What do you think? White or natural?

Woodwork in the bedroom....

All white trim with white crown molding? And the painted walls? (White trim around doors and windows, the baseboard, etc.)

All natural stain and finish trim around windows and door with white crown molding? And the painted walls?  (Natural pine trim around doors and windows, the baseboard, etc.)

This is a deviation from the rest of the house. Currently the kitchen and living room have pine trim, finished with a natural stain. The hallway and the steps still have the original trim finish which is MinWax Colonial something or other; it will eventually be changed over to match the natural pine trim in the living room and kitchen. The trim in the computer room is a bit darker than the natural finish.

Eventually we will be taking crown molding to the rest of the house. Rick wants to start in the bedroom since we are doing the bedroom over right now. That will help him become better at it and when we're ready for the living room and hallway, he'll have become a pro at crown molding (well, that's the plan anyway).

I really like the idea of the white trim, BUT we have six cats. White and cats do not get along. They'll scratch the heck out of the trim at the bottom of the windows; it's what they do. Not only will the scratches show up more on white paint, but Rick will end up having to re-paint every two years or so....not what he's looking for. But again, I do like the idea of white trim in the bedroom; it's such a fresh, clean look. 

Rick will do what I choose; he doesn't care one way or the other. I have to make up my mind by tonight as he will be starting work on things tomorrow morning. And once he starts, there will be no changes....not if I value my head. 

White or natural? I'm not interested in re-sale value. What I'm interested in is something that will look nice, but not give him more work to do in the future. Does that make sense?

I'm so confused. I am so not one for decorating!

I vote for natural.  

However, having said that, I also think it depends on the age/style of your home.  Houses from the early 1900's and before really had gorgeous woodwork. When I was looking for a home, I passed up every house that had painted the wood white.  

My last home had all white but, the house was built around late 1940's, early 1950's (I can't remember offhand).  The house had been redone before we moved in and there was no original left in the house.  It was replaced with very nice, wood painted white and fit the character of that house as it was originally a Cape or Saltbox type, more "cottage" in feel.  The only place that had natural wood trim were the large floor to ceiling windows in the great room/dining area.  More like a redwood, and they were stunning.  

When I bought my current house, a 1925 Foursquare with Craftsman elements it luckily still had dark, original trim all through the house.  Some, had been painted a dark brown which I wasn't thrilled with but the thought of stripping and re-staining wasn't in our renovation budget nor were we capable of doing it ourselves.  Anything which had a stain, was restained to freshen it up and the parts which were painted got a fresh coat of a better dark brown than what was there.  It's a nice contrast between the floors (all wood except the kitchen and bathrooms) and walls.  

I will say that I see cat hair on all of it.  It's kind of fancy trim in places and the fur really sticks to crevices.  It also can be seen all over my kitchen cabinets which I purchased way before the cats came along.  Had I known we'd have them I never would have picked such a dark color.  Lighter would have worked better for cleaning purposes LOL.

Whatever you do, I think it's better to keep trim the same color throughout a home.  It's a more cohesive look and ties rooms/floors together.  But that's the designer in me talking.  Really, in the end everyone should find what works best for them and their own personal style.

Be aware that white will look dirty really quickly. Unless you want to be constantly looking at dirt or washing down, go for natural. We have white walls in a lot of the house - its amazing how fast they get dirty with cats and dogs running around the place. Trims will be even worse!

I vote for natural too. Keep the look cohesive, and in a lighter stain they'll be easier to keep clean.

Winchester said:

 
All natural stain and finish trim around windows and door with white crown molding? And the painted walls?  (Natural pine trim around doors and windows, the baseboard, etc.)

Click to expand...

If you don't wish to re-paint often, this is probably your best choice, as any white trim around doors could get dark marks from where kitties rub their necks up against it.  At least that's what happened at a neighbour's house with her tuxedo cat. 

We're going natural. Rick will start on the windows this morning. You're right. While I like the look of the white trim, I don't want the constant re-painting. And with cats, that's what will happen.