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Replace Baseboard??? Paint Casing??? Wall Color???

5 years ago

We are in the process of purchasing a beautiful 1997 custom-built home in a great neighborhood with really nice ocean views. The home is located on the Central Coast of California.


As you can see in the attached 3 photos the house has brown concrete floors on the main level and wood floors on the upper level. There is a wonderful radiant heating system under both floors and we do not want to change the floors.


The wood doors, windows and staircase are beautiful and in excellent condition. However, the flat stock casing (aka trim) around the doors and windows is poorer quality and does not look good. (See the 3rd and 4th photos.)


The wood baseboards throughout the home are only 4 inches inches high. Because the concrete and wood floors are brown the wood baseboards look like a small brown blob at the edge of the floors --- they do not pop at all. Plus the ceilings are 9 feet tall and the tiny baseboards seems too small.


I didn't want to post too many photos but there are also a lot of good quality wood cabinets in the kitchen, entertainment room and other rooms --- the amount of wood in the house is a bit overwhelming.


1) We are leaning toward replacing the existing 4" flat stock baseboard with 6" flat baseboard, and painting it white, so it pops better off the brown floors. (All of the window and door casing is also flat stock, and we want the baseboard to match.)


2) Next, we want to paint the casing (aka trim) around the doors and windows white, to cover up the poor quality wood, and to make the doors and windows pop.


3) Finally, we are trying to decide if want to leave the walls white, or paint them a different color. We were thinking of a delicate gray with a hint of blue, or a delicate green, to complement the wood details. The ceilings would remain white.


(We also considered painting all doors, windows and other trim white, but the quality of wood is so good we hesitate to do that.)


Does anybody out there have any thoughts or suggestions re the above 3 ideas??? We want to do the work before we move all our stuff in to make life easier on us and our painters. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.





Comments (12)

  • 5 years ago

    Personally I think that trim and base look perfect as is stained. That is Doug Fir. I would not change any of it. It appears to me to be a perfect minimalist blend.

    Sam C thanked millworkman
  • 5 years ago

    I agree about the trim. It’s rather skimpy. You can definitely go 6” white. The doors also should be white and agree with the above re the stairs runner... as far as the paint I love a blue or a green especially with the wood tones but I’m not sure I’d paint the entire space. Do you want to hold on the paint for now and decide after the rest is complete. Or prefer to just get it done ...

    Sam C thanked HU-187528210
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I love your wood and trim work, and I would not do anything to those baseboards, if you really have to have 6 inch baseboards, try to find the exact same type of wood, and stain, so they blend in. White will pop alright, next to the floor, but, not necessarily a good pop. In any case, do not make the mistake of changing a bunch of things, before you move in, or after you move in. Paint a few walls if you need to, but, do not do anything that isnt necessary until you live with it at least 6 months to a year. What you think you want now, may not be what you want then, and if you mess with it now, you cant undo it later.

    Sam C thanked cat_ky
  • 5 years ago

    Thanks for all the great comments. Re the 2 commenters who recommended not touching any of the wood trim, please take a look at the 3rd and 4th photos. The casing over the doors in both rooms is a good example of what much of the casing and baseboard looks like --- a 2-tone effect. The 2-tone effect is more pronounced live than it is in the photos (which were taken in low lighting conditions). They used boards with huge color variations and the stain enhanced the color difference. The doors, windows, stairs, etc, are all beautiful and have extremely consistent coloring. But that just makes the 2-tone coloring in the casing stand out even more --- the 4th photo is a good example. Seeing those last 2 photos does that change your thoughts at all???


  • 5 years ago

    No, it doesnt change my thoughts. Its all the beauty of variations in a piece of wood.

    Sam C thanked cat_ky
  • 5 years ago

    I have to agree with cat_ky. I don't think it's an overwhelming amount of wood. I think the brown floors and the bareness of them makes it seem like more than it is. Once you get your own rugs in place, and possibly a stair runner or some window treatments, it will look better.

    Sam C thanked Nancy R Chicagoland 5
  • 5 years ago

    Doesn't change my opinion at all, and that was one of the first things I noticed. That is part of the beauty of wood, the natural grains and coloring.

    Sam C thanked millworkman
  • PRO
    5 years ago

    @millworkman

    "That is part of the beauty of wood, the natural grains and coloring."

    Couldn't agree with you more, you don't see much of that anymore or get requests for stained trim or doors. Did lots of houses with stained trim in the 80-90s but as time went on, stained trim slowly feathered away...

    Sam C thanked GN Builders L.L.C
  • PRO
    5 years ago

    IMO the perfect trim for the windows and doors I agree once all your stuff is in you won’t notice it as much but I think the baseboards should be as wide as the trim around the doors . Too much wood for me but I sure would not do white baseboards in that home.

    Sam C thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • 5 years ago

    I love the wood trim-their graining and tones are exactly WHY they are so beautiful. And wow, those doors are gorgeous. If changing the baseboards is needed then I would also look for similar materials but in a higher profile-6-8" if possible--not white. This looks rich, white would only cheapen everything.

    Sam C thanked Anna (6B/7A in MD)
  • 5 years ago

    You have a beautiful custom home with beautiful woodwork throughout. I would not paint the wood trim or baseboards and I wouldn't change the width of the baseboards. Everything works together and looks intentional. It does not look like the previous owners/builders ran out of funds and threw scrap pieces of wood around the windows.


    If you want to see what it would look like pick one room, carefully remove the baseboards and trim and replace with paint grade white primed trim and baseboards. This will allow you to option of going back to the wood.


    If you decide that you love the white, do the same in the rest of the house and save the wood trim for the next owner.




    Sam C thanked Jennifer Hogan