We live in Truckee, CA where most houses have wood trim. This look is dated but we are not sure how to manage all the conflicting wood. Two options so far, 1. Paint ceilings and trim and walls white dove and paint the cherry floors gray? 2. Paint walls and trim white dove, leave the lid and stain floors to get orange out of cherry? 3. go all white with darker stain on floors and add black doors? please help

I would paint the ceiling, but could live with the floor, maybe with the odd pale area rug. I like the idea of a cool tone for the doors, but maybe not as dark as jet black. You could have black or nearly black for the front door and possibly a softer colour for the internal doors. It might help balance the oranginess (which I can't really see on my monitor). I would do a test patch if there is anywhere suitable, before you commit to a whole ceiling.

Painting the ceiling sounds all good and fine...but fir has a strong tendency to "leech" colour into paint. This is called "tannin bleed". This is EXTREMELY common with paint. The one and only way to deal with it = EXPENSIVE tannin blocking agent (couple of layers) prior to priming AND THEN you paint.

Instead of 2 coats of paint, you now have 4-6 coats of product (2 coats tannin blocker, 2 coats primer, 2 coats paint). You might be able to get away with 1 coat primer and 1 coat paint...but that still leaves you with 4 coats on that ceiling. This is a great project for someone who is EXTREMELY DETERMINED to have a white ceiling, damn the expense, full steam ahead!

To be fair, the ceiling colour is quite light (as fir goes) and the floors are a great match in tone. If you want to play around with painting out the window trim and the beams, I would say go for it. If, after a few months, the beam and trim have NOT turned a sickly yellow (tannin bleed) I would say your technique is good enough to tackle the rest of the ceiling.

I would use the trim/beams as the "test pilot" to ensure your techniques/products are good enough at blocking the tannins. It also gives you the opportunity to see how much difference white trim/beams looks like. If you like the effect then you can STOP. If you really want more white on the ceiling, you can then go ahead knowing your technique will get you the results you are hoping for.

Once the ceiling is done, you can go ahead and stain the cherry darker. Floors get done last.

I'd hate to see that ceiling painted. The room will lose a lot of character if it's all painted white.

All of the wood in your house is beautiful. My dream house looks like that!!! If you are in an area where most houses have stained wood trim, I definitely would not paint any of it. In the photos, the wood appears to have more neutral maple tones rather than yellow or orange tones. You can easily mix today's popular grey shades with light wood. I don't know what your favorite style is, but contemporary and/or mid-century furnishings would look great in this house. In the not-too-distant future, stained wood trim will once again be the rage, and all those who painted their wood white will be struggling to strip the paint and restore the wood to its natural beauty!

I think the wood looks fine...the paint on the walls is the issue. You need a green or a blue. Those colors look nice with that color wood.

A friend of mine has pickled white wood ceilings and they are beautiful. They leave the room lighter than the regular wood ceiling. So, I would recommend pickling the ceiling.

Cancork Floor is right about the bleed. My living room had fir ceilings, walls and floors. I primed and painted the walls and every few months it would turn yellow and I'd have to paint again. I didn't know about the tanin blocking agent. I gave up after several paint jobs and applied white beadboard. I also want to do my ceiling but just can't deal with it.