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Why I’ll Never Paint Our Wood Trim
Ideas for wood trim paint colors and read my story of why I’ll never paint our wood trim in our 1900’s built city home.
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In my old house all of our trim is original wood and I’ll never paint it. Here’s why.
Keep the Character
First, our house was built in 1900. While we’re not sure what month, that makes our abode far older than any home I’ve ever lived in. Houses of this age are hard to come by {or nonexistent} in many cities and have unique features and characteristics that are not found in new builds. For this reason, and in all our projects, we maintain the integrity of our old house. Wood trim, quirks, plaster, and all.
Second, we’ll never paint it because it looks like this. These are various pictures in the front foyer over the years, seasons and holidays.
And this. These photos are in the dining room, which has pocket doors and a large window seat with hidden storage.
It’s in immaculate shape.
No need to fix it or re-stain it, just dust once in a while. It looks fabulous!
Is it too dark? Not so much. When you have curtains on the windows, some of the trim gets partially covered. This is not intentional, it’s just how I like to hang curtains. Against white fabric, the trim looks amazing. It has nice texture and I love texture in my home.
Stunning? I think so. And I’m not about to change it what I love most about my house.
It’s all original.
And we love that. Not any of the previous four owners of this home {which is a small number over the span of about 120 years} had painted it and we won’t either. I love the fact that those people loved this trim as much as we do and am thankful it’s not painted. Original wood trim, let alone in this condition is hard to find in old houses.
The trim is shiny, lacks nicks, divots, holes or blemishes and it’s amazing it survived so well this long. This photo below is in the kitchen, part of which has been remodeled and has different trim, except this doorway.
It Adds Interest
I’ll also never paint it because everyone else is doing it. I see the pictures, I subscribe to the magazines and while I love modern and contemporary design, believe me I paint things white, I’m not about to paint all this. Who has time for that? I’ve got bathrooms to remodel.
I love the look of warm wood and the trim adds that to our home. Along with the floors, it ads character and interest and history to the house. Almost every visitor we have comments on how nice it looks.
It Has Size
Our baseboards are 8 inches tall and the molding around the windows is 5 inches plus the headers. This one below is 8 inches also. You can’t readily buy this kind of trim at home improvement stores these days. You’d either have to special order it or make it yourself for lots of dough. I always see DIY projects of people making their trim and molding look bigger. I feel lucky that we have this in our home as is.
It’s Unique.
In a design world filled with white, my wood trim is the rare minority and I love that about it. It has class, it has style and most of all it has a story to tell. No paint needed to accomplish all that.
I like to joke that I’m bringing back the wood trim! I’ve never paint it and I hope any future home owners love it just as much as I do.
These pictures are in the upstairs hallway and bedrooms.
What do you think of unpainted wood trim?
Do you have it in your home? Have you painted it or will you leave it as is?
I wrote about the paint colors in my home here, or click the picture to go to the post.
I grew up in an old farmhouse with the original wood details that my parents worked hard to restore to its original glory after some of it had been painted a dark brown. That house is why I have a thing for dark stained wood and huge baseboards. The original details in your house are beautiful. I’m with you – never paint them!
That’s awesome Jessica! Our house is 92 years old, but unfortunately was turned into a rented out duplex over the years and most of the wood/trim had been badly painted over with oil based paint and tons of drip marks and what wasn’t painted was badly banged up and damaged, I feel for my poor original mistreated trim! Take good care of yours for all of us who couldn’t! lol
HEy there! You are right – that wood trim IS beautiful and of COURSE it shouldn’t EVER be painted! Having said that – I am eternally grateful that the trim in my house was painted LONG before I arrived. I really do prefer it – but if the trim in my 163 year old house had NOT been painted – my husband would keel over before he would ever paint it!!
(I’m going back now to check on your bathroom renovation link above – we are doing two bathrooms over at the same time right now – which is why i am working in Starbuck’s right now instead of home!!)
I totally agree with you. I wouldn’t want to change the charm of an original house.
Beautiful! We have dark wood in our home too and it kills me to see every photo on the net (when researching paint colors) with white trim!
Our only problem is when we rip out the carpets and put in wood floors…I want the floors to match the dark wood and HWMMS is thinking lighter.
I, too, am trying to match flooring with trim and I am having a very hard time.
I also have very dark old original trim and had my floors refinished. Because they were maple, we were told that a dark stain would be very blotchy and not even so we went with a slightly tinted poly. I didn’t think I would like them, but I now that it is completed I LOVE them. I am constantly receiving compliments about the light color. If I would have been able to go darker I think it would have been too overpowering with all the dark woodwork. I absolutely LOVE the lighter and so thankful I did not go darker.
I love the trim in your house! It’s gorgeous and I don’t think I could bring myself to paint it either! Now my parents 80’s oak trim….that’s another story!
Look at it this way, I believe that all this dark old trim used to be the color of your parents trim. It darkens with time. That is just my belief, I’m not sure, but I know other woods darken so I would imagine the home’s trim will too.
I agree with you! Depending on the cut of the Oak it is probably not too flattering .
I get exactly why you would never paint your trim – and you are incredibly lucky to have this treasure in your character home. That and authentic tile in your bathroom… Hmmm, I can’t wait to see what else you might discover as time goes on!
i love the wood trim in your home its pretty and in such amazing condition! Love it
Jessica, Congrats on a great decision NOT to paint over your fabulous old growth original wood! I know that in this decor world of White being predominant, it’s not “on trend”, but as a fellow antique home owner who cherishes the original time-honored details that were pains-takingly selected over a century ago by the home-owner and builder is it not an right to protect our heritage and to stand firm? I found your blog when searching for decor ideas for handling our original oak plate rail and boards in our dining room. We also have high 10 foot ceilings with coffering and what I have had on display to date looks too small of scale 🙁 Love your grasscloth, but I think it is out of my budget for now…. I’ll keep track of your wonderful home revelations. Glad the home fell into your preserving hands!
Amen to that! I also live in an old home with real wood trim. Someone decided years ago to paint most of the trim. We decided to strip it all! It was a labor of love, but well worth to see the original wood trim. You can not afford in this day to build a home like the ones we have. I love the plaster walls and wood trim!
Right on! We have wood trim — not nearly as old, and not nearly as pretty — in our house, and I’m so torn about it. Wood trim makes way more sense in the mountains than in the city, but it’s also only pine. But thank you for this declaration and affirmation! I’m feeling better about our pine already!
While I love the look of painted white trim (or painted furniture vs. wood), I look at it like any other trend that will someday change and you’ll be glad you’re not stuck with something that looks dated!
Our house is only 3 years old and has wood trim! I LOVE IT! Definitely the selling point for us as ALL the others we looked at had white. Bleh! Not everyone likes the white trim…even if it is the trend right now.
I just found your blog last night, and I know this post is almost a year old, but it helped me TREMENDOUSLY to see my home in a new light. I have 1926 bungalow with wood trim throughout: dark in the living room, dining room, and office, and a lighter maple color in the kitchen and bedrooms. (The bathroom was already painted white when I bought the house.) I am so envious of photos of houses with fresh, clean white trim in magazine. Last night when I saw this post and saw that a house with wood trim CAN look light and airy, I pinned your post immediately to my Pinterest page.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your house photos and thoughts on stained wood trim with us!
Hi Kimberlyn, What a wonderful note from you! Thanks for making my day 🙂 Yes I try to balance the dark wood with lighter colors, specifically in fabric and furniture. I bet your home is beautiful – let’s bring back the wood trim!
Hi again, Jessica! I am wondering if you have a list of the paint colors you’ve used in your home. I feel that finding great paint colors for rooms with wood trim is a bit trickier than for rooms with white trim, so I’d like to get some color ideas.
Hi Kimberlyn, Thanks for leaving a note! If there was a specific picture you were seeing, let me know where or what post it is in and I can tell you the colors. Otherwise here they are: Dining room – Driftwood Grey by Martha Stewart; Kitchen – Chinchilla by Martha Stewart; Living room, foyer and upstairs hallway – Creamy Mushroom by Behr; Master bedroom and bathroom – Flint Smoke by Behr. Let me know if you wanted any other info. When selecting a color, definitely get samples so you can see your options on the wall. I put the paint chips next to the wood trim and choose form there. Let me know how it goes, I hope this helps!
Thank you! Same question as above. The paint colors are awesome and complement the wood trim so nicely, giving it a nice light airy feel. It’s harder to find color inspiration when choosing to have wood trim. Appreciate the help!
Hi Jessica! I’m trying to use Behr creamy mushroom fir my kitchen walls against honey oak trim, cabinets etc. I love the color, but not sure it’s the right fit for this woodwork…I have 90s grey-ish tile in the room. Do you think that’s a good fit? And would a green accent wall make all the walls look more green than grey/beige as the color is intended? Any advice would be most appreciated 🙂 Thanks! – Kurt
Hi Kurt,
Thanks for asking about the paint colors. What I would suggest is to get a sample of the colors and try them out on the walls, if you haven’t done so already. Let them sit for a few days and make sure to look at them in different light so you can see what they look like at different times of the day. I recommend not to get a color with a yellow undertone if your cabinets and trim have that kind of color/look. A contrast of warm wood with a cool paint color might work well.
About the green, it depends on that color too. If you are doing a green accent wall, maybe paint the rest of the room a lighter shade (from the green paint swatch/card). That way it coordinates.
Hope this helps!
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks Jessica!
I’m finding this years later and love what you’ve done! Dying to know the paint color in the first image!!
Hi Kathy,
The paint color in the first picture is Gotham Gray by Behr. That is our living room.
More info on the paint colors in our home can be found here:
https://decoradventures.com/paint-colors-home/
Hope this helps you – Jessica
UH!!!! Your home is a DREAM. I love it so much. The wood is amazing, the staircase, uh…I can’t breathe I’m so in aww!!! So happy you contacted me. I want to learn more from you 🙂 I’m going to share your house tour this am on FB. Can’t help myself!
Hi Julie! You are a sweetheart. Thanks so much! And for the FB share, I really appreciate it. Go wood trim!
Oh my goodness all of that woodwork is gorgeous!! It would be tragic to paint over all of it and I’m so glad to hear someone else talk about bucking the trend of painting everything white. I have dark cherry kitchen cabinets and it makes me feel like a rebel in blogland! LOL! Your home is stunning!
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa. Thanks so much for your sweet note. It’s amazing the wood survived this long with no paint. We are bringing back the wood! – Jessica
I just love your house. I’ve been looking for wood trim ideas because my house is 60 years old and it has beautiful dark wood that was painted over in white. I’m in the process of removing the white paint from all my trim. Its taking some time but it looks so much better than it did white. plus cleaning it is also much easier. Thanks for the inspiration. You have given me some great ideas to give my house a little more caricature.
Hi Cindy,
Thanks so much for leaving a comment and for the sweet compliments 🙂 Bless you for taking on that project, I’m sure your time is going to look amazing!
I just came across this post randomly today, and I’ve got to say — it’s like our homes could be twins! My hundred-and-some year old four-square farmhouse in Ohio has the same thick, dark original wood trim as yours, and I love it as well! Strangely, we also have the same brass door hardware as you, the same 5-panel doors, and the same POCKET DOORS! I would never paint my wood, either, even though most decorating blogs and magazines disagree. And thank you so much for leaving info about your paint colors — I have a very hard time finding colors that look good with my dark wood. Great job decorating, and keep that wood shiny!
Hi House Twin Beth! Glad to find another old house lover like myself out there 🙂 And fan of the wood trim! Thanks so much for the sweet comment. I’m glad you are enjoying your home so much and hope the paint colors help – let me know what you pick out 🙂
Just stumbled upon your site and HAD to read this. We have a mix in our old home—100 years old this year! All the woodwork except for baseboards in one small room upstairs are original–but most of the wood upstairs was painted. 2 of the rooms were stripped (including the doors and hardware) but after stripping, they didn’t bother staining and only sealed. It looks terrible!!! and for consistency–I will paint, but at least it will look nice considering all those prior layers are off. What I could NEVER paint is the wood that’s left with its original finish in our living and dining room. I’ve made stripping the door hardware the first project, and uncovered Victorian copper plated escutcheons and knobs. One note–an article I read stated that even back then, wood was painted. Most times, it had to do with the quality of the wood. Our realtor said in hold houses, better wood like oak was used downstairs, in rooms where friends and family would visit–while upstairs, where it was private–cheaper, softer wood like pine and was often painted.
Hi Kari,
Thanks for reading my post and for leaving a note! Happy birthday to your house! Congrats to you for finding such a beauty and for doing all that work to it. How exciting about your hardware finds, that is amazing! Isn’t it so fun to discover things about an old house? That is interesting about the different types of wood too. We definitely have the same upstairs and down, as you can see in the pictures.
Best of luck in your painting! – Jessica
We are currently in the process of building & we’ve decided to install all wooden trim instead of painting. Thankfully my father in law is a fantastic carpenter so he’s going to help us put the wide trim around all the doors, windows & baseboards. I’m having a hard time deciding on a color but yours is gorgeous. Do you know what color stain you have used?
Hi Angela,
All of the trim in our house is original, meaning it was put in, in 1900 when the home was built. Unfortunately I have no idea what color the finish is. I believe it is just sealed and not stained though.
If you are deciding on a stain color, definitely test some out on scrap pieces of wood and see what you like best. Don’t forget, more coats of the stain will change the color too. I hope this helps, and best of luck with your home!
Thank you so much for this post. I found your site on pinterest while looking for paint ideas for homes with dark wood trim. I live in a 1906 Bungalow with all original wood trim as well, and it’s so hard and rare to find photos of homes with wood trim like ours. I love the colors you use in your house and I have to ask – the room with the lower panels, is that fabric? it looks textured (and amazing!)
Hi Cee Cee,
Thanks for visiting my blog and for the note! The dining room is the one you are referring to. It has grass cloth wallpaper in the lower panels. I wrote about it here: http://decoradventures.com/2012/01/peek-at-grass-cloth-wall-paper.html
I’m still working on a full room reveal for the dining room, hopefully it will be done this month. I hope you are enjoying your wood trim!
I agree. I love the trim in your home. My home is only 35 years young with stained wood trim and I love it, too. I don’t know why folks want to paint lovely trim. It is expensive to buy wood in the quality needed to stain it today.
I can remember friends remodeling an old home and working very hard to take off all the paint and stain the trim in the early ’80s. They thought people were crazy to paint it originally.
Painting trim is a cost cutting measure. It hides defects.
I don’t know why folks feel like it is necessary to follow home fashions like lemmings.
Hi,
Thanks for leaving a note. Yes, our trim is nice and dusty most of the time! I agree painted trim looks good in the right setting. Thanks for visiting my blog!
Your home wood features are gorgeous and explains why I believe it is a crime to paint any wood feature in a historic home. I have a hard time justifying to owners and contractors the value of exposing the natural grain of wood in a space. And it is also difficult to request painted wood features to be striped off paint and re-finished with clear stain/vanish with increased cost. Have you found an easy method to do this?
IM
Hi IM,
We actually don’t have any wood that is painted so I’ve never had to strip and refinish it. I have done that on furniture however. Most people use products like CitriStrip or others for this. Hope this helps.
Thanks Jessica. I will try that.
IM
I stumbled onto your website after searching “what paint colors match with wood trim”. I am glad I did, in fact the one pic you have of your doorway looking into a sitting room looks exactly like my house! I am struggling with finding elegant matching colors that dont clash with the wood trim (exact same color as yours) and staircase and everything in my house. I am in the process of beginning to prepare it to sell and although I feel that it would be easier to just paint it all, it was what drew us to the house in the first place so it would seem such a horrible thing to do. How do you treat your wood? Some of it looks so shiny and clean?
Hi Charity,
If your wood is in good shape I would say leave it as is. Save yourself the trouble of painting it! You’d need to prime it and all of that. I love our trim (as you can see) and the maintenance is actually very minimal. I just dust it with a dry microfiber dust cloth. Once a year I’ll wipe it down with water and Murphy’s Oil Soap, but only with a slightly damp cloth to collect the dust. Since the wood is so old, it’s probably chestnut that is shellac covered. It came that shiny and clean!
We bought a 114 year old house last year. Fortunately, the woodwork on the main level had never been painted and I intend to keep it that way. Sadly, the previous owner had painted EVERYTHING on the second level (3 bedrooms and 1 bath), which I could almost get over had the colors not been orange, purple, sea blue, froggie green, etc. I still get nauseous thinking about it.
Our house was built in 1980, but the flooring and trim had been ripped out when we bought it last year, so we replaced the flooring with dark wood laminate and wide baseboards stained to match, and the walls we painted green. We think our humble little home looks so much richer with dark baseboards than it would with trendy white baseboards. I keep thinking that pretty soon here white baseboards are gonna be OUT and look DATED, just like the honey-oak-trim-with-white-walls look of the ’90s, and everyone who painted their baseboards are gonna wish they could undo them. Keep up the good fight!
Hi Ashley,
You may be right about the white. We do have them in our kitchen, which was renovated by the previous owner and I was cleaning them the other day. They get so dirty! But I’m in love with our trim, it’s so nice and warm. Thanks for leaving a comment 🙂
Lucky girl with all that solid oak trim! I am in a 1930s house with an addition the same size as the original house that was just built. Needless to say the trim doesn’t match! My old original trim, however, was heavily shellacked fir. Yours is gorgeous, mine was decidedly not. LOL It had cracks, dings, scrapes, holes in it and in my living room half of it was missing.
I painted. And I am thrilled with the painted wood. That being said, I agree wholeheartedly with you on not painting yours. Old oak is divine… have a great weekend!
Your house is lovely, thanks for sharing this post! I’m another reader that found you by searching pinterest for wood trim ideas… We just bought a 1909 house with similar (though not in as good of shape) trim in living and dining rooms. All other rooms are different and include thick painted white trim, thin dark brown, oak in kitchen with oak cabinets, and pine in 2 rooms that are all pine board walls! And most of the floors are lighter wood. All the different kinds of wood are driving me a little crazy, but we will at least embrace the thick, potentially original (my husband doubts it is that old) wood trim and design around it! On to check out the rest of your site now… 🙂
What is the blue color you used? We have oak trim in our home… I am always tring to find colors to go with it. We painted the kitchen sage green and it made the cabinets pop. I would like to paint the bathroom the perfect blue grey but also accent wood trim… Suggestions?
Hi Shawndra,
The blue-grey color we used in our bedroom is called Flint Smoke by Behr. If you select some colors, definitely get small sample cans to test on the wall, the paint chips can only do so much. I listed all the paint colors in my home here. I hope this helps!
Hello. I was doing a google search on wood baseboard trims and came across your site. I think that your house is beautiful. It looks like a real home where real people actually live in. Your house looks nice, warm and comfy. I never did understand why all of the newer homes have white trim everywhere. I don’t care much for white trim and white baseboards because they are probably very difficult to keep clean. I live in a small condo that was built in 1972. It has brown wood trim, doors and baseboards all over. I do not plan on painting mine white. I will keep my wood trim the way it is. I do plan on using some wood stain to make them look a little fresher. I read some of those interior design sites and many of them are not practical for everyday living. I notice that they overuse white in all of the décor. White is very hard to maintain and keep clean.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for leaving a comment. And thanks for the nice words about my home. Yes I know the white trim can be difficult to keep clean. Our dark wood gets pretty dusty too!
And yes there are some nice products you can use to shine up your trim. Good luck and thanks for reading my blog 🙂
Thanks for posting my comment. I like the natural wood trim, whether its light or dark stained. I hate how all of these new build homes have white trim. It seems that most of the suburban homes look alike from inside and out. I like the older homes with lots of natural wood trim. My condo maybe be “out of style” with its oak trim, but I am happy with it. I think that painting natural wood white is a big mistake. I use Old English lemon oil and murphys oil soap to clean my wood trim. Now, I don’t have a problem with a house that was originally built with white wood trim, but painting over natural wood trim is a big mistake in my opinion.
Hi Jessica,
I just had to comment on this post. I found it by searching on pinterest “painting wood trim”. We are in the final stages of renovating/restoring our 1916 colonial, which has lots of wood trim like yours in the downstairs (including a large window seat like yours and a HUGE wood paneled fireplace, glass french doors, etc). The house is not very large, and I keep wavering back and forth between painting all the trim to brighten it all up and leaving it the current original wood. Your post has convinced me to leave it all for now! Your photos really helped me visualize how it can look. It is very difficult when all I can find are pictures with white trim. My only decision now will be what to do in the dining room, because we had to repair all of the plaster in there, we had to remove the picture frame moulding that was there, and now we’re considering a chair rail and wainscoting paneling, but if we’re keeping the dark wood we may need stain grade… hmmmm
Hi Jenn,
Thanks for leaving a comment and good luck with your renovations! The main reason we don’t paint it is because it just looks so good and we like it that way! So yes, wood trim can look nice and modern, or whatever your style is. I’m glad my pictures have helped you. Definitely sample paint on the wall next to the trim so you can see how they go together.
The good thing about your dining room is you can make it how you want it. If the trim doesn’t match in style, maybe you can match it in color or vice versa. Good luck and let me know how the projects are coming along!
Gorgeous, gorgeous detailing! I was just discussing “trim trends” the other day with my husband. These old homes were built with gorgeous woodwork; “ruined” some would say in the 50’s when painted trim was in. Then the 70’s super dark wood rolled around, followed by the 90’s super grainy light oak colors. Now we are back to painted trim again. Funny how something so basic as wood goes in and out of style. But once you get to the age of your home, it is so classic that it will never be out of style in my opinion. You absolutely can’t build quality and craftsmenship like that now days. Classic and beautiful…it’s always in! Love your home.
Hi Dani,
Thanks for the nice comment! Yes, trim has had lots of changes in color over the years. We have so much of it, and all the floors match, so it all looks great together. Thanks for visiting my blog!
I was just browsing Pinterest and came to your site on not painting would trim. We are looking to buy a 1914 craftsman style home with all really nice old trim like this and all pictures these days are WHITE! I would never paint it, just too much and way way to beautiful! Kuddos to you for keeping the original 🙂 love it!
I stumbled across this post of your blog when looking for examples of paint colors that work well with wood trim. Thank you for sharing your beautiful home and how you’ve decorated it with a balance between old and new. I have struggled with paint colors and decorating around our wood trim (throughout our first floor– it’s white painted upstairs), which is very similar in color and style to yours. The irony is that ours is a relatively new home that we built (9 years ago) in an older mission style (we love older homes but couldn’t find one big enough and affordable in our area). My husband finished all the woodwork himself, so although it’s not old, it looks old and it feels special.
I’ve gone through periods of regret about our unpainted trim because it’s been such a challenge to figure out how to balance the wood trim (and other “old” touches) with modern elements in a tasteful way. Seeing pictures of your home, I’m reminded why we decided to go with wood trim in the first place and why, although it isn’t “old” yet, we will cherish it for it’s timeless look and hope that future owners do the same. It is hard sometimes to give it the respect it deserves (and refrain from painting it) when all you see in decorating magazines and blogs these days is painted trim with a touch of exposed wood here and there.
I’ve never been thrilled with the colors (warm yellow/gold tones in most of the rooms with wood trim) we chose when we originally painted the downstairs walls & connecting hallways… it’s almost too warm. I’ve been looking for examples of cooler colors that work well with wood, and LOVE how you paired the grayish-green wallpaper under your chair rail with the pale blue on top. I was thinking of something along those lines in our living room where we have a high chair rail, and after seeing your scheme I’m inspired to go for it!!
Thanks again for the sharing your beautiful home and providing inspiration for those of us with unpainted trim 🙂
Hi Anne,
Thank you so much for this wonderful comment! How nice to hear about your home and what your plans are for it. I know sometimes people match warm paint with warm wood, when cool paint colors can also work very well and be a nice balance between the old and new that you are seeking. I have a more modern style, but I think whatever your style is, it can work in you home because you love it.
I’ve been meaning to write a post on what paint colors go well with wood trim and maybe now I will, so you’ve inspired me!
Best of luck with your living room project. The wallpaper I put up is grass cloth from Lowes, although they sell it a lot of places. I secretly always wanted to paint the ceiling in our dining room the same color as the upper walls because I think it would make the space feel nice and complete, so maybe you can try that out for me!
Let me know how it goes and cheers to the wood trim! Thanks for reading my blog 🙂
You should paint them and give it a great update.
THANK YOU!!! We just bought an old farm house very close in age to your home! The trim and railing looks so much like yours (though not in as great of shape) and was one thing I fell in love with instantly. I had been wondering for months – to paint, or not to paint. I loved this. I stumbled across it in my search to figure out what I should do and now feel comfortable that to rehab and leave the wood original is the ONLY way to go. Not because you told me to, but simply because you’re right. Thanks!
I love this blog! I found it on Pinterest because I’m trying to decide what to do about my trim when I put down new wood flooring. My house isn’t nearly as old as yours…built in 1958. So the wood isn’t nearly as impressive as yours but it’s not too shabby either! It has a somewhat vintage 50s look that isn’t bad at all. But there are no wood floors and my adult children have been saying that wood floors against all that wood trim will be too dark. I also think I need to go with the same shade of stain on the floors as I have on my trim. Mine is not quite as “reddish” as yours…more a pecan shade. Do you have any thought about my floor color matching my trim? I just don’t want to paint all the trim!! Where do you stop?? I have louvered closet doors all over the house plus all the doors. Anyway, thanks for these beautiful pics…they’ve given me hope that I could have a hardwood floor without changing my trim.
Hi Arlene,
Trim and flooring can definitely be the same color, it will make the room look nice and cohesive. You can always lighten things with rugs, curtains, pillows, paint colors and more. I think you can match the trim and flooring. Painting it would be a lot of work!
Hi Jessica,
Love your Decor Adventure blog, we also have wood trim in our home which is in a pecan finish from 1993. Now that we want to do some updates, we are in a quandry about using crown molding, because we also have a chair rail in our family room. What is your opinion or view on red oak crown, chair rail and the baseboards??
In searching the internet and Houzz for pictures with this combination , there are none. It’s either just crown and baseboard in dark finishes or all white.
My husband and I can’t decide what to do!!
Thanks for your input!!
Hi Laurie,
Thanks for leaving a comment! If I understand correct, you are looking to do all of your trim matching, including the crown right? I think that would look great. It would give a nice unified look, regardless of what color it is.
I’ve thought about installing crown molding but would never be able to match it to what we have, nor am I sure what it would look like if I had white crown with the rest of the trim dark.
I hope this helps you and good luck with your updates!
Thank you so much for this post! I came across it while looking for paint colors to match original trim. While my “new” (to me) house is a 1948 1 1/2 story, the original trim is not as exquisite as yours, but buying from the original owner has its perks! (Extra trim stashed in the attic)
I have original HDWFs in great condition, however it is faded in different places. I believe the living room had carpeting and it is lighter/more worn in the hallway. Would you suggest refinishing the floors to match original color of the baseboards and trim to maintain the original look?
Choosing paint colors when changing the floor color is very difficult!
Can’t wait to check out the rest of your blog!
So, so beautiful. Thank you for this post. I recently bought an old house with wood trim everywhere, and I came across your site looking for wall colors that complimented the wood, which I have learned great things about.
Your wood trim, as well as mine, has some amazing secrets. The first is in the close-together grain of the wood. Did you know wood like this isn’t used in construction anymore because most of it ceases to exist? Look at the grain in modern wood. Most modern wood is southern maple or southern pine because these are fast-growing trees harvested for this purpose. The grain is very wide because the trees grow so quickly in warm climates. But wood in older homes is often from old-growth, slow-growing northern forests, possibly including trees that were growing before America was discovered. This wood will never come back in the quantities we used to have. Where it is still harvested, it is pricey and low-availability, and where it still grows undisturbed, it is protected under conservation laws. Some of the wood is from andangered species of trees, too – but you have it guilt-free because they weren’t endangered when your wood trim was cut. The finer the grain, the slower the tree grew (due to harsh winters) …and the harder the wood.
The 100-year-old lacquer on the wood is made of powder-ground beetle shells. It only looks better over time, eventually developing alligator-skin texture on some surfaces. Never put tape or suction cups on it, though, someone put a mark on one of mine that way.
The forests were cut down to give us these things of beauty in another time. A lot of old furniture has wood like this, too. Most of it has since ended up in the garbage, or covered up by paint. My town was incredibly wealthy in 1891, when my house was built, and even modest houses like mine were built with gorgeous hardwood trim, elaborate moldings, and irreplaceable mahogany pocket doors. Now the town is hurting and old houses are scooped up by absentee landlords and rented to bums who regularly get the places condemned and then razed. Things like this could have lasted forever, and it breaks my heart in a strange way that they are cast aside so readily for novelty. This post sort of does the opposite – restores my faith in humanity. Thank you for knowing their timeless value and showing us ways to make them shine in our own age. And for giving me great ideas for paint color 🙂
Hi Valentina,
Thank you for this very informative and thoughtful comment. I was not aware of those points about how the wood was grown. Nor about the finish, but you are right about it. Tape did peel off the finish when I used it once so I don’t put anything on the wood at all.
I’m glad the paint colors could help you. I’m always exploring options for what works well with it.
Best of luck to you in your home and thanks for reading my blog!
I just did my house with craftsman-style moldings similar to yours. Can I ask in what region of the country your house is located? I am guessing somewhere west of Chicago? 🙂 You don’t seem moldings like that back East here.
Love the window seat, too.
Jerry
Washington, DC
Hi Jerry,
I’m in Buffalo, New York. We have an amazing housing stock here, one of the oldest in the country. And many of the houses in the city like mine have all of those great features like the wood trim, pocket doors, stained and leaded glass and more.
Glad to hear you have the talent to make things for your own home. Thanks for visiting my blog.
It is so refreshing to see wood trim that is not covered up with paint! We bought our house last year. We believe it was built around 1940, but with all of the wood trim in our home you would think it was built in the 20s! It is the main reason we bought the house! Pocket doors, original heavy wood doors, wood floors and a beautiful wood surround fireplace. I came to your site from pinterest while looking for ideas about a built in that we are going to put in the living room. I am hoping to match the same woodwork theme that is in our dining room with the fireplace for the living room built in. Glad to see that there are people in the world that appreciate the beauty of wood!!
Hi Jessica – After reading your post here and the comments, I can tell you have heard this a hundred times, but THANK YOU!!! I have an older home (not nearly as old as yours!) built in 1960… I have been seriously debating whether or not to paint all the trim white so it could look like the magazines. After seeing your post and what I will be able to do with a little paint and some furnishings, I have decided against it. Thank you soooo much, again, for this post!
Hi Jessica – I’m new to Pinterest and found this pin because of the wood trim. Our house is 102 years old and we’re looking to paint the living room and adjoining dining room this year. We painted a soft yellow 14 yrs ago when we bought the house but my husband is tiring of it. He is leaning towards blue, which actually scares me away. I’m afraid of it turning out like a nursery, or worse yet a swimming pool. eekk!! Anyway, your site was very helpful in calming my fears about the move to the blue family. Thanks for sharing.
As a fellow owner of a 1900s house I love this story. It makes me so happy to see people leave the original trim. Especially when it’s in great shape like yours is. It kills me when people paint it all white. UGH. And thank you for sharing this. There are not enough examples out there of gorgeous houses with dark wood trim. Great house, great post.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for your kind comment! I just love our wood. I specifically pick wall paint colors to go with it. I keep telling my husband, I don’t know if I will ever be able to move out of this house I love it that much 🙂 Not to mention the work in keeping all that wood trim clean. We have it in our kitchen from a previous remodel and I’m always washing it. I can’t imagine doing that to a whole house!
Thanks for reading my blog.
Good for you!! Our first house was an old foursquare built about 1919. It had all that old beautiful trim in it also. Along with wood floors. However, some dufus painted all the wood upstairs. They even painted the wood floors dark brown. Why on earth anyone would paint beautiful oak floors dark brown, blows my mind. We were able to get one room completely stripped and redone but, what a big job. Babies and life kept us from getting to the rest of it. Then we moved out of state Fast forward 21 yrs., I happened to see that the house was up for sale and checked out the pics online. It appears someone was able to get one more bed-room stripped. Only one more and the hallway to go! I hope the new owner does it.
Hi Sue,
I know what you mean about painting the wood. Some people just do what they want! How exciting that you can see the house for sale now. Maybe you can live here again! There are definitely are people who appreciate the original character of old houses. Maybe that new owner will like you said 🙂
This woodwork is absolutely gorgeous and although raw materials like this may not be available today, I’m interested in trying to recreate it for my “new old house.” Do you know or has anyone told you what variety of wood this is?
Hi Kris,
My brother-in-law says it’s chestnut. He does some projects with wood, so I assume that may be what it is. We don’t believe it is oak. I hope that helps you. Best of luck with your house!
This is the second time I’ve come back to this post. My husband and I just bought a 100 year old home built in 1915, and it has the original woodwork throughout. I keep going back and forth over the decision to paint the trim or not. The kitchen is an addition and has some white, some wood trim. Upstairs two of the bedrooms have painted trim and so does the bathroom. Part of me wants to paint everything for the sake of consistency. Plus, I love the look of the all white trim and feel you can be free to use whatever paint color and it will go well. I love darker grays, but feel that if we keep the dark trim, it will make the room feel too dark. Again, I’m torn over this decision! Any advice?? Your home is gorgeous!
Hi Jessica,
Do you have any idea of what stain color your trim most closely resembles? I love the color – it looks great! Bravo to you.
Hi Elise,
I actually do not know what the stain color is. We might have to find out soon since we might replace some of the stairs. If so, I’ll update the post and let you know!
Sounds good! Thanks
I have a old farmhouse that’s over 100 years old that has beautiful dark wood trim. Unfortunately previous owners/renters did not take care of it and did sloppy paint jobs. Half the house is painted half isn’t. So we ended up painting the trim where it was already painted. In one room the ceiling molding is white while all other trim is still dark Wood. ??? Yours is beautiful!!
Thank you SO much for this inspiration. We, too, live in a house of the same vintage as yours and it’s been tough to find help for wall paint color suggestions. Although painted over at some point in its history (we can still find traces of the most heinous barf green), some lovely previous owner (thank you!!) obviously stripped and restored it all to its glorious original beauty. The choices you made have given me the hope that I can find a color scheme that works!
Hi Andrea,
Glad the paint color suggestions can help you! I find color traces of the previous wall colors here and there too. I always tell people to choose cool colors that don’t have red, orange or yellow undertones since the wood already does. Although they are not usually what people go towards, they can be a nice compliment to the wood. And always test them on the walls first, it will help you out in deciding.
Have fun painting!
1897 Victorian here. http://www.goochsells.com/auction/230662/absolute-auction-sat-aug-16th-1100am/
These are pictures from when we bought the house last year. It’s a total gut remodel. Woodwork was a selling point but into in the best shape, although never painted. Woodwork has all been stripped from house and is being dipped, stripped and repaired. Quandary…go back with stain or paint it all out? I’ll probably only stay in this house a couple of years. What does the buyer want???
Hi Maury,
Wow, what an amazing house. I would keep the wood as it is and go back to the stain it had. Not only will that keep the original character of the house and probably be a selling point for future owners, but might be easier to do and will work better on the wood. Sure it can be painted but the wood itself is used to stain, per say, and I’m sure it would look great. You’ll make the best decision for yourself. I hope it comes out well! Have fun remodeling.
GORGEOUS!!! All the wood details in your home are beautiful and it’s so impressive that none of the previous owner damaged or painted them! Would you even consider putting in crown molding? If so, how would you tie it into the original details of the home? I’ve seen people paint new crown molding white and mix it in with the original stained wood. I’m not sure what to do here…. I don’t think I could ever match the crown molding perfectly to the other trim. What are your thoughts?
Hi Nicole,
Thanks, I’m glad you like the trim. We actually have considered putting in crown molding and would probably do it in white. Although some people think this would clash, matching to the current trim would be nearly impossible and expensive, and white would keep things bright in the rooms. The only thing is, where do we install it? Since it’s not original to the house I go back and forth on it. Would it look funny in one room and not the next?
There is a foam crown molding of all things, that goes on with just caulk and comes down easily. Since we have plaster walls I’m considering this because we can’t nail into the plaster. We’d have to screw in a base piece of wood and nail the crown to that. It’s a long and lengthy process, which we’ve seen friends do. No thanks! So I don’t know yet!
Thanks for reading my blog.
I believe when a home is of historical value and has all of that original substantial woodwork, it should not be painted! Our last home was over 100 years old and already painted. Although I like it either way, I stand by my first sentence. Our current home is all stained woodwork and sometimes I’m tempted on painting it simply because it’s just basic pine, small and nothing fancy, but I can’t be bothered with all of the work to change it. I would LOVE to have bigger trim either way, but depending on if we stay here or not, it might just remain a pipe dream. Either way, I am SO glad to see somebody who respects the history of their home instead of just following current trends. Thanks for sharing!
While I didn’t really want to change our trim, the previous owners had cats..and well..it smells like pee. All of it
Stained wood doors and trim bring elegance, character, and richness to a house. Especially if you have hardwood floors, it functions as a beautiful extension of those wood floors and allows for more freedom in coloring the rest of the room.
Painted white trim is unoriginal, cheap looking, and high maintenance. White shows everything. Whether it’s dust, dirt, scuffs, or worse (if it’s in a bathroom), white needs frequent cleaning and even repainting in order to look its best. Once you have a few layers of paint caked on, you no longer have the new, clean look that you wanted in the first place.
Never paint wood. Natural or stained wood is a thing of beauty: like gold or gemstones. You wouldn’t paint your engagement ring to look like a piece of cheap white plastic- why do it to your woodwork?
My husband and I just bought an older house with wood trim throughout so I really appreciate you sharing your pictures and paint colors you used! I was wondering if you could tell me what the fabric was or where you got the curtains for the Roman shades in the bay windows (white with black and blue fern looking design)?? They look so great against the wood and with the paint color!
Hi Kara,
Congrats on your new home! You can find that fabric at Joanns here, and can order it online if you don’t have a location near you. It’s called ‘Floating Petals’. Thanks for the sweet comments on my home 🙂
Hi Jessica! Thanks for being maybe the only person on Pinterest who embraces original wood trim! Can I ask – what is the lower half of the wall under the chair rail? Is it textured wall paper? Thanks!!
Hi April,
The lower half of the wall is grasscloth wallpaper in a medium gray color. It’s from Lowes. And thanks about the trim! I’ve got a new wall paint color coming in the living room soon too 🙂
So happy I found your site! We just bought a 103 yr home with the same trim throughout the living room, dining room, and downstairs bedrooms. Its original to the home and we love it but I was starting to have some anxiety about what colors to paint our home! Thank you thank you thank you 🙂
The wood trim in your home is beautiful! I love wood detailing in a home and am not a fan of all white trim. Unfortunately, the people we bought our house from painted all the trim and doors white before they put it on the market 🙁 We are now in the process of replacing all the baseboards and doors with new ones we can stain. White trim can look nice but it’s just not my style. I like the warmth of darker wood and with 6 kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats, white is incredibly hard to keep looking pristine!
Hi Belinda,
Go you for replacing all that trim! And you are right about keeping white trim clean. We have it in our kitchen from a previous owner’s remodel and it’s so dusty all the time. The kitchen is a bad place for white! Good luck with your house 🙂
Hi Jessica. Found your blog as I’ve just bought a place with very similar looking wood trim and unique features! Wondered how you got that wood looking so shiny! Well done!
Hi Rob,
The woodwork was that shiny when we moved in, we’ve never painted or sealed it. To clean and maintain it, I dust it and once a year wipe it with a damp cloth. We don’t use any chemicals or products on it. I assume it’s shellac since it’s that old, but I’m not 100% on what it’s sealed with. My brother in law seems to think the wood is chestnut. Hope that helps!
I wouldn’t paint that absolutely gorgeous wood either!
I love this post, and I love old woodwork as well. We just bought a 1917 historic home that has the same woodwork as yours. Unfortunately the previous owner stripped and re-stained it all in the 1960s, meaning it’s a yellow-y golden oak. Yuck!
We know the original color (beautiful, warm and dark like yours) but to get there would mean a total strip and re-stain (which we can’t do right now because we are in a full gut remodel of pretty much everything else in the house before we even move in!!) My dilemma is this: use a short-cut poly/stain to get close to the original look or just paint it white until that’s out of style and THEN strip and re-stain it all.
I’m so torn because both choices are compromises but I just cannot take on the stripping/re-staining right now. If your woodwork had been stained an ugly color, what would you have done?
This post might be old, but thank goodness there is someone else out there who won’t paint their wood trim. Ours is new, but we LOVE natural wood in our house. I keep trying to find office decor/etc. but it’s all white & modern. Meanwhile we have a huge walnut, ash & mahogany desk (that will not be painted).
I really enjoyed this post. My husband and I purchased a 110yr old home about a year ago. Everything had been painted white except the newel post at the base of the stairs. The trim, the wallpaper covering ALL of the walls, it was all white! In the course of a year we have slowly stripped paint from the entryway stairs, baseboard and trim. We have started in the dining room as well. I was hoping we would find beautiful oak underneath the paint and we did! As we removed the wallpaper we discovered it was put up to cover plaster damage so that’s being repaired as well. I loved your photos. We’ve never lived in a home this old. We want to maintain it’s character. Your pictures are amazing and I’m pulling inspiration from them. Did you have to revive or do anything to save your floors? And if so, what did you do? All areas of our house have the original floors except the upstairs hallway and some will need refinished. I would hate to just cover them over with new floors.
Hi Christy,
Wow, what a project for you. Congrats on such a big job. Yes, many of our walls are actually paint over wallpaper, which we won’t have the time or interest to remove. Mostly because it does protect the plaster.
We have not done anything to the floors on the first level except sweep and steam them. We don’t use chemicals to clean them. We refinished the floors on the second level before we moved in. We sanded them down and sealed them with oil based polyurethane. Looking back we should have put on 3 or more coats, instead of the 2 we did. We didn’t stain them or anything and the don’t match the trim exactly only because it’s old and has 115+ years of wear and tear on it. Although it’s in great shape, as you can see 🙂
Thanks for the compliments. I hope you enjoy your home!
Hey there! I LOVE your trim!! My husband and I are getting ready to buy a home that has all that wood trim and I wondered what the color on the 7th picture walls is? Its a pic of a doorway leading to your kitchen…..Is that Flint Smoke? I saw your post about paint colors but I was just double checking. Thanks
Hi Brenda,
The 7th picture looking into the kitchen is from the dining room. The original color is Driftwood Gray by Martha Stewart paint, which doesn’t exist anymore. The color match in Behr paint (found at Home Depot) is Weathered Moss M380-3. In the dining room the finish is flat. I hope that helps you!
I myself am a all natural wood guy. Our house was built in the 50’s and when we pull up the carpet we had all oak floors. Sanded and cleared. Looks great. Had oak trim with birch doors. I installed solid oak doors with oak crown moldings and 6 inch wide base board. It may not be trending but its my house and I love it! I will post a few photos soon. Your house looks amazing. Love older homes with high ceilings and great trim. Beautiful!
Hi Paul,
Thanks for telling me about your house. All that matters is that you love your own home! Thanks for reading my blog.
My home was built in 1909 and we have the same sort of dark molding and doors in the front living room and dining room. The previous owners butchered the rest with white paint. We’ve stripped some of it, but in some locations we just went with the white out of necessity. I painted my living room 12 years ago a nice army green, which looks great with the dark, reddish oak, but after all these years I need a change. As I was looking through Google image search your article came up. My dining room is a caramel-meets-tan color and I need a light hue in the living room that compliments it. I’m so glad to see you are preserving the character and also not blowing walls out! That is one of my biggest issues with people who buy old homes for their character and completely change the floor plan. It’s suppose to have nooks and crannies with doors everywhere! You have a hall of doors just like we do : )
Hi Alison,
Thanks for leaving a comment and telling me so much about your wonderful home. There are a lot of paint colors that I’m sure will look great with your trim. I suggest getting small test pots to try first and see how they look in the light.
And I know what you mean about the floor plan changes. I don’t know how we would do that, but it’s nice not to have to.
Thanks for reading my blog!
I have a 112 year old house, it has most of the original woodwork. Some has been switched out, and some is new, but made to look like the original design. I too am not painting the wood.. it is in such great condition! You can’t find that these days! Although I am trying to find ways to brighten up the rooms,, the dark wood makes this difficult. I see you used lighter curtains,, we also are using lighter paint, rugs and other things that brighten up a room. Who ever lived here before us painted all the woodwork on the second floor and I don’t know if trying to restore it would be worth the time.. Im honestly not even sure it the original wood…but it looks like it could be.
Absolutely gorgeous. When people paint quality wood trim something in me just aches.
I can see by the number of comments that you’ve hit on a nerve here! I live in a 1919 bungalow with all original wood trim. The trim baseboards are all very deep-almost 12 inches. Columns, built ins.However, the shellac or varnish is all cracked so it looks a bit nasty. We’ve never tackled trying to get it all off until recently we tried on one doorway. The wood underneath is not gorgeous. So tempting to paint it all but I just don’t have the courage. But neither do I have the conviction that “it should never be painted!” becuase our wrap around porch makes the whole house so dark. We have a big stone fireplace that also make the house look a bit dark. Have though about white washing that as the grout is reddish and not so pretty. Think I just need a designer as I don’t have enough confidence to make decisions on my own!
THANK YOU!!! We just bought our home. It’s old and it has nice dark wood trim everywhere. I was on the fence trying to decide if I liked it or not, what to do about it, etc. Reading about your trim in your home has helped me to see the beauty in ours. I think I’m actually going to love and appreciate our wood trim more than I would if it were white. And I think it will outlast the trends. Looking forward to reading more about how you decorated your home! Again, thank you for giving me a new perspective on my lovely trim 🙂
Wonderful article. I live in a house with original red tiger oak trim and paneling that has not been touched, and it is beautiful. My husband and I believe that long after a trend has passed, the true character of the home will still look beautiful. Window treatments, wall paint (on plaster only) and furniture do plenty to update the look of the interior. My husband (a furniture designer and artist) has made wooden radiator covers to convincingly match the style of the home.
Not all homes in that time period started out with all stained woodwork. I owned a 1918 Craftsman foursquare where the baseboard, crown molding and window casing were all painted poplar. The doors, mantles and window sills were all stained wood.It was a beautiful home and the woodwork was stunning.
I am SO glad I came across this. Although my newly purchased home is nowhere near the age of yours, there is a large amount of stunning woodwork throughout the house. There is a HUGE fireplace mantle with connected built-in bookshelves and storage, more built-in bookshelves and storage in the office with half of the wall being wood paneling, tons of thick dental (?) crown molding, and I could go on and on. In my eyes it’s beautiful.
I’ve asked several friends what they would do to update the house, and they’ve all said “paint the wood”. Each and every time I’ve looked at them in horror. I just can’t do it! I’ve been seeking paint colors for the walls that would work well with it, as well as furniture, accessory colors. It’s been a battle, but I think you’ve finally put me on the right track! Thank you for putting this out there.
I agree with all of you who love the wood trim. Any way to UNPAINT wood trim and molding?
Hi Toby,
Thanks for the comments. You would have to strip the trim and then finish it how you wanted, either with stain or a sealer. I’m sure you can find information online about techniques to use.
Good luck with your new place! For suggestions, I would definitely test out any stains you use on the wood first. There are products that you don’t have to seal, and natural products too. I’ve heard of Vermont Natural Coatings, which can be a nice natural alternative to harsh, chemical filled products, but haven’t used it myself.
Thank you for writing this article and showing pictures of your beautiful home. I grew up in a home that was built in the 1880’s and I have always been a fan of stained wood trim. I built my current home in 2008 with custom maple trim and doors throughout the house. I know it’s not the mainstream popular trend but I think it’s beautiful and can’t imagine ever painting it. Fortunately my stepfather owns a business that makes custom trim. Working with him I was able to choose the type of wood, profile and stain that was right for my taste. I get compliments on how beautiful it is all the time. I’ve been in the home for almost 10 years now and I’m starting to look at making cosmetic updates but painting the woodwork is off limits.
Love your home!!!! So similar to mine! I was so close to painting the trim white, but found your page! Could you tell me what color the fireplace area is during the winter picture?
Hi Erica,
Thanks for the sweet comment! The actual brick on the fireplace is Ultra Pure White and the color on top and on the walls is Creamy Mushroom by Behr (in the first picture of the fireplace). I also painted the top part of the fireplace wall in Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore.
I’ve since painted that top part black and love it. It’s a nice neutral that I get to use as a backdrop for all the decorating changes. Thanks for reading my blog 🙂
I think the longevity of this post shows so many people not only agree with you, but are grateful to see your remarks as a “public record”. We currently have a bid on a 90 year craftsman with all the original trim, doors, and windows left untouched by white paint. As I scour on home decorating blogs, the over abundance of white was disheartening.
I love your light colors, allowing for a more “modern” take while preserving the beauty of the wood of your home. You have a beautiful home.
I agree. Our 112 year old classical revival foursquare has incredible original detailed chestnut woodwork, the floors have inlaid designs, the doors are solid mahogany, the doorknobs are glass, and we have a couple of have stained glass windows. Yet, it feels current, loft-like, light and airy because the walls are a creamy white and our rugs, art, and upholstered furniture are all cream, tan, gold, black, brown, gray and white. Something else special about 100 year old homes is they usually have huge porches and 10ft ceilings!!!! I’m with you….the thought of painting our wood trim makes me cringe. The house has been here long before us and will stand long after we leave this earth. We are just temporary caretakers!!!!
Jessica my home is similiar to yours and i would never want to paint that wood. However, in the kitchen we have oak cabinets. Its dark even with lighter walls (french vanilla) and lighter soapstone counter tops. Should i paint the kitchen cupboards a green gray?
Hi Deborah,
You can definitely paint your cabinets if that is the look you would like to go with. There are a lot of tutorials online about how to do so easily. A spray gun may help if you want to get into taping everything off. Definitely test it out before you get into the whole project. I believe there are cabinet refinishing products too. Hope this helps!
Only one thing I can say, “I want to move in!”
Your home is beautiful. I just bought a 1954/ 4 bedroom apt in NY. I want to fake the dark wood ceiling, floor and window trim and molding. The wood floor will be stained dark and I may replace the interior doors with dark stained doors. Quite a challenge but I am going to try.
Any suggestions?
I loved your article. I am building a home after living in a home with painted white trim. I don’t want to go with painted trim in my new home and your article encouraged me to stick with my gut feeling that white painted trim is not for my dream house.
Wow! Normally I do prefer white painted trim but yours is stunning. ..and I wouldn’t paint it either. Decorating would certainly be meant to highlight that beautiful wood. You’ve done a great job!
I have been searching for paint colors to go with natural or stained wood trim and fell into your site. What gorgeous woodwork you have and it is so heartwarming to hear of someone who truly appreciates it! And I’ve noted that your post definitely has longevity! We have a timberframe home with oak trim made from oak trees that were removed from our land in order to build our home. It may be imperfect with knots and some checking, but I would never paint over it.
I love seeing the grain and color variations in real wood. With painted trim, I always wonder if it’s even really solid wood, or just MDF, pressboard, or plastic. Wood trim = quality to me. But that’s just me and apparently not the the trend right now. Thank you again for showing the beauty of your home!
I have a rental property that was my grandparents with similar 1920s dark trim. It is in pretty good shape and I love the trim as is. I also own my parents house and all have 1970s dark walnut trim and everyone says to replace or paint it. I can’t as it’s like plastic surgery for a house. I want to update it but maintain the original character of the house. Styles come and go so quickly. Keep the original elements and beauty.
Did you paint the armoire in the kitchen? If so, do you remember the color?
I totally agree with not painting wood trim. I have just finished redoing our kitchen. I have honey oak cabinets. I had a lot of people ask, aren’t you going to paint them? Ugh, NO! For one, wood is timeless and so beautiful. Second, we live in a National Forest. It just matches and goes so well.
Your house is beautiful and keep up the NOT painting wood!
Thanks so much Sharon! We have NOT painted any of it 🙂
Do you have any idea what kind of wood it is? We recently purchased a 104 year old house with the same looking woodwork with the large grain. I would love to know what it is?
Hi Patti,
We have been told this is American Chestnut. I hope that helps you and you are enjoying your old home!
I love the woodwork in my 1906 brick Craftsman. The kitchen woodwork has been painted and in the bedrooms and I can live with that…but I love my doors and frames and floors…and the beautiful fireplace surrounded with built-in cabinets and original leaded glass doors! Thanks for sharing this – I cringe when I see people painting over lovely wood!
We have dark wood trim all over our house, and we LOVE it! It’s part of the house. It’s original. Plus, it’s warm, and different. Beautiful!
Hi there, we are in total agreement with you, no painting the beautiful wood trim. My house was built in 1927 and looks almost exactly like yours (trim wise). It is almost the same color and definitely the same wood. Do you know the type of wood it is? I am looking to redo my floors and put in wood or the new LVP but want to match the color and grain of the wood if possible. I am thinking an Alder wood but not sure. I tried to read through the comments to see if the question had been asked before but whew there are a lot of comments and it would have taken me hours to read them all. We are also planning on painting the walls in the “greige” family. How do you feel about these colors with the wood? Thanks for sharing your beautiful home, it was a real treat to see someone else cherish the craftsmanship like we do.
Hi Karen,
We were told the wood is American Chestnut. The grey/beige colors can be very nice. They are timeless and you can do a lot of accent decor with them also. Hope this helps you and enjoy your home!
I’m trying to build an old house look in a brand new home. I’m having all wood floors and stained wood trim and crown molding throughout. I’m beginning to wonder about the crown molding as I look at older homes. I see pictures of it but more often, as in your home there isn’t any. I am concerned about how it will look in my kitchen as I have chosen white cabintry and white subway tiles for my backsplash with a white apron sink. All windows will be stained wood as well as all interior doors and trim. This is an open floor plan so the kitchen is open to the dining room and living room. Should I reconsider adding the crown molding throughtout my new home? Walls are only 8 foot.
Hi Judy,
Adding the crown molding is really a personal choice. Try to imagine what it will look like in your rooms. Does it distract your eye when you are in the space? Does it stand out in a bad way? Does it tie everything together? These are things to consider when making the decision. I know there is foam crown molding you can get a paint just like you would paint wood. And the foam is easy to install and perhaps remove if needed. Maybe you could try that before a more permanent installation? Hope this helps.
I moved into a home with the wood trim. The doors are not stained, but every wall in the house is painted. I have been trying to decide if I should paint all of the walls white and leave the trim or just paint the trim white. I agree that it is beautiful and your story inspired me to bring it out with white walls.
Thank you!
I, too, love the wood trim. Our house was built in 1929 and we built an addition 17 years ago and insisted the contractor use the same trim (8” baseboards). He had to purchase a special blade to make the trim the same. We also bought real wood windows from Marvin. They are clad in the outside but stained on the inside.
We will be downsizing this year and realtors have told me to paint the trim to attract more buyers. I say if the natural trim turns off buyers, then they are not the right one.
Soooo happy that you love the woodwork and will not paint. After all
We are just the caretakers of these old beauties, I believe in keeping
The woodwork and plaster in as original condition as possible.
However baths and kitchens are a different story. And god forbid
Painting over brick, most people don’t know that brick needs to breath
Thru the mortar. If you paint over it it can’t breath and paint will peal
As well as the brick caking away. The Arts and Crafts movement will
Always be in style.
Just beautiful! I love the window blind with trees on it! Where is it from? It goes so nicely with the trim.
Hi Sarah,
That fabric is from a fabric outlet store in NYC. But I bet you could find something similar if you look for it. Hope that helps.
You really made the dark wood trim work! I have an old farmhouse with the same trim throughout, i find it difficult to find colors that go with it. Your blog was a big help and reminded me not to give up on it, thank you!
There was an episode of the “Fords” where Lee Ann painted dark wood trim (staircase and all!) in an old house white and I wanted to choke her!
May I ask what type of wood this is? We have the same wood work in our home but it needs some love. Knowing the type of wood will let me restore it to the beauty yours has.
Thank you.
Hi Kim,
We were told this is American Chestnut, but I would not know for sure. Hope that helps. – Jessica
It’s ten years later, and white (plus grey) has been splashed across the US. Total madness!
Leaving woodwork alone needs no justification, and I’m always so baffled when people think painting the whole house white is required when a couple of spots need touching up in the wood and varnish, which is simply done. Oh, well. It sells paint.
hi. Please please please….. share the paint colors in these pictures. the link no longer works that is supposed to tell us. we are i. a new home with wood the same color as yours. and i desperately need to paint. i would be so grateful if u could respond and share. thank you
I’m so glad I found your post! We just recently bought a house and it’s interior was very outdated. It was build by a family in the 80’s and only they ever lived in it. It has cherry wood door frames, doors, skirting boards and window frames/sills. My husband loves it and had no plan to paint it white like everyone does these days and I of course wanted it all to be white. I would probably change it If it wasn’t so much work but I’ll be honest it’s kinda growing on me BUT I do feel a bit embarrasses by it because it’s outdated. Reading your post helped me see it in a different way when you said that your home is unique cos everyone is painting theirs. I hope I learn to love it because it’s not nice living in a space you don’t love especially when your other half won’t compromise on the homes interior aesthetic. I am currently living on YT and Pinterest to try to get ideas on how to style it so that it doesn’t look even more dated.
Thank you for your blog. It’s is great to finally find a site which shows that wood trims are beautiful. I live in Australia and have a californian bungalow with western red cedar wood trims so have been looking everywhere for inspiration so it was great to find your site.
Hi Sam,
Thanks for leaving a comment. Yes I do love our trim and am glad to hear other people like it also. I hope you find good inspiration for your home!
I love wood trim. My house is only 30 yrs old but we have all oak trim and I would never paint over it. We are doing some remodeling though and are going to replace carpet with wood floors and I love the darker floor. Am seriously thinking of restaining all our trim darker to match the darker wood floor but it will be an enormous job. We have a warm deep honey trim and want to go to a mid dark brown. We have lots of big windows to let in the light so I don’t think it will all look too dark. The only problem is that we put in wood floors in family room a few years ago and we chose a color that matches the honey trim so I’m not sure how it would look to put in darker floors everywhere else. It would be a huge undertaking and maybe expense to refinish that floor. Any thoughts/ comments?
I found your post while searching wall paint colors compatible with wood stained trim and chair rail. Was inspired to read the interest of others who also like wood toned trim rather than painting. Painting is the rage now but I am holding out and keeping my trim stained. This site was just the thing to convince me not to take my paint brush to my trim….I’ve been tempted. Thanks
I would love to know what color stain, are your floors. LOVE THEM