Opinions please on Oak trim
All of the trim in our house (baseboards, window trim, doors) is oak. I had always envisioned a nursery with white trim. We are painting the walls either a light brown or shade of green (gender neutral as are on team green) but I thought about painting the trim and doors in the room white, for that crisp clean "baby" feel.
Here's my problem: if I do indeed paint all of the trim IN the room white, do I leave the outside of the door oak, so in the hallway it's not the only white door? If the door is open though (opens into room) you would see the oak side of the door facing all of the white trim. A friend said just paint everything but the door. Would that be funny? Having everything but the door white?
To complicate matters the crib we are most likely getting will be espresso. It's a 4 in 1 and will grow with our child and feel espresso would be better than having a teen with a white bed (like if the baby is a boy). Also, DH mentioned that painting the oak trim and doors can devalue house. We both agree we will be in our house for at least 20 years and he said if I really want to paint I can...
What to do? To make matters worse when I look at nurseries online, they ALL have white trim! How is that? Did no one have oak or did everyone who wanted to paint?
Re: Opinions please on Oak trim
I would paint everything but the outside of the door, like your friend said. It won't look strange. I think it's very common for there to be one or two rooms where the trim is different than the rest of the house. I work for a high-end builder and he does this- I don't think it'll devalue the home at all. And I love white trim.. it will look really great.
We have oak trim. I prefer white, but I don't mind the shade that ours is. I had the exact same dilemma as you....to paint the trim or leave it. For me, the white trim was what I always invisioned for our nursery. The door was a huge issue for me as well, especially since you can see the nursery door from the living room. I think painting the nursery door only halfway would look really strange, but having a white door among the rest of the oak doors would look even more odd.
We decided to leave the trim alone and I love the way our nursery turned out. (We got expresso furniture also, FWIW).
Our house sounds exactly like yours! Built in 1989, we've got a LOT of oak to tame. After refinishing all the kitchen cabinets and painting them white last year, the nursery was our next project.
We pulled out all the baseboard and replaced it with something more substantial (and white). DH painted the trim around the window, the closets and the door. We replaced the closet doors white awesome white 6-panel doors. But that still left the main door...
We plan to replace all the nasty oak doors throughout the house...but not right now. SO, we are leaving the oak door as is. At least then from the hallway, the rooms look cohesive. And honestly, you don't even notice it when you're in the nursery (on the other side).
I don't think painting trim devalues a house in anyway. It's a generational thing. The second I walked into our house when it was listed I thought, "Ugh, look at all this oak." Whereas, our parents were like, "Ooooh, look at all the beautiful oak!" If you're planning on staying in your house, make it YOURS. And I think an espresso crib will look awesome next to white trim. GL!
(I'll be posting pics of the nursery on my blog in about a week if you want to see how the trim turned out.)
I would go for the white trim in the nursery if that's what you like & leave the outside (hallway portion) of the door just as it is.
We have white trim throughout the house & the only room where DH painted it differently was in our bedroom (he owned the house before we met). Part of me really wanted to have the trim in the baby's room match the furniture but it was just too complicated. We kept it white & then added in a white chair rail & white crown molding.
Our house is the same way...built in the 1920's with the original wood trim. We struggled a bit with the nursery as well. We painted it a yellow cream color which definitely brightens it up and got a nice bright area rug as well. I tossed around the idea of painting the trim white, but I think we're just going to leave it since we have so many other house things to accomplish before the baby arrives. (p.s. we also ordered espresso furniture)
However, if we did paint it white here were my thoughts...1) I would paint the trim white, but I would leave the actual doors and the door frame facing outside the room the original trim. Another room in our house has white trim and the doors were untouched and it looks really pretty. 2) If you have original trim and paint it over, you'll only be placing 1 coat of paint over it, so if you ever want to revert back...stripping the paint off wouldn't be a massive project. 3) If you wanted to leave the trim as is, you can always get curtains to cover up some of wood so it's not too overpowering. You have options...go with your gut!
Thanks for all of your valued opinions...I'll keep ya posted on what I decide to do! I am really leaning toward the idea of doing the white trim and just leaving the door (inside and out) as is!
Thank you.