Is white trim and/or doors trendy or classic?

[PilsnPinkysMom]

We''re about to move into a home with warm brown/wood tone trim, moulding & ugly slab doors. DH & I are toying with the idea of sanding and painting all moulding and painting/adding frame trim to the doors- all in white. White trim is EVERYWHERE right now. It''s all over paint company websites and DIY-home store websites... But our 1950''s ranch (and most of the 1950''s-1980''s homes we viewed) had natural wood-tone trim. We''re hesitant to spend lots of time refinishing all these surfaces to have the look go out of style in the near future... So...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

LOL your poll is wonky but white is my vote. I think the look of white trim is classic and clean. Painted trim is actually very common in historic homes (colonial era). I don''t care for raw/varnished wood trim in most houses, though it does look nice in certain styles, like craftsman.

 

[iheartscience]

I think white trim is classic! The area I''m in has tons of Victorian row houses and almost all of the ones I''ve been in, seen on realtor websites, etc. have painted white trim. (Including mine!) I kind of hate plain wood trim, personally. I guess it depends on the style of your home-will the white trim go well with the style?

 

[Mara]

I agree it's classic. I love Craftsman style homes and so many of them have the painted walls but all the trim is wide and white. Love that look. Also, a lot of houses we see on the market now that have been just remodeled all still have the white trim/moulding/doors. White beadboard is classic also.

 

[Hest88]

It''s very classic, but it also depends on the house. A lot of the dark wood Craftsman around here have original dark wood trim, though there are ones where white moulding is traditional. A very modern house or a sprawling ranch-style house may not look good with moulding. However, it sounds like yours already has it, so it makes me think that just making it white may not clash with the overall style of the house.

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

Our house is older (built in the early 1900’s) and has dark wood trim all over the place. Personally, I hate it. It makes everything look dark and drab. My husband and I have been thinking about painting the trim white to help brighten this place up. I don''t think it will take away from the classic feel of the house.

 

[somethingshiny]

We still have the original large baseboards and crown molding in the bedrooms in our home. I have left it for over a year. Now, every time I walk into these rooms, I desperately want to paint them white. I''m usually a big fan of wood, wood grain, and wood color. But, some rooms just look better with a clean and crisp trim. I also think it''s easier to change color when you don''t have to worry about the trim.

 

[rainwood]

It depends on what you mean by classic. Most things are cyclical and/or trendy and can also be regional. A Craftsman or bungalow built in the 10''s or 20''s or 30''s (at least in the Northwest) would have had stained wood trim and moldings originally, usually dark stain. Ranch houses of the 50''s would have had stained wood trim, usually in a lighter, honey color, and stained kitchen cabinets, and hardwood floors in the same lighter stain. Dark wood trim came back in style somewhat in the 60''s and 70''s, then wood went back to the more oak honey color in the 80''s. It wasn''t until the late 80''s and 90''s that white trim became really popular for many styles of houses. One of the reasons for the popularity of white trim is that you can use paint grade wood or MDF which is cheaper than stain grade wood so that''s what most home builders gravitated to because of cost.

If you want to stay true to the original style of your house, you should keep the wood stain look. If you don''t care about staying true to the original style, you can do whatever you want. We are building an addition for the house we had built in the 80''s and we are staying true to the original style with honey stained wood moldings, trim, doors, and windows. It takes a lot more effort to get nice wood now than it did 25 years ago, but to us there is nothing that compares with the beauty of wood. That''s what makes our house stand out, and we decided to stay with that look. And the honey color will be back on trend at some point the way dark stain and white trim are now. Everything goes in cycles. I never thought I''d see the return of shag carpeting, but even it came back in style!

 

[zoebartlett]

I prefer the look of white trim and moulding to stained wood tones. That would be my vote.

 

[megumic]

Date: 2/18/2010 1:29:11 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
LOL your poll is wonky but white is my vote. I think the look of white trim is classic and clean. Painted trim is actually very common in historic homes (colonial era). I don''t care for raw/varnished wood trim in most houses, though it does look nice in certain styles, like craftsman.

I second every single word.

 

[elrohwen]

I only like wood trim in certain homes - older, Craftsmen types that seem to carry it well. Plus, I think it needs to be the right color and wood - not just any wood trim will give the same effect.

For the vast majority of homes, I think white looks great. It''s easy (there''s not many shades of white) and looks good in every home no matter the age or style.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Sorry for my wonky poll

but THANK YOU for your responses... I don't think our trim falls into the gorgeous, natural Craftsman style partly because that isn't the style of our house... and partly because the trim is just BLAH and not particularly high quality. The covered wood floors are a nicer tone- a bit deeper and more rich. White paint would look clean and crisp against them.

I think we'll paint it. I'm glad to know that most people like white- that bodes well for resale. There will be a LOT of sanding, stripping & cleaning in our future. Maybe it'd be better to just replace it.

Here's a pic of some trim, for reference:

 

[neatfreak]

We had the same deal except replace 1950's with 1960's ranch. We painted all the trim white and don't regret it at all. Looks SO much nicer IMO. And it's classic, white trim is in so many historic homes I wouldn't think twice about white trim.

 

[gardengloves]

I''m a big believer in the power of crisp white trim to refresh a space. This is a staircase we renovated, put in wood treads and added white trim

 

[elrohwen]

After seeing your example pick of your home, I say definitely go for white! My parents put in a similar color wood in the 90s and it still looks ok (mostly because it''s good wood) but I still think white is better

White is very classic.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Just for the record, the poll was only wonky because it was only showing one choice at the time

 

[MissGotRocks]

Love white trim! Actually, mine is a bit off white but I love the way it sets off the wall paint. I like definition and the wood trim - crown, baseboards, etc. painted white just define the walls. I had a house that had stained wood trim - thought it would be better - but in the end I hated it! Never again!

 

[Mara]

after seeing your pic, i say definitely white trim.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Date: 2/18/2010 7:52:20 PM
Author: neatfreak
We had the same deal except replace 1950''s with 1960''s ranch. We painted all the trim white and don''t regret it at all. Looks SO much nicer IMO. And it''s classic, white trim is in so many historic homes I wouldn''t think twice about white trim.

What did you do before painting? Sand? Strip? Or just paint over? I''m not sure whether we should use latex or oil based, either.. but I''m leaning toward oil


gardengloves: :Swoooooon:

I love how that looks! Nice work!


HH: Hahaha! I was wondering why it was wonky- and that makes sense!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 2/18/2010 9:37:58 PM
Author: PilsnPinkysMom

Date: 2/18/2010 7:52:20 PM

Author: neatfreak

We had the same deal except replace 1950's with 1960's ranch. We painted all the trim white and don't regret it at all. Looks SO much nicer IMO. And it's classic, white trim is in so many historic homes I wouldn't think twice about white trim.

What did you do before painting? Sand? Strip? Or just paint over? I'm not sure whether we should use latex or oil based, either.. but I'm leaning toward oil



gardengloves: :Swoooooon:

I love how that looks! Nice work!



HH: Hahaha! I was wondering why it was wonky- and that makes sense!

Well what *we* did I do not recommend. But that's because I was lazy, the trim is ugly, and we are going to replace it when we redo our floors which will be somewhat soon. If it's trim that is going to be around for a long while I would sand and then paint with oil based. Probably prime too since trim can get beat up.

So that being said, I just painted over it! But they were not high gloss either. Took me 2 coats.

 

[BeachRunner]

I also vote for white.

But, did you decide to move up north or stay around the city??

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Beachrunner: We''re staying in Denver, south of Cherry Creek, north of the DTC. And not Wash Park (I wish!). Our move up North will happen when all the stars align: When we both find jobs & a perfect house in the area.

Maybe we''ll host a PS bbq when the weather turns pleasant

 

[BeachRunner]

Date: 2/18/2010 11:27:55 PM
Author: PilsnPinkysMom
Beachrunner: We''re staying in Denver, south of Cherry Creek, north of the DTC. And not Wash Park (I wish!). Our move up North will happen when all the stars align: When we both find jobs & a perfect house in the area.


Maybe we''ll host a PS bbq when the weather turns pleasant

Nice! We were just up north on Friday. We are just north of Cherry Creek.

BBQ sounds great; hubs is a chef, so we''ll bring something tasty!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Classic. I love white or cream trim.

 

[April20]

I''ve had both. And when I had the darker doors/trim, I had it replaced with white. IMO, there are only a limited number of styles of homes that look great with dark trim/doors. I think white is classic and works in almost every home.

 

[pennquaker09]

Ninety nine of the time, white is the way to go. The other one percent involves historic homes and specific architecture.

Technically, what a lot of us think of as traditional molding is not actually wood, it's plaster. Traditionally moldings are made of plaster, but it's hella expensive to get someone to do that these days.