I'm doing some renovation in a house that is the first one we've owned, so everything we're doing is a new learning process! So far, the decision I'm having the most trouble with is what to do about the trim.

It's a pretty basic 1954 Cape Cod house. Not many updates have been done, except by the owner immediately before us, who unfortunately made some really quick, cheap updates just before putting it on the market.

One of the first things we did was install heat pumps and get rid of the ancient fuel oil boiler and associated large clunky baseboard heaters that were eating up a lot of wall space. The problem with that is that now we have to figure out what to do about the missing baseboards in almost all of our rooms.

The same trim exists throughout most of the house as both baseboards and window/door trim. (Except in the bathrooms.) I showed a pic of it to an old-timer at our local lumberyard, and he immediately pronounced it custom-milled hickory. It's stained, and has a pretty basic design, but one that is not available off the shelf anywhere. (See photo, and forgive all the dust from recent spackling and sanding.) It's nice, but not stunning. A local woodworker can replicate it in clear pine for $3.45/foot, which would then have to be stained to match the rest. (My contractor is not worried about being able to match the stain color.) We need about 130 feet to fill in where the heaters were.

BUT. I'm wondering whether we should bother to recreate this old trim, OR just fill in the missing lengths with something similar, and paint some or all of the trim throughout the house.

I'm in the process of painting the (original birch veneer) cabinets in my kitchen, as well as the walls in my dining room (see photos). The dining room walls will be a dark color, and I'm wondering whether to paint the trim white. (The built-in bookcase and cabinet are already painted white.). But I would like to leave the the trim in the living room the original wood color. (In fact, I'm thinking we could use all new trim (probably basic 1x4 boards, no milling) in the dining room, and take the original trim out of there and put it in the blank spots in the living room. (Living room walls will be a neutral color, with bright textiles -- current curtains in the photo will be gone.) But would that be too jarring to change the trim so much from room to room?

Another factor: We'll soon be refinishing the white oak floors in dining room and living room back to their original unstained color. (Currently a dark stained orangey hue.)

Meanwhile, the only place in the house with non-orignial trim is around the sliding glass door in the dining room. I really hate that trim, partly because the color is just off compared to the original trim, partly because it has some cheesy scalloping. (My husband and father, who both live here too, think it's inoffensive, though, and don't understand why I hate it.)

So, my big questions;
1. Is it just a bad idea to have stained wood trim in the living room, and white painted trim in the kitchen and dining room?
2. Is it worth it to pay for custom milling to make all the trim style match, even if we're going to paint some of it?

3. What would you do with the trim around the sliding glass door? Replace it? Sand and paint it the same white as the rest of the trim in the room, if we go that direction?

4. Any other thoughts on trim, doors, and color? Or on renovation/design for mid-century houses that are not architectural gems? I've read blog posts and designer advice til my head is spinning. I feel like the advice is very clear on pre-war wood trim: don't paint if at all possible. And on standard post-1980 wood trim: cover that stuff up stat.

But there's little guidance on this 1950s, kinda-cool, but not gorgeous, wood. Similarly, there's little guidance on how to enhance nice little 1950s quirks like our archways

We spend a lot of time in this room around the dining room table, so it's worth it to have it right. I'm just having trouble figuring out what "right" is.

(This last photo shows dining room with living room through the doorway and kitchen behind the camera. Sorry to show photos with such mess. Renovation is exhausting!)