Although I am a fan of leaving the beauty of wood as wood, I am a bigger fan of doing what you like best. I feel if painting the wood makes you happy that is what you should do. You have to live there. I decorate to my and my husbands taste and very much appreciate the input and ideas but it all comes down to what we like to look at day in and out. You make you happy first, everything else falls into place. :)

I completely agree. The hollow core doors are certainly not 100 years old! And who cares if they are wood grain; I would not consider them candidates for preservation.

Buy new doors and paint all the trim the same.

That's not the beautiful quartersawn 100 year old trim there that begs to be saved from the paintbrush. Looks kinda like pine. Prime with a shellac based primer to seal, and then your choice of a good quality topcoat from some place like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore.

As one who also lives in a century+-old house, I know that some of these were built with the intention of painting (mine was). And as Memphis says, it looks like pine, so go ahead and paint. And replacing those hollow core doors will be a HUGE improvement.

I would say paint it white.. the base is white so follow theme. Natural would is great but it's up to what you prefer. We paint plenty of natural wood and it looks great!

I agree with ProSource, make sure to use a Shellac based primer. I would recommend double priming and sanding in between coats. Try using Benjamin Moore Advanced as a topcoat.

Thanks so much, everyone! I really needed to hear it was OK too paint it from people who know their stuff! And groveraxle, your bedroom is beautiful!

I agree - paint white! Our 3,800 sq. ft. house was built in 1986 and had stained wood trim and doors throughout when we purchased it. One of the first things we did was replace all the baseboard trim with the newer 6 inch trim. We painted it white along with all the six panel doors. It immediately brightened and updated the entire house. Plus white paint allows you to use any wall color you like. The white trim and doors provide a pretty contrast. I also like the current look of painting interior doors black, but you have to have the right home to be able to do. I suggest replacing your hollow doors with six panel (or other) and paint them and trim in white. Benjamin Moore has some nice shades of white. White Dove is very soft and pretty.

it will looks nice in white..

LOL. Thanks, kmclaugh4, but that's not MY bedroom. It's a beautiful bedroom I found on houzz and posted so you could see the appropriate doors. I will say that those are the doors I have throughout my house, same casing and crown, original from 1910. (Some of the fingerprints on them are also from 1910, I think.)

My point really is that replacing those doors will be the best thing you can do, and if you can find period hardware, that would be icing on the cake.

Haha, I began to suspect that wasn't your bedroom after I wrote it. I definitely will look around for period hardware too,