apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

First, congratulations! It looks like a gorgeous house. My last house was a similar style and also had a painted brick fireplace and stained wood trim. The key, in my opinion, is to complement the warmth of the wood without making it too warm. What is there now is too fleshy.

Without seeing the rest of your first floor, it's hard to tell what colors you like. I would probably do everything a warm white for now (including the ceiling above the stairs), and the fireplace some accent color that ties in hues from another room. I did the fireplace in my last house a dull purplish brown called Rum Raisin. I think it was Behr paint from Home Depot. I used the glossiest version I could find and it was gorgeous. But any rich, deep color would work.

The great thing about houses with stained trim is that the painting goes really quickly. I don't even mask off the trim--I just have a wet rag in one hand while I paint with the other.

I'm thinking a buttery cream color might look nice with the wood while also giving an airy feel.

A pale sagey green would work well with the trim, and be fairly period-appropriate.

I recommend against using white on the fireplace unless you never plan on having a fire!

My house is very similiar. 1890 and lots of wood trim. I chose benjamin moore powell buff from this historical colors collection. I think anything from that collection would work. They have some warm creamy whites too.

Congratulations on your new home! It looks like a beauty. That fireplace is wonderful, and I absolutely love its unusual placement.

Though some will cringe at the thought of painting the fireplace brick, I love the look. Please don't use black, though! (Remember, you want "open, bright and airy"!) A nice ivory would work well with whatever pastel color you choose for your walls. In a former home, I painted my wood-burning fireplace ivory and enjoyed many fires there with no ill effects at all.

As for your wall color, you're the best judge. Think of what color(s) make you happy, the palette of your furnishings and art, etc. And don't be cowed by "all" the wood. I'm assuming you'll have some type of rug(s) on the floor, which will make the wood less overpowering in that space.

Honestly, I would paint the oak trim out in white - it gives you way more color options and updates the space without taking away from the vintage feel.

It may not be what you are looking for, but here is an example from a previous post:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/real-estate/julianne-moores-west-village-townhouse-092115?image_id=577449

Great space!!!

I like your idea of painting the fireplace black! Give it a try. Then I'd fill it with birch logs. Really fill it, just stack em top to bottom. How often are you going to have a fire in the foyer??

I'd go with a very antique cream for the walls. Then cream and white accents, curtains. The trellis patterns everyone is talking about could be a great fabric. Throw in your color however you like: artwork, rug, whatever makes you happy!!!

Good Luck!!

I would say a rich taupe and if you are going to paint the wood use black.

A soft buttery yellow would complement the trim work as would any warm white/cream. Sage green or light gray (in a warm tone) could also work.

Ivory, silvery sage, dove gray or a grayish blue.

I'd just paint the walls for now and leave the trim and fireplace alone. You might change your mind about them once you've changed the wall color.

a soft rose color

What a lovely house--it has so much potential! I think painted brick can look quite nice, but I do really like it the way it is. Depending on what you're going for, I would suggest painting the walls either a light sage green or a nice creamy beige (nothing too yellow). Post pictures when it's all done!

My initial reaction is a sagey-greyish green on the balls with a matte charcoal/almost black on the fireplace. Beautiful space, congrats on your new place!

Please, please, please, don't paint the woodwork!! It looks like it's still in beautiful condition. Paint the walls a light, creamy color, and let the woodwork be the dark balance in the room.

I love calamityayne's idea of a sagey color. Maybe above that top rail, and paint the fireplace to match it and bring that color downward into the room. You could also put that sage color onto the stair risers (where they're white now), and get some rugs that will tie in the cream and sage.

For starters, its a gorgeous entryway with lots of potential! Congratulations on such a great purchase!

As far as Benjamin Moore paints go I really love the Pottery Barn colors they collaborate on. Colors I can see in this space would be berber white(955) or Nantucket Breeze(521). These colors are light but earthy without being drab. I would NOT paint the trim. However, I think the fireplace could look awesome with a coat of clean paint. I would think an offwhite or a grey that is so light it almost looks white to an undiscerning eye.

Your home is adorable and I love the fireplace. I'm seeing less and less fireplaces these day. I would want to do with something very light actually. You don't want the walls to compete with the fireplace. Nothern Air (blue) or cedar key (tan) from pottery barn paints would look amazing.

Your home is adorable and I love the fireplace. I'm seeing less and less fireplaces these day. I would want to do with something very light actually. You don't want the walls to compete with the fireplace. Nothern Air (blue) or cedar key (tan) from pottery barn paints would look amazing.

Any shade of cream would look nice. Most bold colors would make it look tacky and a lot of pastels aren't going to complement it.

Your woodwork and masonry are so beautiful. You want to highlight that. Right now, the terra cotta, although a neat color, is competing too much with the natural tones in the woodwork and brick. I'd prime it all, then look at your textiles and reassess. Pick up on a pale version of a common tone in your textiles. If you have lots of blues, do a warm grey. If you have a lot of greens, do a pale clay, if you have yellows and reds, go with a rich cream. Top the over mantel off with a large antique mirror and you're home free :)

Bright White on the plaster, please leave the trim stained, don't paint it!

I like the idea of a green. A sagey-green like others have suggested, but I also like the idea of a light, spring green. It would probably look very nice with the fireplace and woodwork as is. Congrats! Looks like a cool house. Please post pix as you move forward on projects!

Blue-violet-gray mix
check this - http://loftlifemag.com/mu/?cat=12

i too have oak trim throughout my vintage condo, which i only DIDN'T paint white because i got yelled at by someone (okay, everyone) any time i mentioned the idea.

then...i painted the whole place benjamin moore's madison grey. and now i LOVE the oak trim. the coolness of the paint color offsets the warm wood tones beautifully.

and if this dark blue-grey isn't your cup of tea, i'd say any cool tone with a greyish tint would work spectacularly.

Personally I would consider painting ALL of the wood trim the same color as the walls. Its a more modern tone on tone look that I believe still respects the vintage details while allowing the home to reflect a more contemporary approach to design. I know a lot of people will disagree...they reflexively say that you should NEVER paint wood. That is silly. Not all wood is created equal. What's more, there are so many visual planes in the room (walls of different lengths, steps, trims, doorways, fireplace, etc etc) the room is a bit overwhelming visually. To help neutralize this design schizophrenia and allow the eye to relax, a tone on tone scheme with the trim and moldings in a different paint finish (eggshell for the walls and semi-gloss for the trim) could be a beautiful solution. I would even consider painting the brick fireplace a deeper shade from the same color swatch for continuity (and a little bit of depth).

Might I suggest doing something with the door at the top of the stairs on the left? It's bright white with the trim painted :-( and kind of draws the eye in because of the contrast.

The last thing I would choose would be a warm/earth color (yellows, reds or earthtones) since you have so much brown and orange in the wood & brickwork already.

IMO, it would be better to offset this with the cooler color range such as blues, teals, greens and greys - but in the medium/darker range as lighter tones would be overpowered by all the existing dark elements in this space.

Anything in the yellow to golden tan family would complement -- cooler colors will clash. Paint the fireplace and the ceiling pure white.

Like many others, I would paint the walls a light creamy color, and leave the wood ALONE, (woodwork is nearly the whole POINT of a Craftsman house, the Julianne Moore house is different period and wood style so much less relevant than you may think...) I would then decide on the fireplace color after living with it for a little bit. Black sounds too harsh to me, esp. with the color of the wood. But you'll see after living there. And you can always change the wall color out later too. Walls with that much trim are easy to paint. Congratulations on your lovely new house!

An airy, pale grey would be lovely!

Oooh I also love the idea of a slatey gray wall color with the wood- VERY sophisticated.

And yeah, if the brick is already painted, then paint it and the trim bright white. Happy decorating!

Whoops- sorry, just realized you were keeping the wood trim, but I stand by my white- fireplace, pale grey walls suggestion.

I would not paint the wood at least for now, just give it some really good polishing.

If you are going to use the fireplace then I would paint the brick, nothing uglier than dark smoke stains on brick.

I use Java Logs non toxic and does not leave smoke stains.

I think painting all the walls a medium/dark grey and take it all the way up to the ceiling including the wood (horizontal) trim. Paint the brick deep blue black or deep charcoal grey and using that same color for the door and trim around the door. The ceiling can be a warm buttery white.

Or go all buttery white walls, leave wood alone and paint the brick as mentioned a deep blue/black or charcoal grey.

Congrats on the house looks like it will be a fun project, look forward to seeing what you end up doing.

Looks like a great house! I couldn't resist testing out a few of the suggestions:

http://img.skitch.com/20090825-84ekxh2bg543tktg7kg9ghiyw3.jpg

I like the idea of painting the brick white/light. It's very fresh. I also think that any of the suggestions people made do a great job of highlighting the pretty oak, while also opening and lightening up the space.

I'd love to see the "after"!

Good Luck!

"Anything in the yellow to golden tan family would complement -- cooler colors will clash. "

Colors don't clash.

They either compliment or contrast.

Echoing some of the other remarks, PLEASE do not paint that trim. I do not agree that all wood trim should remain natural or stained, but this house is of a vintage in which nice long strips of good-quality wood were used for moldings, mantels, muntins, mullions and the like.

The door at the top of the stairs has been painted already, so I would either paint it and its white trim whatever color you choose for the walls (again, another plug for a creamy white) OR if you have the patience, strip it to match the rest of the woodwork. It also looks as though there is a door next to that door that leads up the stairs? I would consider removing that one. In my experience this kind of house always has way too many doors. (If you take it down, though, don't get rid of it!)

Beautiful wood is really a great focal point in a house. Overpowering it with too much color only detracts from it's beauty. When using color it is often better to make a focal wall dark or brignt and make the others more subtle, that will allow for the wood and the focal wall to stand out. I would us a tinted neutral. Look at your wood, it has a pink tone to it versus a yellow tone, so select a color that has more of a pink or salmon tint, but not a strong color.

yellow

HMMM, just as I thought...Don't paint the wooders crawling out from the unpainted woodwork.

Stop for a sec and really look at that pic. JEEZ! SO BUSY! In addition to the multitude of DOORS AND WINDOWS AND A HALLWAY, there is a variety of wood tones (painted white door and trim and the top of the stairs, caramel colored trim and walnut colored floors), moldings galore (some nice, like the baseboards, and some not so nice, like the plate rail/crown and the mantle). There is also a piece at the top of the stairs in the same wood with a big honking knot in it. That is a sure sign that the wood was intended to be painted all along. NOT ALL WOOD IS CREATED EQUAL. Wood was not always installed to remain "au naturale". It has always been used as a great surface for painting. So...to that, I say:

PAINT IT ALL!
The foyer, the fireplace, the hallway, the trim, the doors. NEUTRALIZE the overwhelming visual chaos. Create order. Let the floors be the gorgeous wood accent in the room. The trim will still be there, only a little less obvious and a little more sophisticated.

Personally I would paint the room a ghostly pale blue or green with a lot of grey in it. A color that is almost not there. If you're unsure about a certain color (I KNOW I am going to catch hell for this, but) MARTHA STEWART has the best colorists and stylists in the biz! Get a couple of old issues from the thrift store and look through. I may not want to spend an afternoon making a replica of the Sistine Chapel out of breath mints, but I would proudly steal her colors.

did we leave out any color of the spectrum?

Busy? How could beautiful, architecturally-appropriate details translate as 'busy' (suggesting unnecessary embellishment) to someone? Not everyone wants to live in a blank, white box.

Parttimedesign,

We get it. You are not a fan of the Arts & Crafts style. But your advice, if taken, would only ruin part of a home that still has a lot of integrity after almost a century. While your recommendations would minimize the visual clutter of the room, that isn't the point here. Intersecting planes and angles and tangents are part of the "look" of this kind of house.

By the way, I don't think what you're seeing is a knot in a strip of molding. I believe that is the back side of a door that goes up the stairs. That is the door I suggested she take off. Often in such homes doors to the private quarters, as well as stairs to a kitchen or servants' area, were made of pine (the "fancy" oak, birch, or whatever would face the guests).

I wouldn't paint the wood but I think you have the right idea about painting the fireplace, maybe not black though if your going for bright and airy. I think painting the fireplace off white would look good with light sage, light grey, or a light periwinkle blue.

Dear Sally305

A: I should point out that the house was described as a COLONIAL. The pictures clearly show that this isn't some super-precious Arts and Crafts masterpiece that belongs on the Registry. We're not talking Greene and Greene here...its an Industrial Era Colonial plain and simple.

B: I was merely voicing my OPINION. Again and again there is this ridiculous debate here about the sanctity of wood.
I find it frustrating to read over and over what an affront painting wood is. The reality is that some woods were meant to be painted.

C: What bothers me the most about the rooms is that if you look at the pictures, there are SO MANY different treatments to the wood in each room. In some rooms the baseboards and plate rail are painted white. In others they are stained. Same with doors, on one side the door is natural, the other side painted. Its these details that make all the difference in the world. Its the difference between a DIY/haphazard look and a designer look.

Personally, I feel that with all of the varying heights of doors and windows, the multitude of planes, the sheer number of openings, the variety of colors and finishes, it all adds up to a visually chaotic series of rooms. I feel that the best way to neutralize and marry all of these competing elements would be to paint the whole thing one or two shades of the same paint. Not the same color in each room per se, but def. the same treatment. Again, my opinion.

BTW: I LOVE the Craftsman style. This just isn't it.

I think pale blue or pale grey would be lovely, with the brick of the fireplace cream. I would def. paint the under part of the stairs (what is now white) what ever color you paint the walls, and perhaps paint the upper part of the walls which is now white, what ever color you choose for the brick of the fireplace. The lighter grey or blue would open the room size, yet keep it nice and neutral and cozy while warming up the red tones in the wood (which is beautiful by the way, I think). The white door and wall on the left you might want to paint what ever wall color you choose, it will help it blend into the room better and be less of a feature, allowing the fireplace to be the focus.

What a fantastic room! So many options. Is it going to be party entry/library? A small, low-profile, curved sofa or two chair seating arrangement would be so cool in here to welcome and warm guests in winter months.

Good luck! Can't wait to see the afters!

*part entry/library (not party!)

Macaroni and cheese yellow. Really. I painted the living room in a past house that color because I liked it on the paint chip but it ended up looking amazing with the brick fireplace and oaky trim. It's bright during the day and at night with the lights on it is very warm. I swear I didn't go into it looking for Krafft yellow...

Parttimedesign,

You are right--the article does say "colonial." The woodwork, details, and period of the house are very similar to what would be found in an Arts & Crafts or "foursquare" of the era. I just read some of your comments as trying to take away features that are simply part of the house no matter how they are painted or stained.

As I said before, your recommendations would definitely unify the space--they would just change it pretty substantially. Painting wood trim is a LOT of work, and there's no easy way to turn back once you've started. But I totally agree about the different treatments of the trim being jarring in the various rooms. I have had SO many houses like this, and it requires careful thought as to how to make appropriate transitions between rooms. It is a pain. Without seeing the rest of her house, it's hard to make a case for painting over sprucing up the stained trim for now and seeing how it works with a new paint color.

RE: clash versus contrast.

Not to be argumentative - the dictionary definition of clash
is "to create an unpleasant visual impression when placed together". I have nearly this same woodwork in my home (mine is chestnut, but similar tones, nonetheless). When I bought the home, everything was white and I painted the entry/livingroom three times before I found a color that didn't CLASH with the woodwork and my comment was meant to help this poster avoid the same problem. The first color I painted was a cool celery green that still looks great in my bedroom (which has white painted woodwork), but looked horrible and nauseating next to the chestnut woodwork. The second was a seashore, dusty blue -- terrible. The third and final choice was a warm yellow-gold which looks amazing. Colors can complement, contrast AND clash, for sure.