more of the same through out the house

Definitely Paint all the trim and doors.

Oak is a pain to paint. You must use the right products so the wood grain does not show through the paint. You could lightly sand them and stain them darker.

I would paint it it looks a little old fashioned, but I do like the red- brown look

Hi Crew of Two, I love the Dining Room (second pic that you show). As I have dark trim, I would like to know the wall color and any info I could see re this home. Would appreciate anything you can give me. Also like your idea of dark staining the trim in the first pic. Thank you!

Paint color would change the stark contrast in place right now. For an update you could work in two, three tops, colors to transition between the rooms. Gray/khaki / greens would work with the red wood tones. Is the main front door the same wood color? You could leave it wood and paint the hallway doors light color. I've attached a photo of a client's wood ceiling that melding in better with color on the walls.

Our house was built in '99 and has similar stained trim and doors with oak floors. I'm gradually working room to room painting all the doors, trim and windows white. Initially I wanted to paint the cabinets too, but like A Crew of Two mentioned the grain is hard to hide so I opted not to. For the rooms with oak cabinetry you could try paint colors that blend with the tones in the oak like terra cotta. The cabinets seem less noticeable, and the white trim is a nice contrast.

Jill J.... I am thinking this way. my master bath has same trim and doors but tile floors and I painted a sage green that looks really nice. To the point I am looking at just paint on the walls for my upstairs that has mostly carpet and no wood flooring. It is my down stairs that is about 60% red oak wood flooring.

I think my plan of attack is to paint wall and doors first since I believe they are what makes it look so busy. Then , if still busy work the trim and the cabinets if needed. I have convinced myself to leave the floors as is since they are true hardwood.

and yes.... The front door is same red oak stain

If budget is an issue I would just paint out all the trim, baseboard, doors and spindles of railing white and leave the floors as-is. If budget allows, I would go one step further and darken the stain on the floors. Either option will automatically update your space.

Some inspiration pics...

I agree, changing the trim and paint will be the easiest dramatic change for the least cost.

I’d leave the floors as is, at least for now. I would paint all the trim first and see how it looks with the doors left natural. If you like it, I would change the hardware to something darker and clunkier ( a great design word).

The red oak is limiting your use of paint colors and furniture because it is not very neutral. If you prefer warm tone paint colors and furniture it looks nice. If you want to update, I agree with a previous post and would change out the baseboards to paint grade and something more substantial. I would paint the baseboard, trim, and stair spindles, and paint the doors. A darker stain on the floors is so popular with most people because it is so much more neutral. You don't live in Indianhead Park by any chance? :)

Loretta, I live in Louisville Colorado. The advice of paint trim (will look into replacing to paint grade) sounds like what I'll start with. I like the examples of the white stain and colored walls against the red oak. doors are still questionable so will wait to see against finished trim.

Next question. ... would I lose too much continuity by doing this down stairs and leaving upstairs as is. Possibly tying together with th banister.

You're right to think about the continuity. The examples in some of the earlier posts were white paint though, not stain. Even though the post by Judy G is not oak, it is a beautiful example of the stained door and white trim. If you could at least do that on the first floor and the upstairs hallway....it wouldn't look like you stopped at the "back of the house". The stair railing and bannisters will be a little challenging though...my inclination would be to just paint the spindles to tie them into the other trim....even though I would like to see the rest of the oak stair parts a little darker to match the floor and doors a little better. Re-staining the stairway can be a big job. Good luck and enjoy the process!

Your doors aren't oak, they are fir. I might paint the jambs and the trim (or replace the trim) but I wouldn't paint the doors, at least not first. It's a lot of work and you might not be satisfied with the result.

Instead, the first thing I would do is replace the stair rail. Then I would replace all the door hardware to match the style of the new railing.

If you have children you will see every fingerprint on white doors. The doors look fine with the flooring. The baseboards are too dinky. You can beef them up by simply adding a piece of trim above the existing baseboard and painting. The problem with your house is simple. Everything looks gosh with builder's grade white walls. I worked in a hospital and not even the surgical suites are that sterile. Save your $ and put a warm color on the wall first.

Here is another idea.

I love the stain wood. My house was built in 1992 and all doors and trim are white. It cost extra to have stained doors and trim. You are lucky to have it. I've already painted them three times. I've had stain wood before and it is much warmer looking and low maintenance. I would paint the walls a darker, warmer color to compliment the wood.

I would leave the hardwoods. They are nice warm tone. Painting the trim and doors white I'll make a huge difference. You want to consider adding white crown molding too. They will make an even bigger difference.

I would leave the doors stained, and paint the trim and walls. Real wood doors have a higher replacement cost than paint-grade doors. Keeping the wood doors natural will also be less maintenance. I would also recommend upgrading your hardware. If you paint the trim, be sure your painter primes it with an oil-based primer and sands between coats to achieve the smoothest finish. Paint the spindles on your staircase the same as your trim, leaving the banister natural/stained. You might consider adding an enhancer to the baseboards to beef it up, and possibly crown molding. Check out a recent blog post for ideas and rules of thumb: http://mossmanor.com/crown-molding-size-matters. Good luck!

I agree with the advice to leave the lovely doors and floor and paint the trim only. You could also, optionally, paint the spindles on the staircase along with the trim (but not the bannister or newel post). This is a classic combination that is original to many houses, including our 1929 one (i.e. painted trim, baseboards and staircase spindles; stained solid wood doors, bannisters, and floors).

i would change out both the baseboard and casing for beefier, paint grade versions (more affordable than i expected) paint them a warm white, paint the walls a warm neutral, and then update the doors with new hardware. I paint everything that doesn't move but would hesitate to paint solid wood doors. I say make them a design feature. Perhaps you can break up the expanse of wood by adding a runner? Or paint doors that you would like to have visually disappear but maintain "focal point" doors in the wood finish. i have a hallway of doors that are white but am installing a swinging door to my kitchen that will be stained.

We have a very similar look to our house. Our spindles are already white (off white- White Dove) and they look really nice and I think the natural oak color looks fine with it. I wouldn't try to stain anything darker, it will chip off. A warmer wall color would help tie in the oak. We have Manchester Tan in the entry and it is a pale beige/griege. It looks good with the oak. I agree about doing just the door trim and baseboards white and leaving the doors stained. That is what my plan is too. I added Oil rubbed bronze hardware and hinges and that updated the doors instantly.