Should I paint my original trim white?

somecallmemike

I have a house built in 1948, with the original Oak trim still unpainted after all these years. Around the windows in the bedrooms and living rooms it's in great shape, but the baseboards and the trim around the windows in the kitchen/bathroom are in bad shape and it looks pretty awful. Also my wife complains that the whole house feels dark due to the dark reddish color of the trim. She would like me to paint all the trim in the house white to freshen up the look of the house, but something inside me says "DON'T DO IT!" and keep the original look. What would you do?

Some images of my trim and doors. Everything looks fairly nice in the pictures, which don't illustrate the crummy look of some of the trim (the images wash out the imperfections):

Inside front door

Kitchen Cabinets

Example of worn down and battered trim

Cool hutches in the dining room

Living room window

Some doors in the hallway

Tom Struble

i agree with you but then....life is sometimes easier with a little white paint

DrumBum

it's really a matter of personal preference. if you want a natural oak look...you could always stain it with minwax or something like that. it might help mask the inconsistencies.

without seeing some pictures it's pretty hard to tell, but each case is different. i personally like the look of white baseboards.

you could always check out all new baseboard and trim also.

skitter

if most of the trim is in poor condition and you cant easily repair/replace the damaged trim, I think I would paint it.

-have the doors been painted or are they the orig wood (and in good shape)?

somecallmemike

The doors are all original oak paneling, and are in fair condition. They are two panel design. I will add some pictures of the trim and doors in couple minutes.

EDIT: Pictures added to my original post.

joecaption

That should be againt the law to paint over oak trim. Clean it sand it and reseal it. Paint the walls a light color if she wants the room to look brighter.

somecallmemike

Haha, that's how I feel. Not sure if an unhappy wife is worse than the sin of painting over original trim.

woodworkbykirk

the trim and doors look fine other than the peice of casing thats scratched.. just sand it and feather out the gouges.. as for the kitchen though.. sorry its hideous time to update it

diyjohn1234

It's really just a personal preference, but then again a happy wife is a happy life..

chrisn

Brighten up those horrible turquoise and maroon walls and touch up the trim and be done with it.

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chrisn

What? No tearing it all out and re-placing?

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creeper

Paint the walls first before you make a huge decision like that.

canoes

I'd personally not paint over wood trim for my house because I'm partial to wood. If the house is dark, my guess is that it's because the paint on the walls isn't light/bright enough. I used a pretty soft yellow.

I will admit my dau bought a 70 year old house and someone had painted the wide baseboards and other wood and it does look nice.

Two Knots

Your doors are gorgeous. Try and clean all the wood and give them a polishing. The walls need a painting with light soft colors.
The one door frame that looks damaged, will need some attention. Sand it down and re-stain it.
Your floor molding seems to be in good shape, as well as the molding around the doors.


Paint the walls light, and you'll see how much it brightens up the house.

jojoroberts

I agree either lighten up the walls or paint. I don't see that this is specifically ornate trim and it doesn't look like oak, looks like pine to me! I grew up in a house with vet ornate wide oak trim like a library look. If like that then no I wouldn't paint it, but your house is dark