Tates differ as demonstarted by some "L-o-v-e-i-n-g that trim when installed. For that reason I'd suggest you do what looks best to you, not what looks best to me or other Houzzers. It would be worthwhile to download an app that lets use different colors in pictures of your home. One thing to consider is early american,colonial ,traditional tranition which embraces abundance of natural wood.

Maybe consider a warm taupe that helps neutralize some of the orange tone of wood. Then add in decor elements that pull that color into the rest of the space like a rug in the bedroom.

I'd keep the pine for now, including the crown. The same wood runs through the windows, doors, baseboards and staircase, so painting only part of it white may make the remaining pieces look more orange and disconnected.

The cool gray walls are pushing the trim warmer. I'd test a warm off-white and a muted blue-green on large boards next to the wood. The blue-green bedroom photo already shows that the pine can look good when the wall color gives it some contrast. Keep the ceiling light, then repeat the wood with one or two simple pieces and use rugs or bedding to break up the amount of it. Live with the new wall color before deciding whether the trim still bothers you.

I’d paint it white - i am pretty frugal so would probably pay someone to tackle the downstairs and then I would do the upstairs one room at a time - fwiw I have gotten to where I almost enjoy painting, forcing myself not to rush and put on a podcast or let a favorite tv show play in the background

I dont mind the trim at all, and, I think its a good idea to remove the crown molding. Crown moldings do not work well on 8 ft ceilings, they make a room look choppy. If you end up wanting to paint all the trim, please paint it anything but white. White is so overdone these days.

I would paint it white. Classic look and goes with any wall color you might want to use.

I painted the stained trim in the first house we owned, so I've had to make this decision before.

I had the stained trim painted in my 1960"s home about 30 years ago never regretted it.

I like the trim to match the window so I would color match that white if you decide to paint

I'm wondering if in the bedrooms you painted the crown molding the same color as the walls in the different sheen and then the trim on those quarter circle windows to match the white of the window, the rest of the trim would look better.

Thank you, everyone! I appreciate all the advice!

Painting would certainly be easiest. I prefer the look of wood and an thinking the polyurethane used is the real issue. Stripping and resealing would be the way I would want to go.

If it were my house, I'd remove the crown, leave the window and stair trim, and paint the baseboards the same color as whatever the wall color is. That is personal preference, though. IMO baseboards aren't something to highlight unless it's some fancy-schmany architectural detail, which most of the time it's not. Painting the same color as the wall makes the walls look taller and not chopped up. If you must have contrasting baseboards, then leave the wood -- I'd take that over white (unless you paint the walls white).

If you prefer to paint the walls, then I suggest using a beige that will warm up the space and, therefore, create a less stark contrast between the walls and the trim. A cold wall color will emphasize the trim. Here are some paint color ideas:

Are you up to painting all the walls? Choose a warm based off-white and paint the walls/ceilings in a matte finish; paint the ceiling molding in a satin finish. I'd do the entire house and add color with fabrics, furniture and art.

Is the carpeting as white as it looks on my monitor? If so, try this off-white; it should work with the white carpet.

This is B.M. Mountain Peak White.

And it loves grayed greens, and orange tones.

No wood furniture in orange tones.

Honey pine trim is one of those things that quietly shapes a whole room without people realizing why. I see this exact situation come up a lot in homes from that era - beautiful bones, great natural light in your case, but that warm orange cast fighting against everything you're trying to do with color.

Here's the thing about that "neutral paint will soften it" theory - I wish it worked that way, but it almost never does. Wood trim doesn't just sit next to your wall color, it pulls warmth into it. I've seen homeowners choose the coolest, grayest paint on the fan deck, only to have it read warm and slightly off the second it's up next to that pine. The trim doesn't get softer. The walls just start looking a little confused.

So rather than leaving it and hoping, here's how I'd actually approach it: think about this as a room-by-room story rather than an all-or-nothing project. Start with your primary living spaces and main bedroom, the places where you spend the most time and where the visual impact is biggest. White trim in those rooms alone can completely change how the whole home feels, even if the guest room trim waits until next year. Floor-level trim can usually wait longest since it draws the least attention.

One thing worth knowing before you start: that trim almost certainly has a poly or varnish finish on it, which means this isn't a quick coat-of-paint job. it needs a scuff sand and a stain-blocking primer first, or you'll fight bleed-through and peeling down the line. That prep step is usually what separates a trim job that looks great in five years from one that doesn't.

Removing the crown molding is a smart place to start either way. If you're anywhere in Northern Virginia and want a second set of eyes on sequencing or a quote for the prep work involved, I'm the owner over at All American Painting Plus - always happy to talk through a project like this, even just for advice!

Nothing is going to "soften" it, especially that blue room. Blue is opposite from orange on the color wheel, meaning it's orange's complement. When complementary colors are placed side by side, as in your blue and orange room, each color intensifies the other. So the blue looks bluer and the orange oranger. The only way to make it recede is to paint the walls a color similar to the trim.

But it's not a special pine, like antique heart pine, so painting it isn't a faux pas. If that were my house I'd paint it white in a heartbeat. Then you don't need to worry about the wall color juxtaposed against the pine, and you can concentrate on decorating each room the way yo want.