8 March 2012

living happily with wood trim

Yep, you heard me and yep, I'm still the paint-everything-white-freak. However, I do appreciate the richness of wood trim, especially in heritage homes with fine craftsmanship. I understand that many homeowners would never paint out their wood trim. Like my clients right now. They have wood trim and want to redecorate their living room while keeping their trim as is. They want something light, fun and comfy for a family of five. 

I've created this mood board for them that includes their current furniture that they want to keep.

design board for living room with wood trim

There are many paint colour choices that work with wood trim. Of course, since I love white, I recommend having white in the room to keep things light and modern. Gray, as seen here, is another go-to favourite. If you don't go with white walls, get white or light colours in the room in other ways, like though window dressings,  furniture or decorative elements.

 Have a peek at a few great examples, white and otherwise.

Anthropologie

13 comments :

  1. The photos you chose show a beautiful mix of the two. I am still a fan of white!! When I was living in Georgia we had a home with stained wood trim. It took me a year, but room by room, window by window I painted every bit! Not sure I would tackle that myself ever again!!

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  2. Wow! Wood trim is indeed a very great accent in the house. It definitely look great on light colors.

    Celestine @ furniture Perth

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  3. I'm really happy to read this post! We live in a farmhouse built in 1899, and the living room and hall has the original faux bois painted fancy wood trim, and I wouldn't dream of painting it over (thankfully all of the bedrooms upstairs, plus the bathroom and kitchen, have painted over trim already, though).

    We're working on our bathroom right now, but next up is the living room and I've been struggling over colour choices and window treatment options. This post definitely helps!

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  4. @Ashley

    So glad this was timely and helpful to you Ashley! You will have to show off your rooms once finished so we can see what colour you chose and how it works with the trim. I'm so envious of your farmhouse!

    Thanks for reading.
    Kelly

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  5. @Kim

    Thanks Kim- yes, I still would likely paint trim in my own home white, but I've learned to appreciate the look of wood trim as well. And it sure beats the hassle of painting it!

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  6. Well there you go. You have just convinced a paint-it-all girl like me that it's possible to have unpainted trim and make it beautiful. I"m a believer:)

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  7. Kelly I found a way to comment finally!! And I must say I love the pics you showed as examples of wood trim working. My fave is the first one...very LA Arts and Crafts. Hope the like your board!

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  8. Uh, the pictures are lovely...however, like Kim...I'm on a white kick at the moment. I do like wood frames over painted ones.

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  9. I'm really torn. We have a 1929 Tudor cottage with lots of wood trim leaded glass windows in the living/dining rooms. What I'm struggling with is that all the wood is pieced together. I mean there is oak floors, fir baseboard, oak picture rails, fir window casings, and something different all together for the doors. I feel bad painting the wood but if it all looked nice and in good condition I probably wouldn't even consider it. I love the photos with the olive green/gray wall colors and this ALONE is tipping the scale towards leaving the trim! Thanks for, well, complicating things!

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  10. what is the paint color name/number of the olive green/gray walls with the dark trim. (espresso machine in pic)

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  13. After many trials found a color I love which compliments the hefty stained (orangey) woodwork of our 1920s bungalow: Sherwin-Williams Roycroft Suede!

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I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for making my day!