apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Don't do it! Gorgeous as is.

Well, my suggestion is to change the rug and dining set rather than paint the ceiling features. I would suggest a lighter rug and a more modern glass table to light it more.

I wouldnt do it, the wood is beautiful. I would paint the walls a nice cheery color that isn't too dark. Love the chairs in the living room, where are they from?

I wouldn't do it either. I think RedMaiko has the right idea. White doesn't always brighten a room, and I think in this case the contrast between the white walls and the darker furnishings is not helping. A color would probably be better for brightening the place up.

I would leave the vaulted ceiling room alone. It's classic and would not be easily undone.

That said, I wouldn't hesitate to paint out the crown molding in the first room. It is distracting.

The others are right - the white walls are all wrong for your home - get thee to a paint store and choose some nice pastels, including some pale powder blue for the ceilings (only the panels between the coffered beams in your dining room)

Don't do it! I agree that the harsh contrast isn't helping. And a new rug would help too. Add some plants.

I would paint it white, especially as they are not original. They seem to bring the ceiling down and thereby make the rooms smaller and darker then they probably are.
I would leave the floor trims but would consider painting the doorframes and maybe even the windows. But then again I really love the nordic all white look.

I agree with everyone else, so far! I wouldn't suggest painting the beautiful wood trim. My humble suggestions:
big mirrors in the dining room, a bolder rug under the dining set, and in the living room, a bright rug, as was already mentioned. How about painting the brick of the fireplace a bright color? This could be changed fairly easily every few years. Also, vary colors/textures of furniture and accessories as much as you can--stay away from the same brown/wood as the trim. Though I do love those chairs in the living room!

change the wall/ceiling paint color to a nonwhite color. The white walls are creating too much contrast with the wood trim which makes them look darker.

Don't paint the wood, it's lovely! I would suggest a nice muted peach for the walls, and leave the ceilings white.

I agree with the others, PLEASE do something about those rugs!! Also the dining room art work could be better showcased. The white on white matting is on the dull side of life, and the scale isn't working. The dining roomis has a boxy feel, you may want to paint two of the walls a different (vibrant, brighter) color to make it more dynamic. A round glass top table would make the dining area more interesting and brighter.

I think the trim is beautiful and is nice the way it is. This looks like an Oak Park house?!

I would suggest one of the F & B mossy greens for the walls...and leave that beautiful ceiling. The wall colour will anchor the space and visualy lift the ceining. I would break up the set...either keep the table and ad more contemporary chairs or keep the chairs and opt for a sleek table. An oversized mirror on the left wall and much bigger art. Again something colourful and more contemporary.

Don't paint the trim (especially if you're not sure!!) If you are going to paint the walls, however, -- try a warm gold (similar to the color of the runner on your table, but a touch more brown than yellow). I have a similar situation in my home and that is the color (after 4 or 5 tries) that works best with the tones of wood in my house. Keep in mind when choosing paint -- you need to make sure it doesn't clash with the under tones (which appear to be reddish) of your wood.

I think the narrow wood molding in the living room is the one thing that should be painted out.

I would leave the ceiling as is, but paint the narrow molding in the living room. The wood trim looks jarring against the white paint, but it will really sing with the right wall color.

I think a very light greenish-blue on the walls. Almost that aqua color they used in kitchens a lot in the 50s would be nice. I have the same problem with my house, because I think that the all wood trim is something unique that I don't want to "mess up" yet I love the look of white trim. I say go with lightening the walls by adding color. The furnishings are nice, and if they are your style, then keep them (including the rugs) but the coffee table seems out of place. I would go with an oversized white or light colored upolstered ottoman. Then hang a HUGE fern in the entrance to the dining room on the side where there isn't a column.

I agree -- white is too harsh a contrast with the wood trim. A warm color on the walls in a value range similar to the wood will greatly reduce the contrast and the room will seem brighter because it's less harsh. The suggestions of a mossy green or a warm yellow/gold are both good, given the wood in question. Also, there are not enough light sources in either room -- if they seem too dark, try bringing in more lighting options. Remember, at least three in every room, including some uplights to play off that ceiling vault.

The white's the problem, not the wood.

The dining set and rug are too fussy for the straight lines of a Craftsman. One or the other needs to go to a different room.

you mention that the wood is NOT original... and from a distance, it seems like an old craftsman style application, but pix can be deceiving and we might be romantically-projecting the wood trim is nicer that it actually is... and not remembering that these things can be tacked on later in a pastiche-y way... for instance, much of the "oak" trim in my parent's home isn't oak, but veneered particleboard... on the flip-side, my grandparents lived in an edwardian-inspired home built in the 40s with original mahogany trim. one is bad, the other is good. so, if it's not high-quality wood and looks cheap, i'd not feel bad about painting it (or removing it and putting up a more high-quality trim... for instance, the trim in the LR seems a bit thin and not in keeping with the style of the beams in the next room and looks a bit cheap to me. even it it's not original, however, if it's high-quality with a good amount of craft and workmanship, you might think about keeping it and working with other elements (agreed that the white is bland, imho...)

Paint. The house has already been (obviously) renovated and opened up. In this case, the dark wood brings the ceiling down.

After reading other opinions, I do think now that the narrow wood trim in the living room would look better painted.
I love hearing so many different opinions/ideas! For me, decorating is to a great degree about pushing myself beyond my first decisions, or the most obvious choices.

Before you decide to paint trim - take it from me as someone who recently painted ALL the trim/moulding and doors in their home white - its a big job.

The person who lived in our house before painted all the trim/doors a horrible brownish-pink color. The process we used paint over it with white was:
-clean
-one coat primer
-two coats high gloss paint

and we had to wait a day in between for paint to dry before reapplying.

Remeber when painting trim, brushstrokes are also a big hurdle. We used more expensive brushes with a smaller brush point to get a nice clean coat. And you know what - It's still not perfect.

It's a big undertaking - I agree with posters here to experiment with wall color or maybe sanding and restaining the trim might be easier.

But then again - It's your house, if it makes you happy - the work is worth it.

Now that someone pointed it out, that missing column throws everything off. Why not make a fake one? I second all the paint rec's especially the gold - I think that would work great. I do wonder, why the urge to brighten up the dining room? A dark, saturated color on the walls makes a room feel more intimate, encourages lingering over wine and thoughtful conversation.

I agree with RedMaiko, glamazon and Lisa. Work with the dark wood, don't fight against it. Use paint and decor to accentuate it, not work against it

Looks like you just moved in and are trying to re-use pieces from a totally different space. The Frenchy DR set and the Neocolonial (?) chandelier and craftsman beams are having a catfight in the second picture. You need to do something to tie it all together.

We got an old house with lots of dark wood mouldings and built-ins, and after much hand-wringing decided to keep it. See my flickr photostream from last year:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9160509@N05/sets/72157602319289597/

That is called a "coffered" ceiling (in the dining room). I would not paint the trim. I don't think it will help that much with brightening the room. I concur with the suggestions to add color to the walls. The rooms are not so much dark as just bleak. I would definitely suggest replacing the rug in the L.R.

I think that part of the problem is that there should be a picture rail/door casing running around the room at the top of all the openings in lieu of the crown trim, which wouldn't necessarily have been there originally. Are the stairs original?

Add lighting. Paint walls a warmer color. Leave trim unpainted.

While I often like wood trim, I don't think it works in your home (based on the photos). If those photos are accurate, I would paint ALL the wood elements (trim, doorframes, bannister, etc.) white to match your walls. I think it would do wonders to update and lighten your house. And I think it would highlight your nice wood floors.

You can also really brighten up your house with more striking rugs and with bright art that suits your walls (your dining room painting seems much too small for that wall and for that room and I don't see any other art on your walls).

I hate to point out the obvious, but your rooms are dark in part because you don't have enough light fixtures.

You only have a chandelier in your dining room and only have the recessed lighting in your living room.

Get brighter bulbs for your chandelier, perhaps some CFL's if you're running into electrical constraints against wattage (Ikea has some lovely chandelier style ones that aren't ugly). If you can, get shades that block less light dissipation.
Get a few nice lamps for both rooms, and then some brightly colored accents in the main room - and I agree that a blueish turquoise would contrast nicely with the wood, but I wouldn't over do the blue as far as paint goes.

We had the exact same problem. I really like white mouldings, but in the dining room we have the same ceiling as you, trim, plus picture mouldings on the walls, in the same wood color. Its so much easier to find a paint color for the walls with white moulings, because everything goes with white! With the wood tone you have a limited color choice. We ended up painting ONLY the picture mouldings, as they were smaller and cheaper wood-like they were added on later. Here are before and afters, we painted the walls a pale gold-ish cream, and the wall mouldings were painted creamy white. I hated the stark contrast of the wood/white in the before pics.
Before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24453785@N02/2718073228/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/24453785@N02/2718073192/in/photostream/
After: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24453785@N02/2611732056/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/24453785@N02/2611730992/in/photostream/

I would say paint the upper moulding in the living room, since its smaller and not original, and paint the walls a warmer color to tie everything together. Maybe move the chairs in toward the center of the room more? A little closer to your coffee table. And I agree with the person who said plants, I would definitely put some in both rooms.

In the dining room I think adding a big mirror on a long wall and some nice long curtains on the window would soften up all that wood. Just don't paint the ceiling, it would bring your resale down. You could paint the walls and the ceiling in between the wood a warmer color, that looks nice.

I agree with many above. I love white but it looks to me lack you're lacking a good blend of light sources and light colors. Add three soft shaded floor lamps, and three more soft shaded table top lamps. It'll warm the room, eliminate shadows, but create texture and make the whole room feel brighter...

Don't paint that beautiful coffered ceiling!

I agree that the dining room is a little bleak at the moment, but I think it's because the styles aren't really blending... the traditional rug and the fancy dining set don't really go with the ceiling. The art on the wall is also too small in scale. I agree with the suggestions for a more modern dining set, a huge mirror in a sleek frame, some dramatic art, and a color on the walls. More lighting would help too. Since there is already a lot of wood in the room--floors, ceiling, trim--I'd say that a black dining set might be nice, or maybe white or glass. Something other than wood for contrast, I think, but something with enough visual weight to balance the ceiling. Putting some floor-length curtains on the windows would soften the room and reduce the amount of visible wood trim, too.

Also, maybe you could also try moving your living room rug into the dining room. It's much more sedate, so it wouldn't compete with the ceiling, and it seems a little larger, which would help the scale. (The addition of more brown might not help... but it doesn't hurt to try.)

Finally, I agree that addressing the one column would help. Personally, I'd want to rip it and the half-walls out and open the two rooms up more, but that's a difficult project. But there needs to be something there to create more symmetry.

Good luck!

P.S. One inexpensive thing that I am planning on doing to reduce the overwhelming amount of wood in my dining room is getting some fabric, cutting it to the exact size of the tabletop, edging it, and then putting it under glass to make it practical and shiny. I think it will transform the look of my mission-style dining room table and make my whole room lighter... if I like it I might reupholster the chairs to complement it. I am also thinking about lining the inside of my 1930's china cabinet with some paper or fabric to lighten it, and maybe putting some small lights inside to highlight the contents. I still need to buy some things--a rug, a new chandelier, some art--but I am hoping some creativity will help me improve the room for less! :)

It may be counterintuitive, but I really think a slightly darker color on the walls would really help. Something to tone down the contrast that makes the wood seem so much darker than it really is.

Don't paint them! No no no! Warming up the tone would be good. It doesn't seem as dark as you've implied but have you thought about different lighting options, at least in the living room? It seems like you have just those awful spotlight ceiling lights which must make the whole light/dark contrast already present even harsher. Floor lighting in a corner facing upwards please.