is this the listing pics? what type of furniture do you have? you want us to pick a wall color for you without knowing what your style is or what type of sofa, chairs, tables you have? Can't do it. Why don't you post some new pics that aren't 'stretched'. ?

What's wrong w/the current floors?

as for the oak trim, it's a personal choice to keep it or paint it. This doesn't look like a craftsman type of house, so that shouldn't be an issue. That's a lot of oak molding. Personally I would remove the chair rail and paint the baseboards white. Leave the fireplace and staircase as wood.

I would paint all of the trim white if it was my home, but if your husband likes it, that's going to be your problem. You can paint it yourself a little each week. just get a good primer and good trim paint (BM Advance or SW Pro Classic).

I have a mix of white and wood which I like. I have the brightness of white combined with the warmth of wood. The wood is not necessarily "dated" - that is marketing talk unfortunately used to get people to change things up. Gray and white kitchens will be "dated" when the trends change. So, try to think about what you really like.

A possible compromise is to paint the trim only. Leave the fireplace, doors, and any cabinets wood. Warm wood tones are returning in many of the newer design pics I am seeing, so try to decrease it without eliminating it altogether. In reality, good wood is more expensive than MDF painted white.

jhmarie has a good point. what decor style you pick also comes into play. if you like country/farmhouse then the oak molding will work. If you like trendy/modern/contemporary, then it won't.

Beth,

Yes these are the listing pictures, its going to be empty in 1 month so by that time I want to have an idea what to do.

Thank you for your advise.

Thank you jhmarie.

Beth ,

the floors are different in each room, in living room has cherry wood, kitchen and hallway is ceramic white tile and dining room /office is carpet.

OMG, the blinding plaster white walls and ceiling, no wonder you are having a panic attack. Beautiful home, absolutely dreadful color choice - raw plaster white - you need sunglasses in your kitchen. You can paint the ceiling a faint light blue -think BM In your eyes and then the rest of the walls a warm faint green to keep with the wood tone. Look at BM Cashmere grey which is a very warm faint green or SW Sedate Gray. They work with most color schemes. Keep it light but please paint the ceiling and walls before you end up with a migraine from the glare. Again beautiful house with good bones you did a great job picking out the house, now time to put a bit of personality into it.

Your living room repainted as suggested, yes that is sedate gray on the walls and the faint blue on the ceiling.

Slightly darker color.

What colors should I choose for kitchen?

Thank You . I really like first one.

I would extend the beautiful wood floors throughout the entire first floor. Then paint the chair rail and crown the same color that you choose for the walls. The kitchen color should coordinate with the tannish backsplash. I would avoid gray in favor of something in the " tan" family.

Your new home is very beautiful!

Paint all the ceilings the same color, especially if you have 8 foot ceilings. The faint light blue fool the eye into thinking "sky" and it gives the illusion of higher ceilings. Remember your ceiling is the 5th wall. Painting the walls and ceiling is a doable DYI project. Go with a similar color scheme throughout it will make the space seem larger & more spacious. Same with floor, should work toward more uniformity.

I am a lumber and fine craftsmanship snob. I will take stained oak crown molding at $6/LF (linear foot) any day over painted fingerjoint softwood at $1/LF or less. Some of your molding is layered with dentil molding: that is even more costly. That is why your husband likes it. He appreciates the investment cost of the previous owner.

As a craftsmanship snob, I see raised panel cabinets that are much more expensive to build than the current shaker style with the flat panels. Those are custom cabinets, and do not appear to be factory. That's a big plus. They will be more durable.

The current gray fad is only slightly better than the mauve fad of the late 80's. I find gray to be depressing, dull and boring. Look at your closet and see what colors you wear, or what colors you buy for your children. Those are the colors that attract you. Try to work those colors into your decor.

What I would do with your kitchen:

1) New light fixture over the island. If budget is a problem, take it down and spray paint over the brass. It looks like the light over your kitchen table matches. It would also need to be painted as well.

2) New cabinet hardware. If budget is a problem, spray paint it and get another year or two out of your existing hardware by making it a trendier color. Bronze has been around a long time. Nickel and chrome have been around for quite a while. Black seems to be coming into style again. Black also matches your appliances.

3) More throw rugs! They help keep the floor clean and bring in color. I like your floors. I wish mine were so sparkling clean!

4) If I were picking a color for your kitchen walls, I would match the color in the backsplash.

5) I would not change out the kitchen furniture just yet.

If it were me, I would spend my money where I would enjoy it most: A gargantuan television, recliners, snack tables. Those are the investments your husband would enjoy the most.

The dining room is the most expensive room to furnish and the least used room. I could live with your dining room, but would like to see some panels alongside the windows.

Your home is beautiful, and has some very nice finish carpentry. You made a good choice. I hope you have many healthy and happy years in you new home.

In the kitchen I'd think about adding some crown. Using the same ceiling paint, here is the color chopstick form SW. Again keeping a very calming color scheme that remains fresh and modern.

Dovetail and skyline steel from SW, along with blue ceiling.

As armchairshopper said, that wood crown is a work of art. But like all art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would paint it all, because I just can't stand that much oak, even though I total respect the quality and craftsman ship. That is probably where you will be. It is very limiting but perhaps you could just bite off a little at a time. By that I mean, just paint the floor baseboards first. That is one step. Window treatments will help cover the window trim so I wouldn't worry about that oak yet. If you paint the walls a carmel color it would help reduce the impact of the oak. Once you get your furnishings in, that will help moderate it as well. Light sage greens work very nicely with the oak if you want some color. Don't go too light, because greens get like "mint" very fast. Don't want that. I would do a dark blue SW Cyberspace in the living room because it would help the overall look tremendously. If you can't do dark, don't use off whites with yellow undertones. Rugs will help a whole bunch. Good luck. Looks like a well made home, so you can have fun making it your own for years! lol

Some psychology advise: my husband loves the look of wood and thinks he deeply appreciates it. However, he's not very attentive to details so if I painted the floorboards without telling him, he would possibly sense the change but not be able to figure it out, or he would not notice at all. If you leave your husband *some* wood (the cabinets are beautiful) he might not even notice the white floorboards and chair rail.

What style furniture? Traditional?

Maria,,,what do YOU like? what kind of furniture would you like in your home? are you watching TV in there? do you have kids? do you entertain a lot? do you have pets? do you have any art? any rugs? or do you want someone to completely furnish the room for you without any input?

To me, it looks like your house was painted all white ("plaster white" as the other poster said) to sell it.

I'm completely with armchairshopper! Don't paint the woodwork--it's fantastic!

In your living room, I think I'd find a somewhat masculine, very simple wallpaper that matches/compliments the fire place tiles. I'd put in a really rich geometric Oriental rug that has a little of the tile color in it and do a lot of big expensive comfortable leather. No fufu flowery sofa here. Masculine. Think along the lines of, if the Marlboro Man were alive today and came out as your decorator:

In your dining room, I'd get a very similar type of dining set as your sellers--or heck, buy that one. That room looks perfect to me-- all it needs is a magnificent Americana rug. Maybe something like one of these (from Rejuvenation) but in your favorite colors and style. And wall paint/actual art (like your sellers have) to go with that. Three very different looks that feel comfortable there to me:

I can see really going to town staging that table for holidays.

Same story in your kitchen--rugs, paint, new lights, new (masculine) stools. Can't see it well enough to pick anything out. Is that granite?

The only thing in this house that needs paint is the walls!

Yes that is Granit. Thank you for your advise . I realy appreciate.

Remove all those horizontal lines in the chair rail and crown. If necessary by just painting them the exact same color as the walls. Way too many lines now to make you go crazy. I wouldn't care if they had cost 5,000 dollars each. They are ruining your house. Well, at least the dining room and living room. Too much is too much.

I do agree with mrykbee though that a warmer color on the walls and matching leather sofa's would do your house a world of good.

I do agree with others that a greyish green would be a comfy matching color, and so would a greyish blue be. Not too light though, nor too dark: something in the middle. A real dark brown (but not wood) and black would also match, but since you like things whiter, I guess that would be too dark for you. Oh, but looking back at the pictures I see the appliances are black. See how well that goes?

Be careful with white. Look how unsettled the kitchen floor appears next to all the wood. Those tiles don't match AT ALL. Find a more natural tile, be it greyish or reddish, but natural. And not all the same size, please. See photo.

Of course you have to do that everywhere: do not let those white tiles
disfigure your hall either. The tiles of the backsplash do fit in
nicely. Can you find something that would match that, without being the
same color (for that would be too much of the same thing)?

Actually, the house looks staged by a not too talented stager with all those light grey walls. Grey is now what white was in the eightees. We gagged of it later on... If there must be grey, make it a dark one:

Have fun!

I think you need to kind of settle on the way you want your furnishings to look. You seem like a fairly young couple and a heavy, old world look, just doesn't seem right to me for a young couple. So, here are some ideas to ponder.

This is a lovely updated room where the wood trim is outstanding. BUT, they painted it a gray with off white walls and lighter furnishings and what a beautiful, but very warm and welcoming look. This is a "transitional" look. It is a mix of traditional and modern to create a warm mix of two styles and make things more fresh looking.

Here is a room with oak beams and dark blue walls and a kind of Boho look, meaning, a wonderful mix of color/items/and this is a look that would work wonderfully in your home.

I suggest you look at photos here on Houzz and save to an "ideabook" and then after a week or so of looking, go back to the ideabook and see just what seems to be cropping up again and again. That is what you are most drawn to--go with it!

Thankn you all for all your responses and feedback.

I see you have ideabooks but nothing in them yet. Perhaps you haven't figured that trick out in Houzz yet. What you do is when you find a photo you like you click on the photo and when the full picture displays you will see a green +save button in the bottom right corner. Click on that. Then a screen will come up and you will see a line that says the name of the idea book. If you haven't named it a good idea is to name one for each room you are working on. So you could name one "Living Room" for example. Once you have created a name then all you have to do is click on "save" which is in the upper right hand corner and it will be saved to the idea book you have entered. Done. Try it. If you have questions, let us know and we can walk you through it.

We also have a lot of oak and I've grown to like it! I think it can look crisp with the right paint colors. We went with the colors in the Perfect Greige palette from SW, Blue Clay from Behr, and a darker navy blue that I can't think of the name of. Personally I like a lot of color. Your trim looks darker than mine so I'd stick to lighter colors.

Love that deep teal and it looks really great with your oak too.

We are very close to receive the keys and start the work.
After debates, discussions we decided we will keep all the wood in the color that is right now and we will change the floors in the entire house and paint.

The floors we are thinking is something light to break up all the oak color , what do you think about French Oak in all the first floor rooms and foyer.?

In the kitchen we are thinking to change the tile with some light bigger porcelain and change the island color cabinets to a creamy white color and a lighter countertop.

Please advise.

I think you are on the right track. Do you have any samples of the flooring you call French Oak. Different names -- they all have different looks. Lighter in the kitchen good idea. I'm glad you are going to take it a bit at a time, because once you get in, and live with it for a bit, you may change your thinking. Furniture in a space changes the view of it quite a bit. Good luck! Keep us posted.

These are some options .

What do you think?

These are on the list to.

I would try to select something that doesn't repeat the yellow in the oak you have, but not be dramatically different. Probably a simple, clean finish on natural wood, might be best. Are you replacing flooring?? Or refinishing??

Another option on paint colours, worth a try

Some inspiration, do like the grey green wall colour, I find white too harsh. I think when you get all your things in you will feel a lot different

Replacing the floors.
The Brazilian cherry will come out and be replaced.

Irene I like that green color and that rose taupe.
Thank you all for your ideas.

Hello , so fun aly we are here ready for the remodel. It's overwhelming. We have chose three colors for the floors. Please advise if we are going on the right direction.
Thank you

Late in to convo. At least paint the ceiling mouldings white, in both living and dining room.

As for flooring 1st one on left…keep it dark...

I would paint the ceiling mouldings white, for sure. Too much wood. It will lighten up the place. I think the ceiling oak mouldings are too heavy looking.

Personally, I love oak and crown molding. Today's trend of stark white everything is very cold and uninviting to me. You could change the paint to warm up the place.