I tend to recommend staying with stained wood, but if it doesn't match the floors then it won't work. If you paint the trim, I recommend looking at alternatives to white. A soft blue is a great trim color, though I'm not sure how well that would work with the existing wall colors.

Wall colors will be changing this summer as well. I am open to any and all suggestions! Is the trim not matching the wood of the floors a big problem? I honestly don't know. We just fell in love with the wood and it was on a great sale so we bought it. I had planned on changing the trim color but now it is seeming like a ton of work.

Thanks Bev!

I think it depends on the house location. I've never lived with oak trim, so it bugs me and I want it white. :-) But in some areas of the country, it seems more common, even expected to have wood tones.

I think the trim clashes badly with the door. If you slowly take it out and buy new trim, cut them to size, paint them white and nail those in, it will be much easier than trying to sand and paint the ones you have. Basic trim already sanded is not expensive, and might be worth it.

I think the trim would look better white. It looks like the trim and the floor don't match. I would also paint the railing!

FYI, there is a product called Rapidfit baseboard moulding that goes over the existing baseboard. I've been eyeing it to change up my short baseboards.

Pony walls make a space feel more closed-off versus a railing, which is more open. I recommend against a pony wall for that reason. If the railing looks out-of-date, replace the molded balusters with rectangular ones.

i like white trim because all paint colors go with it better than they do with wood. those clashing wood tones is the finger on your back, whispering, 'get going on this project'.

Thanks for the tip tqtqtbw! I'll look into that.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I appreciate it!

I like the idea to put in a pony wall and remove the railing, as mentioned above by Revived Hive. Then maybe slowly over time, you could take a room at a time and change to white. I do agree, in some areas of the country stained trim is fine and also the age of the home can change that answer as well.

That is a tough question to answer, it is quite a bit of work to change the color of stained trim. I actually have stained trim in my own house and just try to not look at it, as I am well aware of the cost and amount of work to change it.