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cindy_friedeberg

paining beadboard wainscoting help

8 years ago
My new home is Oak and more oak. We've been in the house for about 3 months. We've completed many projects including painting the walls.
My initial decision was to keep ALL the oak but now after choosing the flooring , Pergo- Shabby Teak-- I feel the hallway will be to dark and the wainscoting needs painting.
I'm keeping all oak trim-doors, base and crown.
Help please-- should I paint the breadboard wainscoting white or continue with my top color SW Softer Tan?
Next dilemma-- do I leave kitchen and small dining/keeping area wood? They run together.
Dining/kitchen/keeping area is BM Dill Weed.
I need to decide before we put in the flooring.

Comments (24)

  • 8 years ago
    Here are the kitchen pictures.
  • 8 years ago

    My vote is to paint the beadboard white. See how you like it; you can always repaint to match the walls and consider the white your base coat. I like the idea of white beadboard as it is a classic look and having two colors in your long hall breaks up the space visually. Keep all floors the same; it will enlarge the look of your space. I like your choice of flooring.

  • 8 years ago
    So you think paint the wainscoting in the hallway and also into the kitchen area since the only break is a piece of trim and paint color?
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    I do not think the new flooring and the oak work together and also the green is not the right geen with the oakit should be much lighter and more grayed and IMO all the wainscotting makes this hall look like a hotel hallway so if you want to keep the doors and trimin oak I would remove the wainscotting but at least paint the same as the walls to make it disappear. If you do that then the mismatch with the flooring will be less noticeable, I will tell you I never like real wood next to faux wood

  • 8 years ago

    Putting fake wood next to real wood is never a good idea.


  • 8 years ago
    I'm asking for help with what I have.
    I understand about real and faulk flooring but doing what we can afford.
    None of my furniture/drapes have grays.
    I'm working with what I have and colors that go with what I have.
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    If it were me, I would paint the wainscoting white and have both the kitchen and the hall (upper half) the same color - but hold off on your paint decision until the floors are in. The wood is dark and you may decide to go with a completely different color. I would also only leave the doors as is and paint all of the trim white - the woods are going to be fighting with each other and the less you have the better (especially in the hallway) and it will also make it feel less broken up visually. You are going to all that work/cost installing the flooring, you might as well go a touch further to make it all feel updated. If you are unsure, just hold off on the trim and decide once the floors are in...easy job to do afterwards.



  • 8 years ago

    Another way to do it is paint the wainscoting the same as the walls, but in a sheen 1 level higher.

    Since you do not want to paint the other trims this would be a good alternative to adding a whole new color dimension.

    There are some photos out there that illustrate this. It is a more modern look.


  • 8 years ago

    Who cares if the hallway is "too dark". How much time to you really spend in there, and what do you need to see? It's not as though you can get lost. Leave it as it is, at least until the new floor is down.

    Painting it white (while leaving all the rest of the trim natural) will look very odd. If it bothers you, I'd remove it, then paint the whole wall. I like wainscot, but it looks like somebody went a little overboard with it (or got a great deal).

  • 8 years ago

    I have oak doors and cabinets and beadboard - but my trim is white. It was never oak, so I never had to make the decision to paint oak or not. I tried to find pics of white beadboard with wood trim and only found a few. They don't show a large space which is disappointing:



    Not white, but painted:

    If this was my home, I would either leave it as is, or paint the beadboard and trim only white. You could see if something like the first picture works, but if you don't like the look, you might need to paint the rest of the hall trim (NOT doors).

    I have seen many older homes in which some rooms have painted trim and others do not. Many like consistency through the home, but I remember my grandmother's old craftsman - trim painted in the kitchen, but not the living room and dining room.

    This is my upstairs hall:


    https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-kitchen-in-progress-phvw-vp~45783770


  • 8 years ago
    Those the pictures that I found as well. Thank you.
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    Cindy paint the waincotting an off white not bright white...the tones in your cabinets and flooring are warm so I would not go with hospital white, go with a warmer white on the wainscotting to include the top layer as well. In terms of the green I agree with the poster it is the wrong color green. It needs to be more neutral with hints of gray like the picture of others posted below. You see, the green is not as bright is is toned down....

  • 8 years ago

    If you're going to keep the door trim natural, I think the beadboard painted a different color will look off. If at all possible, remove the beadboard before you put in the new floor. Otherwise, paint it the same color as the wall.

    also, in the one picture it looks like one of your rooms has hardwood floors. Not that long ago, there was another post by someone who put faux and real wood flooring next to each other and the transition did not come out well. You might want to look up that post to make sure you don't repeat the same mistakes.

    good luck!

  • 8 years ago

    I'm asking for help with what I have. I understand about real and faulk flooring but doing what we can afford.
    None of my furniture/drapes have grays.
    I'm working with what I have and colors that go with what I have.


    I sense you need to defend your choices b/c it’s all you can afford and also understand your need to make house “your own”. But please remember this strategy hardly ever works and you end up spending more in the long run. Can you not save a little more so you can spend a little more later? Those things just aren’t going together and I doubt you will ever b happy.

  • 8 years ago

    I had wood paneling in my house for a long time and I loved it, so i can understand the reluctance to paint!

    In this case, I would definitely paint the beadboard and the trim a warm white. Look at the BM OC palette. I think when the other posters talk about the transition between real and faux wood, they are referring to what you are seeing too.... that the stained real wood doesn’t look right against the Pergo. Painting the beadboard will eliminate that issue. There may be a warm white that works with the Dill weed, but if you’re painting anyway it might be worth looking into a less saturated color.

    Enjoy the beautiful new floor!

  • 8 years ago
    I agree with the faulk and real wood flooring next to each other a mistake (And next to the beadboard a mistake as well). That's part of the reason I'm looking at painting the headboard. I only have hardwood in a small entry way. The rest of flooring is carpet and vinyl.
    Thank you for the paint color suggestion.
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    Here is a great article on trim paint guidelines

    http://www.mariakillam.com/trimcolour/


    Here is some visuals to help.



    Hope that helps.


  • 8 years ago

    The real oak makes the Pergo look cheap.

    I don’t think the solution is to get rid of the authentic material.

  • 8 years ago
    Thank you artistsharonva. That does help!
  • 8 years ago
    Love the dillweed in the kitchen. I would leave the wainscotting the way it is. In the hallway I would continue the wall colour down to the wainscotting. It will look beautiful. Your flooring looks nice, it has lots of colour variations to it.
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    You chose the wrong floors. Pick something else. It doesn’t work in your house at all. You created the problem. The right floors would not have you doing nine dozen chain reaction whoops fixers.

    Fix the actual problem.

  • PRO
    8 years ago

    Your'e welcome, Cindy. Thank you for the thank you :)

  • last year

    This could be my hallway! We also have stained oak beaded ceiling wainscot and are keeping it as is. We have taken out the carpet and are looking for flooring now. Hickory is too busy and too much color variation for us so now looking at oak with a more consistent color a shade or lighter than the wainscot.