The black looks awesome. I’d paint the trim white probably... but what is the window trim in the rest of the house?

Congratulations on your (almost) finished renovation! Can you show a picture of more of the kitchen, including the cabinets? And maybe a picture of another area with windows. This would help us with your question.

Are the shelves to be painted?

What is the trim in the rest of the house?

If the shelves are staying that color I would leave the window frameas is.

Here are some other shots... there are two more smaller windows to be finished, as well as a sliding patio door. The dark wood windows near the dining room are original. Our house was built in 1925, so lots of character and trying to respect that as well! I should say that I do appreciate mixing different tones of wood as well. The windows in the rest of the house have been painted white. Molding in other areas is original stained wood. Hope this help! And thank you all so much!!

Oh, and the shelves are going to be stained a little darker. Here is one inspirational picture

It would be nice for that spot to match the shelves. . . .but how does that work with your other trims?

I love the look of the black windows with the natural stained wood shelves and trim. Very rich looking! Beautiful!

Okay, so we’ve stained our shelves the color we like... I’m leaning more toward white becaus eIt seems that any more stain would enclose the space, and not allow windows & shelves to stand out on their own. Thoughts?

Black would be awesome & currant

I also like the idea of black.

White! Every spec of dust and spot of water will show on black.

I love your kitchen, you’ve done a great job of putting all of these different finishes together. If I were just looking at the kitchen windows I would say white would be the color. There is such a thing as too many different finishes, too much to look at and then nothing stands out. Black or stained wood would make it too cut up for my personal tastes. Now that I’ve said that, I feel that I would have to be in the room and study all the spaces to determine how white would look with the other stained trims. It all must be cohesive. What color are you planning for the sliding door trims?

I would match the trim stain in the rest of the house. Good job!

I would either match them to the rest of the trim in the house or paint them white to match the cabinets - I lean white. I think you're right, painting them black would visually enclose the space. In the photo above, the (what I assume is blue tape) gives you an idea of what black would do. White opens it up and highlights the beautiful black grid.

This has all been so helpful! Thank you all!! I must say, I’m not one to be super conformist or matchy matchy... I’m trying to be eclectic yet timeless... does this make sense? This shows how we have a mix of trims going on... from one room to the other. I will note that all of our window trim, however , is white. Just door openings and baseboard in that adjacent room are stained. See below.

To me the wood just looks like it belongs there, so I would stain them.

I would go with white so the black can pop. The black frames are like mascara for the windows. See the pics below:

Is there a reason you didn't match the style of window trim to the window trim in the rest of the house?

I would stain it the same color as the rest of the trim in the house but then again I'm one who believes in not remuddling an old house.

The trim in the rest of the house is white :) it has already been painted.

Usually, prefer white window trim to blend into white walls to make the room appear less lines, prevent the floating square look, & give illusion the space is bigger. Especially in smaller spaces.

However, occasionally, like in your inspiration photo, if it's a big bright room, high ceilings, and needs more color or interest, then , it can be quite attractive.

Notice in some of the photos others posted above, the window wood trim is white & only the thin trim inside is black.

In this space, start by priming all white wood frame trim.

If still considering some black, after primed, do all windows on smallest wall & get some black paper & painters tape to see it before doing it.

Repost pictures then , if you need more opinions.

I think white will look the best in this scenario.

I would paint the trim the same white as the cabinets to be safe. It looks great!

I would also paint white. this way the shelves will stand out a bit instead of blend. if you leave it, stain it, or paint it dark all you will see is; "hi I'm your window"...it would be in your face lol

In this case, i would not paint them white, the reason being that white would blend into the wall, making the trim visually disappear, and to the eyes, the black muntins/rails/stiles would become the new “frame”—in other words, it would make it appear that you have 3 tiny windows instead of 1 large one.

Instead, I would stain it the same brown as the doorway, baseboards, and shelves.

Perhaps someone here can photo op your pictures. If not print off a pic and use a marker for black or white out.