Should I paint the mahogany trim in this room?

I have an older home with all mahogany trim. My kitchen trim had been painted years ago and I have kept this up. I am now painting my adjoining dining room and the original dark wood trim really makes the room look dark. Plus, the POs have gotten paint on a lot of it.

So, I am considering painting the trim in this room:

and


gloss white, to match this:


What do y'all think?

 

I'm kidding (mostly) but if you paint that I will have to hunt you and your family down and cover your bodies in Thompsons waterseal ... or something similar.

Though I'm not sure its mahogany..kinda looks more like oak to me, but no matter.

It could be easily replaced with pine or similar which would be more paint friendly.

If this is really an old house, wood like that just can't be replaced anymore.

 

I also hate to see nice wood painted. You might try a product like 'goof off' or 'oops' to remove the errant paint drops. Often scraping with the edge of a knife will remove the paint, then a light sanding and a fresh coat of poly/varnish and it will look like new

If you do decide to paint, you will need to sand, dust and use a solvent based primer to insure adhesion to the current finish. IMO adding/updating lighting is a better way to brighten up the room.

 

That is definately not mahogany. Most likely pine or douglas fir that was stained and varnished. My house has almost identical trim originally treated the same way.

Most of the stuff was painted over when I moved in. The didn't prep it properly so alot of it was letting go on the moulding and I have scraped/stripped it and repainted.

Whether or not to paint it is up to you. I'm sure painting the trim will help brighten the room a little bit, but I think your wall color is is the largest contributing factor in that respect.

Just a few ideas if you decide to paint. In my house the doors aren't painted and they look just fine next to the painted trim. Also in my bedrooms only the casing is painted and not the baseboard and that looks fine as well.

Do you have a picture of the front of your house? (Just for my curiosity)

 

"That is definately not mahogany. Most likely pine or douglas fir that was stained and varnished"

I agree it looks a lot like fir. I doubt it was stained and varnished, more than likely orange shellac was used. On remodels with woodwork like that I always get the paint store to mix up a stain that will get the new wood close to that color. It's hard to get the new wood to look identical to the old wood but you can get it close.

 

Count me in as one who prefers stained trim. To me it adds warmth to a room, especially with the wood floor. Last year I refinished a wood floor in my living room and hall. I replaced the painted trim with stained 3/4" oak. I selected the shaper bit.

As you have learned, if you paint it, you will always be painting it.