Hmmm, I'm not a mid-century modern gal, but I can advise a bit on the trim. A few of my friends have MCM homes and all have stained trim. If you leave the trim stained and choose a (medium tone or dark tone) warm grey, the effect will be to make a whole unbroken canvas or back drop to your furnishings. The space will seem bigger and more cohesive. The MCM homes I've seen have stained trim and light/white walls. This frames the views and the windows become a main focus. It is a busier look but the furnishings are usually simpler and in the same angular lines as the trim. It would be up to you which look you prefer. As I said, I am no MCM expert, but this is just what I've noticed.

My inlaws summer home (which we seem to have taken over :) is MCM and a few years ago they put in new windows with white trim. I find it a bit jarring because the walls are stained wood and the trim is really the first thing you notice. It would be different if your walls were a lighter shade of grey.

This post was edited by daisychain01 on Sat, Nov 30, 13 at 7:57

In reading your post, I get a sense of a lot of insecurity and fear. But as Christopher Lowell says, where there's fear, there's no creativity.

There are no style police that are going to come into your home and cite you for painting the trim or having abstract art in your home. Painting your walls gray instead of white is not breaking with some MCM rule. For example, here is an MCM living room with gray walls.
{{gwi:1854735}}

Rather, what's more important is that the rooms make you feel great. That the look is pleasing to your eye. That's especially true of the art you select which should be something that you love...not something that is "correct". It would be one thing if you had an historic, authentic MCM house, but it's a house from the 80s...you won't be doing any "aesthetic" damage to get the interior the way you want. And so much of MCM design is about the architecture that you don't have any way. Instead focus on the curves, the simplicity, the proportions and the patterns that are hallmarks of MCM design.

I suggest you go to houzz.com and look at MCM rooms for inspiration. Once you find an inspiration room, then you can choose to mirror the elements that you like most and leave the others behind, including if you want to paint the trim or not.

If it helps you at all, we used to have a 50s ranch and all of the trim was painted. But if you already have stained trim in the DR and LR, you might leave it as more formal spaces. Not only was there a lot of stained wood as part of MCM design, but it is also hard to undo.

And relax! You can do it!

Of course, don't forget RetroRenovation!

You certainly don't have to use mid-century art. Art should speak to you, and certainly people who lived in MCM homes had other pieces of art than MCM.

As far as painting trim, if it weren't already painted and in good condition, I would prefer to leave it vs. paint it.

You can also search MCM on this forum using the search box on the bottom of the page. For example, pipdog is redoing an MCM house right now.

Here is a link that might be useful: RetroRenovation

Hi, I found this simple guide line for MCM homes online. I am also buying a house from the 1982 or 83 time frame. Mine also has stained molding, door casings and doors throughout. However, I would say that mine is more of a muddled nod to midcentury. While I have solid cherry flat panel kitchen cabinets the previous owners put UGLY granite countertops in. The kitchen is big so it will be a while before I change the counters to quartz. I have also been torn on all that wood molding, casings and doors. For now I have decided to leave it all except the stained wood ceiling molding. I truly cannot live with the rooms ceiling moldings outlined in dark so it is getting painted.

Here is a link that might be useful: midcentury made easy

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sat, Nov 30, 13 at 10:26

Is the trim worthy of distinction? Or is it nondescript? Sometimes trim isn't worth highlighting with a contrasting color or stain. If this is the case, then painting it the same color as the walls but with a different sheen is a great modern look too. That's what we did in our MCM home that had beautiful features, but the trim was a skimpy, dull pickled oak. Leaving it natural did nothing for the home, and painting it white wouldn't have looked right either. So we did the walls & trim the same color, but the walls were satin & the trim was semi-gloss.

Art does not have to be from the mid-century period, it can be anything.

The furniture can be a mix, too.

My mid-century house always had painted woodwork and I agree, painting it the same color as the walls was a common treatment.

It sounds as if you are planning mid-century furnishings in a traditional style house (dentil molding is definitely a classical form). There is no reason that can't work. Your paint color will be fine. Mid-century art? You may want to do some research. Some of the finest abstract works were created during that period. I am not sure what art you are considering to be mid-century that you don't like (abstract expressionism-try Mark Tobey, pop like Warhol, color field like Rothko? Etc), but you have made a huge generalization that actually contradicts itself (don't like mid-century...like abstract), so I can't help you there. Some of the very late impressionist paintings veer toward what it seems to be that you like. Monet's last works are practically abstract, maybe due to his failing eye sight.

The question is, what are the actual bones of the house? If it's a non descript ranch vs. a pseudo Eichler, the answers are different. The quality of the bones makes the difference in how you treat the permanent elements of the home. If the home has good MCM bones, then do your best to keep them original. If it doesn't, then concentrate on making them work as an inoffensive backdrop to a MCM interpretation inside those muted bones.

I also think that proportions are a big part of a successful presentation in the MCM aesthetic. I think some time looking at rooms you like (Houzz, Architectural Digest website, etc.) would be a good thing to do. Maybe save a collection of rooms you like and also don't like digitally, and then try to analyze your reactions as to why? Here are some things to look and and see if you like or don't like based on these characteristics:

Color, texture, outdoor view, natural vs manmade, plain-ness vs. ornamentation, shine, natural light, ceiling height, amount of ceiling vs wall, formality of setting, symmetry, balance, industrial-ness vs. home comfort-ness, inviting, standoffish, hard to maintain, reminds me of ___, which I don't like, reminds me of ___, which I love, interesting but too busy, not interesting, lacks a focal point-no where for the eye to look, privacy (visual), privacy (sounds), kid friendly, pet friendly, good function, anything that would drive you nuts with, or without.

Duluth, MN or Duluth, GA? I've never been to Duluth, GA, but Duluth, MN is one of my favorite places. Love that town and the North Shore!

MCM inspired furniture is really popular right now, as I'm sure you know. Take a look at inspiration rooms from places such as Crate & Barrel and Room & Board to see how they mix in MCM with other styles.

I agree that if the trim is nothing special, I would not have a problem painting it. A color similar to or the same as the wall color is a nice look. You'll see that in some of the pictures.

Crate and Barrel
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/photo-gallery-heart-of-the-home

Room and Board
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/category/category.do?catalog=room&category=rm_living_spaces&nav=topmenu

West Elm
http://www.westelm.com/shop/furniture/living-room-looks/?cm_sp=SuperNav--DesignLab--LivingRooms