Help - painting question dark trim

Help, I'm not sure what to do. Just moved into a house built in 1983. After taking down outdated wallpaper, we are now ready to paint. I am stuck as to weather or not to paint the dark trim all through the house. All the closet doors are dark wood too. If I paint the trim white in one room do I have to paint it all through the house to keep it consistant? I like the rustic/distressed look and also have wood beams on the ceiling in the family room. I just don't want it to look outdated. Should I paint the dark wood trim and doors?? ( I have warm earth tone colors picked out for the walls) I would love any suggestions...thank you....

 

it depends. if the woodwork isn't the real chunky "good" kind that you see in old houses, but rather the thinner 70's type stuff, it won't look much better painted. and painted woodwork tends to look more formal than stained, so if you're wanting a more casual/rustic look, you won't really be heading in the right direction. and with warm earth tones, you wouldn't want white trim, so you'd be painting an off-white/creamy color, if not some other actual color.

and i think it's best to have all the woodwork the same, meaning doors, door trim, windows, baseboards, etc. i've seen plenty of new homes with stained woodwork/trim and white doors, but i didn't like it. and it was only done that way because it's cheaper to do. so even though "it's being done", it's not really right, but at least you wouldn't be alone.

so, mainly it depends on what type of woodwork you have........which is what?

 

Thank you Annette,
I appreciate your opinion. The woodwork is not the "chucky" stuff. Just the regular 70's mouldings. I was thinking the same thing. If I did paint it, it would not be a bright white but an off white or cream. If I decided not to paint it and just leave it dark, do you think it will look old and outdated? Thats what I think of when I look at it. I am not a decorator so I'm not sure if my thinking is right. Thanks in advance for your help....chocolate

 

i've painted woodwork before. the wonderful kind of woodwork found in old houses. it was a huge job, but worth it. your job, imo, wouldn't be worth the effort. you'd spend a ton of time sanding & prepping & painting at least a couple coats plus a primer. and when you'd finally be done, you'd have painted 70's trim. THEN you'd start posting questions about how to replace trim.

if i were you, i'd spend my time replacing it with new (paint grade). then you could paint the doors.

or, decorate around it & see if you're able to incorporate and/or ignore it.

but i wouldn't paint it as is. i've seen that, and it's just painted 70s trim. it's really just no better painted.

whether or not it really looks "dated" depends on the style of the house & your furnishings & what look you're going for. if you've upgraded the kitchen & all the bathrooms & have contemporary furniture, then yes, it'll look dated. but if you've still got mostly original kitchen & bathrooms, and your style is rustic or country, etc, it will most likely fit in just fine.

 

Thanks again Annette,
I forgot to mention the trim is all in really good shape. I think I'm going to paint all around it and see how it looks....I can always have my painter go back and paint it afterwards. Thanks again...chocolate

 

With warmer, earth tones on walls, the dark trim will not stand out. With your beams and decor, the dark trim sounds better than painted trim.

 

Sounds like you have the same issues I had with the older style dark trim. I was thinking of painting mine also until I realized I would also have to paint the dark doors, windows and door trim. Thats a lot of painting.
What I did instead is I replaced the baseboard with a wider, more modern design of dark trim. This way I updated the 70's look with a wider baseboard and kept the natural wood finishes which look great IMO.