leelee, You just talked some sense into me. It totally looks like my earliest coloring skills. Outline first, then color. haha! And the chair outlines are just making it worse!! Arrrggg.

Looks like previous owner just tore out walls. We did that also but had the workers put a beam to hold the weight and I gone have all those walls Heat was hall is or end to living room and kitchen. Your owners fit it a cheap way

What do u put in China cabinets if you take the China out? I have mine cleared. Now what?

@amberlee, the photo I sent you above would be for a lg budget that work would be hired out. My hubby usually does all our repairs so I'm lucky there, but he says if he had to paint all that trim, he would remove and replace with white trim that's already primed, but he is one of those that hates to see wood painted, lol!

@MarleneM, certainly would be a hired out job. Would you paint all the trim in the dining/ den or could I get away with having the white colomns and keeping the rest of it wood. It's not because I like wood, it's because I don't want to even think about paining all the trim and windows etc. You are so very lucky that your hubby does repairs. With the exception of paining walls, we are both pretty novice when it comes to home repairs so we end up spending too much on labor. I'm with your husband on that, i would prefer to replace and not have to paint all that trim. It would take me 3 coats to paint the trim but just one coat to replace with primed trim but it would cost a lot of extra cash. Yuck!

My parents agree with your husband, they said it would be a sin to paint the wood-not because it looks good but because it is wood. I'll admit picking paint colors for the walls have been a nightmare with the wood trim for that reason so I have avoided painting most rooms in the house because of that darn wood.

Again, thanks for the photo. I will be showing it to a contractor soon to get some quotes.

I found this photo I think is similar to your layout. I like how they enclosed the den and kept the dining area open. http://houzz.com/photos/7356880. I would remove molding altogether and touch up drywall on the columns . It would eliminate that wood without forcing you to paint all your moldings white. I really think it would be less work even if it meant patching drywall and touching up paint on columns. I think your instincts are right. They just don't belong there.

Hi! Leave the trim around the central door only, and paint it the same colour as the walls. For the two side openings, I'd fill the lower portion of the opening, to create a low wall...say 3' high. Then remove all the trim around the remaining upper opening, and simply repair the gypsum wallboard at the exterior corners. I think that would create some intimacy in the rooms, all the while still letting in light.. You could even install some pin lights in the soffit of the gypsum headers to light up the windows/openings. Could be very dramatic. I'll see if I can find a picture. In the meantime I invite you to look at my houzz picture portfolio. You may see some examples of how some of clients treat their hall openings. Best, Leona

http://houzz.com/photos/7356880 not sure this photo went through last time.

@jjnman12, This is fabulous! Another great one to show my contractor. I like the arches in the openings as well.

@leonamozesphotography I love the idea of a low wall with lights! I'll check out some of your photos. Thank you!!

Here are some ideas. Not the best examples....but they certainly give you the feel of a semi enclosed opening.

@amberdee, glad you are considering getting some quotes. It would look awesome, but as I'm sure your aware you have to compare everything to see if it's woprth the $$ when you want to sell. If you do decide to paint, I would leave the windows wood I think, but definately paint the trim on the entrances and the crown moulding.
I like wood too, but it has to be some nice wood like vintage or unusual, not just run of the mill oak.

So, there are a lot of ideas, but one thing that I haven't seen thrown out yet is simply painting your walls darker than the trim in a color that relates to the trim, like a terra cotta.

The benefits of this are obvious, you don't have to do anything at all to the trim, and between either removing the trim, or removing the varnish and priming and painting, it's a pretty huge job when you consider windows and how much trim is in the house.

Right now, your wall color is too cool and too light to relate well to the trim. You could either darken it, warm it up a lot, or both, and that would help. It's kind of like the "paint the trim the same as the walls" idea except backwards, and easier.

If you do decide to paint the walls and trim the same color, which is a great solution too, just more work, then consider the last photo here, where the trim is painted the same color but just a few shades darker. Works better in certain cases than having everything one flat color, but still gives the basic same effect of the trim disappearing.

I love MarleneM pic! Very nice.

Why not also get your realtor or someone from paint store to advise if it will help resale or if its neutral for resale to help decide if the time of $$ are worth it? Often what looks bad to this many people, actually hinders others from seeing themselves in there, or wanting to deal with the problem (although you were able to look past the issue to buy). I was enlighten about the time it takes to paint trim by color specialist in our local paint store. I was looking to use more unique colors, and she urged me to paint trim and ceiling neutral color choices that if we sold, others could live with or change walls only. I do think the walls and trim are extremely important in the look of the house, so its usually worth it.

@ingakarina that is also a great idea. In those pictures the trim is not noticeable at all!

@truegrid great point. When we were purchasing the home the realtor thought we should leave it as is, that it was a unique feature but we were adamant about changing all the trim to white and doing something about the entry way./dining/den. We live in the Midwest, so many many homes have the wood trim. Ain fact all the homes we looked at had wood trim except a handful. A year later and we have become "wood trim blind" and the wood doesn't bother us as much. You're right, having a realtor take a fresh look at it would be most helpful.

I would close in the 2 "side" panels and put an arch on the large (middle) one.

Another benefit to painting the trim the wall color is that it will now be primed and easy to go to white when you are reading for the next step. For certain, the crown molding would look great painted.

Hi Amberdee….please excuse the horrible photoshop job ;-) Hoping that this will give you a better idea of how your space would look with the side openings semi-enclosed. I think I would leave the casing around the center door stained (as it intersects the stained baseboard). I might also consider replacing the header over that opening with a taller one. It will give the opening more importance. Cheers.

Amberdee, I wonder when you are getting your estimates, what the estimate would be to make the living room /partial dining room more open with the appropriate beam(s) for structural support. That would take out your problem of so much wood trim as there would be less doorways.

Wow, Leona. It looks so much cleaner with out the extra trim. And it makes the dinig room look more intimate. That's amazing, I will show this to the contractor as well. Thank you!!

Motupeg, I always assumed there would be no way that that would work without the supports as it supports the upstairs bedroom walls... But it's worth asking. I would love it if it were an option!!

I'm with @Leona Mozes - If those columns support nothing, I would rip them out or close in the two outside openings.

I think it would be interesting to ask. What wall(s) are load bearing and which supports have to stay. Even if a support is needed and you don't like the doorway, how much would it cost to put in a different type of support.

Painting the trim, crown, and walls all the same color would be the cheapest fix. In my opinion, the existing trim looks too modern for your furnishings and the natural varnished finish of the trim and crown is ugly and clashes with your furnishings. I like the idea of pony walls and proportional trim and molding. I would stilll paint the molding and walls the same color. In my opinion, it would still be too busy if you opt to paint the trim and molding a different color than the walls. I can't really tell if the carpets are rugs or if they are fixed and butt up to the wood floor. If the wood floor runs through out, then I would replace the rugs with smaller area rugs and only have a smaller area rug in the what looks like the living room. This would make the space look less chopped up. I would the change the ceiling fan and light fixtures so that they coordinate. I like nice molding that is proportional to the space and "off the shelf" trim and crown molding too often are too large for smaller spaces. Painting everything the same color helps hide moldings that are not of the appropriate proportions. Also, the same paint color on everything can make the space seem larger. it is all about tricking the eye.

Kdockrey, you make some very helpful and interesting points. We do plan on changing light fixtures to coordinate and it is carpet in dining and den. On our wish list is to rip out carpet and install hardwood, but we have to figure out this doorway opening first. Iim convinced now that I just can't leave it as is. : )

I'll bet if you rip out the carpet and unify the flooring throughout you will absolutely minimize your problems here. Others have given you wonderful pictures, photoshops etc of handling that trim (or not) but if you have not noticed already, VIRTUALLY EVERY example has a unified floor treatment (hardwood for the most part) running through.

Those angled walls would drive ME crazy but that's not the point and someone provided a fine example of the same condition...so, its me. But the example yet had the condition of floor type continuous throughout!

Good good luck!

I'm not a fan of such contrasting trim, especially if the wood isn't super nice. I would definitely paint out the trim. Either make it match the wall color, or paint the walls a color and the trim white.

This is a really tough dilemma because of the wood trim throughout and the multiple openings AND the angled walls. Whew! In my mind your easiest solution is to install French glass doors and give them the same stain as all your molding. Next (for now) I would buy some additional molding to beef up your crown. You can install a fairly small piece and drop it down a few inches from what is up there and paint the old, new, and wall space in between the existing crown and trim in a white (off-white). Thoughts?

If you semi-enclose your Living Room as well, you'll gain two extra walls for additional seating and/or end tables. Sweet !

sonocontenta, it's driving me crazy too!! Great point on the flooring. We really do want to put hardwoods in soon. We feel boxed in on flooring colors by all the wood trim too. I really should just paint it all.. aggghh.

karen paul interiors, I love the idea of french doors. You mean to add the french doors on just the middle doors, correct? And then I would have to fill in the other two doorways on each room, leaving just the middle open with french doors. I like it! Great tips on the trim, I would have no idea what to do to trim it out correctly. : )

Leona Mozes Photography, again, wow and thank you!! I love the idea of having more room for seating in there. This room has an old couch and any throw away furniture/ art that we had, so it certainly needs help in the furnishings department!! You made that old couch look pretty good. What a difference the rectangular art piece has on the room. Our current wall art was a temporary solution until we replaced the couch etc. I need some new art, a coffee table, closed doorways and wow, what an improvement! Thanks again!! I'll be showing my husband in hopes of convincing him of the need to make a change ASAP.

So many people have offered you such great ideas. Please keep us posted on your husband's preferences and what your contractor thinks will give you the most bang for your buck.

Yes, just the center opening for French doors. As for the angled walls, I would drywall them without openings. Half walls are really difficult to decorate on either side except for the little niche and that limits the type of furnishings on either side. The French doors will give you a complete look. It's most likely difficult to imagine them closed off as you have been living with three gapping holes for a long time. Once the extraneous openings are gone you will have privacy in each room and the doors will lend an air of sophistication to what is now a kinda sorta indoor gazebo effect! LOL

Yes, I have loved all te input! Thank you thank you! Now to the decision making.. Karen Paul Interiers... Thanks for the clarification. That makes sense. I'm excited to have the contractors input!!

When we first moved into our house, we had brown trip everywhere. EVERYWHERE! It was like an oakey, honey color, if that makes sense. It was even on our window ledges. We painted it all white. The problem with painting it is - it takes several coats. It's an awful process but I do agree that the trim you have looks outdated and something probably needs to be done. Good Luck!!!

Not only does it take several coats, but you also have to move all your furniture to access the baseboards. Not an issue when it's a small/light piece of furniture, but it can be an issue when it's a piano, or a fully loaded bookcase. Sanding, priming, and two finish coats (minimum). Ouff!

Hi, I would paint the trims in the same color as the walls for a cheap option.

How about the flooring. I would be nice if the carpet was gone and the wood was throughout?

Kendra, we would love to install new wood floors throughout. We are only in the home for a few years so trying to figure out what we will get back when we sell is a gamble.

I think you have been given a lot of input and wishing you much success in executing your choice. It seems like there may be a decision between a quasi "open concept" space, which supports same flooring throughout and getting light throughout all rooms throughout the day. In that case, the wood trim is likely to not stand out as much, and layout and furniture ideally all flows well across the rooms. Alternatively, if there is a preference for carpeting in your area, then some of the other suggestions (full walls, or half walls if need the light) that actually make them more separate spaces, and can create intimacy in the dining space, etc can better fit your needs and salability in future. If you have any resources that can take the ideas and illustrate a couple options, may help? Sometimes designers/contractors run deals on angieslist and the like that provide renderings at a very low cost. Since you think you are leaving soon, getting several realtors through to weigh in is very plausible, since they would be interested in your future business.

Truegrid, you hit the nail on the head. Ideally if prefer a more open feel, but considering cost/ benefit and ability to get that back when we sell I am open to either. I'll get a realtor out as well and get his or her thoughts on the issue. Thanks!

Keep in mind if you decide to paint ,to prime first. We painted all our old trim in our cottage and the stain kept seeping through. We were using latex primer. We couldn't solve this issue until we switched to oil based primer,ugh! The fumes and cleanup were awful! I don't know if it was because my husband sanded all the finish off first or if it still would have done this. It was a pain but it did really look nice when it was done. As nice as your home is you might want to hire this out . Good luck to you .You are getting some great ideas for a tricky situation. I would love to see the finished results!

Realtors usually want walls a neutral pallet, so any purchaser can move in without the cost of painting walls. They also want you to totally decluttered, which means removing your personal decor such as photos, collections etc. If you are planning to put it on the market I believe painting the moldings the same color as the walls or beefing the moldings up and painting it white would look very attractive and really showcase your beautiful dining room furniture. This also keeps you from spending lots of $.

Anberdee311 - glad if I helped a bit -think it will be useful to know your goal and what works for your lifestyle and what will be seen as most preferred by those likely to buy your home in a couple years, then pursue any changes, many good options for either direction provided by others, that best align with creating that environment. I even see other solutions, depending on which direction, so good luck!

I think the goal is to enjoy the home but prepare it for sale in a few short years. Open concept is hot now, so the first issue would be determining where you can do that without crashing the upstairs. Once you have located the non-bearing walls, a major solution will emerge. Meanwhile, attend some open houses in your local realty market, and see what's up with them. You'll know what you should do about the trim when you see what is moving in your market.

Glad to be of help amberdee311! Good luck with your project!

Karenpaul hit the nail on the head with the indoor gazebo comment. I hope that you can close up, completely, some of those openings. Open concept homes are fine, but not like this.