We just did that in a house we got for out daughter. It looks so much better. My son in law primes them then sprayed them he had to touch up some with the brush but made a huge difference. We ended up painting both the windows and the base board it really light ed it up.

Wow what an improvement.

We removed all the oak trim and baseboard from the main part of the house and replaced it with new trim and baseboard and even replaced the flat doors with 5 panel doors. We did keep the trim in the two small bedrooms and just paint it. I found it easier to replace then to remove and paint as oak does not paint up to well. It has updated our 80's ranch to be more modern and it sure looks refreshing.

Painting windows is a bigger pain than painting trim. If you really don't like the look, do it, just take your time and spread out the work over a period of time that makes it bearable. I know I want everything to be just the way I want it shortly after moving, but the reality is that everything takes time and it seems like years go by before everything is done. :-) Start with a bedroom so if you are learning the best way to do it your first efforts aren't in public areas.

The advice I give new homeowners is to make a list of everything you would like to do. Put it in order of priority (it's up to you how to prioritize - only structural issues like the need for a new roof have to come first), and group things together that should be done together. For instance, group together all the electrical work so you can have an electrician come out for a half day or whole day to get everything done. Then put cost estimates on everything. At this point you just have to ballpark it. Then you have a plan. Try to determine the overall color scheme before you start painting. Even a house that is in good condition can generate a long list. Then check things off as you go - this helps when you're halfway through and get discouraged. It's nice to be able to remind yourself what you've already accomplished. Somehow we lose track of that. :-)

Yes painting them will greatly open up the space and, I feel, enable many more possibilities to updating the rest of the room(s).

kendrewspa has great suggestions about prioritizing what you want done. It's common for houses at the end of the midcentury era like yours to have wood trim. What's throwing everything off are the choices made for wall-to-wall carpeting, wallpaper, style of closet door. Why not address those elements first, starting with wallpaint that harmonizes with the wood, losing the wallpaper, investing in wood floors, then see where you are. I'm assuming the photos are previous owners? Look for examples online of houses of that period that have wood trim by searching: "midcentury wood trim living room ranch" Here are a couple I found. Notice how wood details of furnishings--chair and coffee table frames, frame of art work, floors, echo wood trim but give a modern look to the room.

Here's an article on Houzz on finding whites and other paint colors that harmonize with wood trim: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/11-terrific-paint-color-matches-for-wood-details-stsetivw-vs~9025200

IMO the oak has done its job and I hate oak since it is not beautiful old tight grained oak of long ago but fast growing open grained wood and IMO not worth 2 cents. So yes to apining and I agree the windows too. But I aslo suggest you live in a space for 3 - 6 months before doing any major work. Are you keeping the floors and the wall paper and the kitchen the way it is ? All that and the trim need to be worked together

I like Lorraine Leroux' solution; especially replacing the too skinny crown trim up top.. Are you removing wallpaper, painting walls?

I love wood, but agree with everyone else, nothing really special here. I am painting all the trim in my 60s MCM ranch. I did buy Jasco Mask and Peel for the windows. Makes painting them a breeze. Sand and spray without worrying about getting anything on the glass. Just cut the edge with a razor after the paint dries and peel it off. Also sprayed all the trim before painting walls. Again, just sprayed without worry about getting it on the walls.

We ised jasco mask as well it was use.

We for sure plan to remove the wallpaper, and are in the process of picking out some LVP to replace the carpet. Thanks for all the suggestions! @Lorraine Leroux, I feel like installing all new trim would be pretty pricey, right? Is there such a thing as replacing door and window frame trim, or did you just mean baseboards?

@Jennifer Hogan-how did you protect your floors before spraying? And were your window sashes oak too?

Paint it. Write a check, you will be happy with the difference and worth every penny.

If you're doing LVP, then paint/replace trim.

Short answer to your subject head - yep!

Yall are correct - skinny oak trim is nothing special, but then neither is PAINTED skinny oak trim. If anything the skinniness is accentuated more by white paint. I fail to see that as an improvement.

If I was to paint it, I would paint it out entirely - ie same color as walls. That can be a nice, clean, uncluttered modern look.

That said - I would actually keep the wood windows and possibly doors. Taking a close look at yours, they do look pretty solid and functional, and yeah - its not early 1900s quarter sawn oak, but still.... the wood of 60 yrs ago is vastly superior to the awful splintery stuff they call wood nowadays. Besides, painted windows and doors can start to look really messy as time goes on and it interferes with the function. If they are still functioning well I would definitely keep them in good repair as long as possible. Sure you can keep wood elements and paint out rest - just keep consistent through the house and again consider painted trim same as wall color to avoid/lessen visual clutter.

As others have said - slow down! Take stock of what you have before indiscriminantly removing or making irreversible changes. Often what seemed so danged urgent or important at first becomes much less so after a while. BTW, I would be leery of any designer who proclaims hatred of any species of wood or color of the spectrum.

Our trim was stained poplar, but yes, I have been slowly painting it over the past two years. We were replacing our windows, so it seemed like a good time to make the transition. We kept the doors stained. If you do decide to paint, prep is critical. Clean, sand and use a blocking/bonding primer. I used Zinnser Smart Prime.

Agree with @HALLETT & Co. Hire professional painters and just get it done. You'll never regret painting out the trim. It will freshen the look immediately.

I agree with Debbie Downer, if you have the $$, replacing the skinny baseboards, replacing or even eliminating the crown (is it consistent with the style of the house overall?), and adding some trim to beef up the door casings - then painting or not- will make a big difference. Also agree that the window trim looks much nicer than the rest, and I would be inclined to leave it - I currently am a fan of the look, when the walls and ceiling are nice compatible pale colors.

I was not advocating switching out the trim, but agree with your other points. It is a midcentury-era house, and for better or worse skinny trim comes with the territory. Not seeing any value to "beefing up" trim or trying to turn it into an earlier 1900s farmhouse or what have you. If it rubs you the wrong way de-emphasize it by painting it but in a color same as or similar in intensity to wall color - avoid high contrast colors..

When we replaced the carpet in our bedroom, I removed the original (1989) skinny oak baseboards, and put in new taller ones. I left the window and door frames. It was my first attempt at replacing baseboards, and as kandrewspa said, it's not on public display, so the first corner I did is hidden!

My plan was to gradually do the rest of the house, but alas, we moved before I was able to proceed. Luckily I didn't get halfway done in the living room when we decided to move!