To paint or not to paint?
Fri, 6 Feb 2009Lee-Anne from Toronto wrote us looking for help: "I love your website and thought you might be able to help me with my design dilemma. We recently bought a home that was built in the 40’s that’s a bit of a fixer upper. It has wooden baseboards throughout and lots of wood trim. I am still hanging onto my old furniture but I am sooooo ready to redo this room!! I want to modernise it and add colour and texture!! My dilemma is that in almost all of the design pictures that I see, the baseboards are painted white. My sister has told me in no uncertain terms that I am NOT to paint the wood trim in the house. I am looking for inspiration where people have kept the baseboards a natural colour." Below are some photos Lee-Anne included of her home.
At first I immediately thought "PAINT!!" but if I had such beautiful baseboards and trim, I would be terrified to paint it. So after looking at the photos, I would listen to your sister. But I would get out the paint can for a few things. I would paint out the fireplace (and lose that huge mirror above), the risers on the stairs and maybe the balusters (a photo below shows this). That's it. But keep your walls light and if you were going to get rugs, I'd keep those light too. Or you could go with a warm bright wall colour (see the yellow wall below). So the following are photos of spaces with unpainted trim (except the last one but imagine it's a dark wood).
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| Better Homes and Gardens | Better Homes and Gardens |
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| Caroline Beaupère | Alexandra Rowley |
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| Todd Oldham | Fox-Nahem |
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| Canadian House & Home | The Selby |
And to make your decision even harder Lee-Anne, here are some photos of spaces with painted trim, you know, to keep your options open. :)
Reader Comments (14)
I just found this in my inbox:
http://www.remodelista.com/2008/11/03/diy-patchwork-stair-runner/
I don't know how to add comments! doh!if she wants to add details she could add more molding around the rooms and paint the new moldings a color to match her walls - or a different shade.. thanks!sara
WOW - that stair runner in the link above is incredible. !!!!! Thanks Sara!
I went through the same thing myself. We just purchased a house from the 1920's and were stuck with the same ordeal, should we paint the wood or not? So here is my suggestion, and this is exactly what we did. We hired a professional wood restorer - not sure whether thats their title or not, but thats pretty much what they do. They stripped the 80+ years if varnish and grime off the wood and we stained the beautiful wood with a more rich color. As for the mantle, strip the varnish off of that, just do something about the faux brick inlay as it really detracts from the 1940's style. Than choose a nice color for the wall to really tie in the color of the wood. I am a big fan of a warm Sage. Hit your closest Benjamin Moore as they carry the Pottery Barn palate of paint. Restoration Hardware has some nice colors as well. In the meantime good luck and have fun doing it. Not meant to be stressful...some good advice I should have taken.
First, before you decide to refinish the woodwork, make sure that it is beautiful wood and not faux wood-grained. Faux wood-grain painting was an affordable alternative in older homes. If it is not faux, decide if you like the look and quality of the wood. Some of the wood used just wasn't the great looking to start out with, so it isn't a crime to paint over it. I grew up in a house with faux graining and my father wouldn't let my mother paint any of it for years. Finally, after 18 years, my mother painted out the trim and a wood built-in in the kitchen/breakfast room and they both loved it and were sorry they didn't do it sooner.
Second, the problem may be you just don't like the stark contrast between the dark woodwork and the white walls. Try a more toned (darker) wall color and you may love the look with the wood trim.
Good luck!
Great selection of pictures. I always say to people, do you love the wood trim? If not, then the answer is to paint it!
That's a beautiful room, but I would definitely soften it up. Kim is right about the mirror, very overpowering.
I spent months sanding and helping my father varnish our baseboards when I was younger (it was my job to do all of the creases). Whatever you do, it's a labor of love.
That said, I was immediately drawn to the bright yellow wall with the wood---a friend's home had somewhat brighter colors (not rainbow crayon, as I believe would be the danger here), and I loved it. LOVED it. If you can, get some old paint samples and paint swatches on your wall to see how you like it when it dries against the wood. And try not to tell yourself pre-emtively "Oh I'd hate this color." Be bold. You can (and will) paint over your swatches. From there you can find rugs, pillow, etc...that set both the wood and color off to good advantage.
Let us know what you choose :)
There are so many reasons not to paint your natural finish trim.
1. Think green, you will have to use more resources, paint, for your house. Over and over, every time you paint you'll have to paint that trim.
2. Time and money. When you paint a room, you only paint the walls now. If you paint the trim it will double or triple the time it takes to paint. If you are a DYI painter its time, if you hire a painter, its money. Painting trim is time consuming and tedious.
3. Natural finish wood makes a room seem very warm and inviting. I have had a home with it and my guests always noticed and remarked on it. NO ONE notices anything like that in my current house, with painted trim.
4. Natural finish wood has more visual interest, the grain and tone of shading. Paint is just paint.
5. Choose your wall paint to complement your trim, the natural light and size of the room to get the "softness" you desire.
6. Is it the trim you are focusing on or your furnishings and current paint color????
7. If your trim finish is in tough shape and is a traditional shellac, you can clean it with ammonia water and recoat with shellac.
8. If the house made it this long with the natural finish, many other people must have enjoyed it. Think of yourself as a steward of an historic property for future dwellers to enjoy.
9. Please just don't paint it!!
As the daughter of a custom molding maker please, please do not paint that beautiful wood! It looks one of a kind and brings a lot of character to your house. Once you paint it it is very difficult for you or future owners to get it back to a stain-quality wood.
Check out http://makingitlovely.com/. She has kept her trim unpainted and still created a beautiful home that shows who she is.
I'm lightly opposed to painting the wood. Its one of those things thats hard to undo. Besides, woodgrain has a lot of natural texture and variation, while paint lacks that.
I love how blogger Pink Loves Brown find ways to make it all modern looking without hiding the bones of the house.
I think it's a matter of your own personal taste - that is your own personal taste. Does your sister live in the house with you? Does she own the house? Does she own shares in some wood-enhancing product company? How is she able to tell you how to decorate your own home? If you want to live in a house with painted trim then you should be able to do it, it's your house and your life in that house. I'm sure your sister will still come over to visit.
I agree with idontdobiege.
And plus, it's so fun to prove your sister wrong.
If you decide to do a light gray like any of the last 5 photos, I suggest Benjamin Moore's "Smoke Embers." It doesn't have any overtones of other colors and yet is still dark enough to tell that there is color on your walls! Good luck xx
this is so interesting. I am faced with the same dilemma. 140 year old home. Great woodwork, but I love the clean look of painted woodwork. After much deliberation, I have come to the thought that it is the simplicity and the crisp appearance of the painted wood that I like. This has put me on a mission to clean up and un clutter every room, one room at a time. Old houses lend themselves to eccentric collecting, which makes noise for the eyes. Once I did that, I was less inclined to paint. It is a huge job, painting woodwork, one that does not come undone easily. Try scanning your photos into Photoshop and changing the color..maybe that will help!