behr Winter Wheat for the walls. The trim and furniture colors I am working with are not too dissimilar from those in the blog post but I am dealing with taupe carpets. I appreciate any advice.
ReplyDeleteI think it all comes down to what the trim looks like which is probably directly related to just how old your home is! If it's built after 1940 and has standard 3-4" stock trim, then paint that stuff! If you live in a lovely Victorian Rowhouse with HUGE wide trim, then you can either leave it or paint it. It's your house just do what you like! One thing with painted trim though is that your room will seem bigger because your eye won't stop at all of the dark lines around windows and doors.
ReplyDeleteI think it comes down to the color of your room and the feel your going for. I personally prefer the look of painted trim because it looks cleaner.
ReplyDeleteWe are thinking about buying a new 'old' craftsman style house w beautiful wide dark oak trim everywhere. It does however make the rooms look heavy. I loved this post, and Azure's inspiration photo in particular. If you read this, please post more pics of the rest of your house!! I would love to see them. The pale blush color walls are the perfect light, but warm tone to contrast the dark trim!
ReplyDeleteLove this Post This will be helpful as we look towards buying an older home.
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Hank Hendricks