One of the most commonly asked decorating dilemmas I get asked about involves what to do with older homes that have lots and lots of dark wood trim. A reader named Jodi sent me this email just a couple of weeks ago:
We have an older home and do not wish to paint all the trim white, but I do find the wood trim to be one of my biggest struggles when decorating. It's also very hard to find inspiration as most home decor magazines, blogs, etc only feature white trimmed rooms, as this is most common these days...but what about those with us who still have and like the look of wood trim? Any advice?
Painting wood trim throughout an entire house can be daunting (and pricey if you hire it out). I went on a search to find some inspiration pictures for Jodi and stopped when I saw this:
Rebekah Zaveloff via Houzz
I think it's a really perfect example of how to work around a house full of wood trim, if you're wanting to lighten things up without investing a lot of time and money. An overall light wall color softens the room but makes the trim pop. In other words, work with what you've got instead of trying to disguise the trim. They also layered with light upholstery and a big, light area rug.
And, my favorite trick they used here was to paint the crown molding white all the way around the top of the room. This is the perfect compromise for the wife who wants to paint every bit of trim and the husband who flips out at the thought of painting anything wood. It also draws your eye up, instead of making the room seem "cut off" at a certain point.
If you've saved a great inspiration picture of a beautiful room with wood trim, I'd love for you to leave link in the comments.
