Thank you for not painting all of that high-quality old wood white. The house is lucky to have you. Because of keeping the wood, you might reconsider the "very dark hardwood floor," if you are concerned about the space looking too cavernous. There are many medium options in floor color between very dark and very light. There may be original flooring under carpets or vinyl that would be worth restoring. Very dark floors are just another trend that is already on the wane. See Houzz Photos under "old flooring" to see how original floors can be brought into the 21st century.

For your age of house consider an unfitted kitchen.

Definitely would not paint all of the woodwork. Granted there may be some work involved... but as Al F. suggested, quartersawn oak (white?) is indeed a desirable commodity.

Example: for almost the last 10-12 years... I could not GIVE away an Oak floor.

But White Oak has returned to the scene once again... and quartersawn in particular.

Point being: the finer things may go out of "style" for short periods, but the reality of just how fine they are, ALWAYS brings them back!

You indicate that you "hate" light woodwork, but don't rule out a happy medium between light & dark.

There are many colors & tones in the midranges that would give you the best of both worlds... some color to bump up the personality of the wood and give contrast without going so dark that the room closes in on you. Besides that, you can tone down the "darkening" effect by choosing a complimentary wall color (paint) that will benefit from the contrast.

You can then go "to the darkside, Luke", on your quartersawn oak flooring by using the same color in a darker version... it's just a matter of finding the right color combo.

Definitely paint the kitchen cabinets white. You could go with dark walnut floors but then will have to go light with furnishings.

Congratulations on your new old house. Just a comment on old finishes: old finishes darkened and yellowed with time. What you see now is probably not what it looked like back in 1880. You might try a medium finish in an unobtrusive spot to see if you like it.

sooz001, so you think it would be ok to have a lighter colored floor than the woodwork? I just really don't like very many stain colors but have always been drawn to the darker stains.

Al fortunado ...... what is an unfitted kitchen? I really didn't want to change out the cabinets because my funds are limited. anything else I could do to dress them up? also if it is shellac you mentioned that I would have to buy the flakes online. Do you know a website?

select hardwood floor company.. the hardwood floors in this house are not worth saving. its so sad because the previous owners needed to replace the roof and never did so the leaks were so extensive that the floors are actually buckled up in some places.. lots of work to do here so I need to buy new hardwood also. ugh. got any deals? lol

Carol, I understand what you are saying but isn't there a way to make them work? There is not enough money in the budget to replace them. I have to put a new roof on, all new electrical through the house and garage and new furnace Hot water heater and central air. I am trying hard to stay on budget and cabinets are not on the list if I can help it. The old cabinets are in the garage. cool but not functional at all.

Sounds like you have a lot of high priority repairs ahead of you. My sympathies. Have you gotten estimates from any hardwood flooring pros already? If you show photos of the current floorboards, you may get some useful comments. Sometimes even a heavily water damaged floor can be sanded down and repaired enough for a few years until a new floor can be installed, especially if the only other options are painting over them or carpeting over them.

On the kitchen, I'd recommend putting off any changes over (say) $200 until you have lived there for a year. Change the knobs, put down some throw rugs, and concentrate on the big ticket repairs like the roof and HVAC system this year.

@ Linda, an true unfitted kitchen is one that doesn't have cabinets, but instead uses furniture for storage. These days they tend to have a combination of cabinets and furniture. I'm in the process of searching for and collecting furniture to refit mine, getting rid of all the cabinets.

As far as buying shellac, I get mine from shellac.net, but there are many sites that provide the flakes. Just do an internet search on shellac.

I am now posting a pic of the outside of the house... as you can see.. tons of work in the near future! lol. I am thinking this is a dutch colonial maybe?

Wow, great house. What geographic area, roughly?

I hear your dollars based decisions, we are currently working on a 1930's grange hall..you can see it in my design pages......it is a joy to redo these gems...we too had to do a roof, foundation work, furnace, insulation, well everything... as well as much yard landscaping..."no one" owns a grange hall per se so it got limited up keep.....it is hard to have to do the not so pretty stuff but it must be so...right?? LOL....now a kitchen can wait five years or so........paint them white but look up how to do it professionally, it takes a lot of time and patience! But that wood is legendary!! I would find a professional for that, one who knows how to match and remove the old gunk.....it will all act as a lovely "frame" to your design scheme but now it simply stands out I'm sure....What a gem you have.....and as I look around houzz there is more leaning toward

wood trim again..... here is an oak kitchen I repainted in my last home a very light green. Post a story of your changes on your page so we can follow along!!

I will do that Gretchen! I love your story about the grange hall... do you have pics?

Apple Pie, Thank You. It is in Ohio.