The blue section beside the fireplace is actually wallpaper. It's on both sides. I'm going to paint over it or apply updated wallpaper.

I think keeping your trim color the same throughout the house makes it feel more cohesive.
As for furniture, have you thought of buying leather furniture? When my kids were growing up, we had fabric and it was awful. No matter the color between pets and kids I was constantly cleaning. I had enough of stinky fabric and replaced it with leather furniture when they were teenagers. It cleans up so much nicer than fabric. I still have it and I still love it and I'm starting on grandkids now. Just a thought.

I am considering a leather sofa for the very reason. I'm just very confused over paint colors. Thank you, Creeser.

Paint color is so subjective. I just went through all that building a new house. Get what makes you feel good in your room. That was the best advice a friend gave me when picking colors.
Having said that, gray is a very trendy color right now and is neutral and would be lovely with white trim and a black door.

Definitely paint the trim. It makes such a night-and-day difference! You can get away with painting a bit different color on the trim than the rest of the house and still keep it looking cohesive. The eye really does not notice when trim changes from white-white to a off-white or buttery-white from room to room. (but for touch up purposes, definitely use as few trim colors as you can- so it will be easy to fix a nick or scrape with one try)

I just painted my front door black ("Ace of Spades"). It opens into a room with "garlic clove" trim, "cork" walls, and a "geranium" accent wall (All Benjamin Moore colors) and looks great!

Do you not mind painting and does the room/wall texture/etc make the room a simple, easy paint job? If it's a difficult room to paint, go conservative - beiges can be dramatic but are likely to never go out of style (so, no repainting anytime soon)

If you love color and want to go bold- do what makes you happy! But know that if it's a difficult room that takes forever to paint well, you might regret that bold color in a few years!

Are you painting it yourself? If yes, paint the walls to match the trim, but in a different sheen. In other words, if you are going to use semi-gloss for the trim, use eggshell, satin or flat for the walls. There's a whole lot less cutting in this way and everything looks cohesive.

I would definitely paint your trim white. Don't forget to prime it first with a good primer.....

Thank you all. It's just so much trim and I'm afraid of regretting painting over it. I'm sure that trim was like this since the house was built. So, I feel like I'm taking apart of the history away from it. I should just get over that. Would it be okay if I paint all the trim white and leave my beams alone?

I used to have wood stained trim and loved it but that was 12 years ago. Now that we are in the market for our 3rd house (our 1st had stained trim), I see that stained trim really dates a house. You will love it if you paint it white. You can totally leave the beams as is. But I would paint the crown moulding to match the window trim.

As for wall color, you need to use what you like! We recently had our home staged for sale and they recommended Ben Moore Quiet Moments. It's very beachy...bluish/green shade and I love it. I can't wait to use it in our next house. Color is very individual! Best of luck!

chennie - what if you were to cut strips of white copier paper and tape it over some of the trim, before you take the plunge? You can use painters tape so you don't pull the finish off the wood in case you don't like it. It's a simple way to find out if that's what you really want, or not!

That's a lot of trim to paint yourself and then there's all the doors! I think I would opt for painting the walls. Do you like green? It is such a natural color with the wood tone. Try to find a green you like and work the color stip like mad. In your darkest room use the lightest color on the strip and in the room that gets the most natural light, try one of the darker shades. Skip through the strip as you determine which room gets which color. I think this will help a lot in the area where there seem to be so many doors leading to other rooms. You can do this with any color, as long as you love the basic color and then are willing to play with shades of it throughout your house. This works especially well when rooms open to each other without a door between. Search for "wood trim" in the box above with the dropdown "photos" and you'll see lots of good ideas that will help you avoid painting all that trim. I think hubby will appreciate it, because men tend to love natural wood while we girls prefer to see it painted.

Yes, Paint all the trim white and leave the beams along. Once you do this, you will be glad you did. Looking at all the brown trim makes my eyes go up and down. The white trim will be refreshing. Also decide what colors you like as far as the wall color goes, along with deciding on the color of your furniture.

Why don't you check out Benjamin Moore 2014 Colour Trends at "www.benjaminmoore.com/en-ca/for-your-home". The 'new neutrals' are timeless; especially the greys and the whites.
You can then hit a few key walls (or a ceiling, believe it or not) with a more vibrant colour.
Check it out. The site also recommends colours which go well with the main colour selected.

Ask yourself- are you a romantic, hip & vibrant, etc. What is your personality?

I am partial to greys and whites, for trim and for walls, then add your highlights with art or even painted on 'blocks of colour' to hightlite one wall. You can change paint easily.
Wallpaper if more of a commitment!

You should take a look at #5 at http://squidoo.com/how-to-solve-11-decorating-problems-with-color-and-pattern for examples with pictures on how to vary colors throughout a space. You might also find some of the suggestions on http://www.squidoo.com/using-color-in-your-home helpful in deciding what color(s) to use and to take the stress out of that process. Hope that helps and please let us know what you decide.

You are definitely on the right track!! I would suggest however not painting the trim white but rather a warm off white that will look good with the wood in the beams. I would also paint the ceiling between the beams this color. If you have a lot going on in the kitchen consider painting the walls the same color as the trim in this area. This will help the beams to pop (and make your husband so happy!) and also unify the finishes it what is often a busy place of finishes- kitchen appliances, countertops, cabinets, etc. Suggested colors that look good with warm wood tones are Ben Moore navajo white, white down, cameo white or ionic column. Should you decide to do this consider painting the walls eggshell and the trim satin or semi-gloss finish for a nice contrast but in sheen only!