Some people prefer natural woodwork, and if yours were beautiful and in great shape it might be a selling point. But if it's not, I don't think painting it will detract from resale value. It is a lot of work to do it well though, so keep in mind your tolerance for stripping and sanding the whole place.

White trim is more neutral so I'd say would appeal to more buyers, but there's maybe a handful of buyers who would pay extra for wood trim.
Are you planning to sell?
Is there one room where the trim works with the room and is still in good nick? if so you could leave it in that room and tell buyers that that's what the trim is like under the paint in the rest of the house, if they wanted to strip everything.

Nicole Balch of Making It Lovely decided to paint the trim in her older house and it raised a lot of strong feelings in her commenters. Maybe you might find some useful thoughts about it in her blog post.

As for myself, I say paint it. It looks like the trim isn't in great shape and is also pine or some other soft wood. It'd probably look better painted. The trim in my condo is painted white and that was actually a positive selling point for me. I grew up in a house with big oak trim and it can be a bit overwhelming, all that wood everywhere.

http://makingitlovely.com/2010/09/01/why-im-painting-the-wood-trim-in-my-home/

I say paint it too. From what you describe, the trim isn't anything spectacular, and personally I like the look of white trim over heavy wood trim in general.
For me as a buyer seeing your wood trim would mean that there is another thing that I would need to do.

I vote for painting it. Definitely worthwhile to prep very well, first, though. All those little defects will tend to show a lot more under a coat of white paint than they do now...

It's up to you. Unless it's integral to the design of the home (like if it's an old craftsman home with original details scattered throughout) I don't think it'll lower or raise the value of the home very much.

And remember - if you do paint it, the buyers who eventually come to look at your home won' t even know that they're missing out on wood trim, they'll just see the nice, fresh paint!

Paint it.

From what it looks like on the picture it is just standard trim, not something that could be said to be very original.

Personally, I would see a non-painted trim (unless it really goes with the rest of the room, but it seldom does) as a disadvantage when buying a house. A trim painted white or another discreet color will probably raise the value rather than the opposite.

Good luck!

I prefer unpainted wood trim especially in an older home. How far gone is the trim? Can it be cleaned up? Does the vintage trim compliment other vintage details in your home? Do you live in an historic area? And ask an experienced real estate agent. They can advise you on your areas market. If you do it, do a good job. While shopping for my home I got tired of looking at what I called "crumbly" homes. Lots of painted wood trim in arts and crafts style bungalows that was always thick, cracked, dirty and crumbly.

I vote paint it too. Unpainted woodwork would raise the value for me in some instances, but not in one like this. People will pay for wood trim that is in good shape and is well crafted. You seem to have neither.

Will you paint the door? The same goes for that as well. That it is solid wood and paneled is a selling point for someone like me, but if it is low quality then I'd paint it too.

I don't know about where you live but where I live there is definitely a premium placed on unpainted wood trim.

After, spending hours and hours scraping about 20 layers of paint off old trim I kind of curse people who paint nice wood trim.

With that being said, if it isn't nice wood trim or if it isn't a selling point in your area then I say do what makes you happy.

It's your house! And even after stripping most of the trim in our 1928 house, I've repainted (I had to strip because there were literally about 20 layers of paint, and it just wouldn't take). It looks better. And I'm the homeowner.

(That said, I did strip 12 layers of paint off the stone fireplace, cursing the previous owners all day for three straight weekends. Still, it was THEIR house when they did it.)

i dunno... everyone's saying paint it... but that's in EVERY home.... i kind of like the wood. BUT i don't live w/it. currently i live w/mismatched trim in basically every room of the house... i would LOVE to have old wood trim that was consistent throughout my home... but that's me. If you hate it... then change it. I don't think trim is going to make or break a sale.... usually the kitchen or bathrooms do that. Good luck whatever you decide!

Don't paint it.

@uptownjuliebrown I agree, I also curse people who paint nice wood trim.

If you do decide to paint it, take lots and lots of before pictures. Take one photo of every single piece of trim.

In my area, and painted woodwork in an older home must be assumed to conceal lead paint unless you can prove it was only painted recently. The uncertainty about lead paint (and the testing and possible remediation costs) are what effect resale value, not the aesthetics.

Personally, I prefer stained woodwork and would pay a premium for it (stain grade trim work is so expensive now - cheaper paint grade wood and painted trim are more prevalent for that reason). But it is your house. If you do it, do a really good job (full prep work including sanding) and document twice as much as you think it reasonable.

Depends on where you live. Here where I live, wood trim does add value, and pointed will detract. Where you live may be different. It it pretty straightforward to clean up and reshellac trim (would probably take the same amount of time or less than painting it).

That said, it is your house and you need to live in it. There are very few things I would decide on way or another based on selling in the future.

I used to live in an area filled with row houses from the 1800s and early 1900s. Almost all of those homes have painted wood trim and it doesn't affect the value at all. Unless your house is a Craftsman that is supposed to have a ton of wood, I'd paint it.

You have to live there so you may as well enjoy it. Plus I doubt crisp white trim is going to turn off many future home buyers.

Personally, I'm in the no-paint camp, but here are the issues I'd consider before I picked up the brush:

1. Age of house and age of neighborhood. If you've got pine trim from the 1950's, then sure, you could paint it. If it's cherry trim from the 1920's, though, I'd want to leave it unpainted and spend my efforts restoring it to its original luster.

2. If you're not painting the doors, then you might want to consider not painting the trim. From the one picture, it seems as though the door has quite a lovely grain pattern - that might attract some buyers, especially those who like a more "historical" look.

3. I agree with leith in the first post - you have to factor in the amount of time that you will spend stripping the varnish, sanding, washing, priming, priming again, and then carefully painting the trim (and doors?) with a very thick oil paint. I found out the hard way that it's not a process that can happen in a weekend.

4. Finally, what do your floors look like? Are they a different tone of wood? If my floors and doors matched, I might leave the trim unpainted, just to preserve that unique look, but others might find it too "matchy-matchy."

Good luck!

I'm in the paint camp.

Honestly, I'm looking at that blue paint and feel like the wall color detracts more from the wood than the visible nicks and scratches. If your biggest gripe is the paint spatter, there are several great products you can get at home depot that will remove latex paint from wood trim without removing the wood varnish. Spray it on, wait 60 seconds, and gently rub with a soft toothbrush or towel. here's one example: http://www.liftoffinc.com/product-latex-paint-remover.php

I you do paint, before you do, note that a semi-gloss paint (usually used for trim) will make dents and dings more pronounced. I would fill and sand all those dents if you want a clean fresh look.

Consider painting just the trim and leaving the doors alone.

As for value of your home.... Do you have a 150+ year old home, and live in a historical district or neighborhood where values are influenced by the age and original condition of the home, like Clinton, New Jersey, or Milton, Delaware? Or do you have a home that was built after WWI? And what about the rest of the home? do you have wood floors and baseboards? or is the rest of the home "modernized" with carpet, etc? If the latter, where everything else has been updated, then yeah, I'd do the repair work and then paint.

My old house had original wood trim and I was always in the HELL NO DON'T PAINT IT category. But the people who bought the house painted it white and then painted the walls a darker neutral it looks a lot better. It looks new and crisp. I think if you want to sell it, and the wood is in good shape. Leave it and see what happens. However, I do think that painted trim with a neutral on the wall will attract a larger pool of potential buyers, so if you're in a hurry to sell it and the quality of the wood is iffy, I'd definitely paint it.

Unless you have a craftsman style home or something with a LOT of millwork and built in cabinetry, shelves, etc. I say PAINT IT!! And if you do some research to avoid brush strokes or paint filling in any molding you have, it will look fantastic

I wouldn't paint, I love the simplicity of your pine trim. As @urbancricket says, you'll need to fix the bumps and scratches to make paint look good, which takes time, but wood (even with the splatters) is lovely to me.

While fixing my house's painted trim, we realized it was mahogany. We've stripped the old paint to reveal imperfect wood with some deep remaining paint. For us, this slightly messy look is lovely.

like others mentioned age is the key here. If were talking a 1930s or older, craftsman, victorian, etc painting historical old growth wood work is a poor choice. If the home is 40s or newer, you're likely not attracting buyers looking for historical homes, nor is the woodwork/architecture typically that nice to begin within.

If you don't like the light wood (I personally prefer darker) it doesn't mean you have to paint it. You can get a darker shellac mix or even use a modern stain.

I agree with talktoearthworms. If you're not a fan of the current wood, you could always stain it a more modern tone. That might be a win-win situation.

I have white trim. Consider this- I have a real hard time keeping it looking clean. Part of that is our lifestyle (windy state, in and out dogs) but I'm considering replacing it with wood soon just because I dont like having to wipe down the trim in four rooms of my house every evening (because that rarely happens:)

Definitely don't paint it. I think that trim will look extremely cheap. Stained and/or finished wood wears so much better than painted wood. The nicks and scuffs add character but nicked painted wood looks cheap. Think of a vintage piece of furniture that wears well vs. an Ikea piece.

I wouldn't paint it. Once you paint trim, it constantly has to be re-painted. It is also a lot of work to sand down the varnish and then putting several layers of paint. If you're going to do that, might as well preserve the trim and stain it over. I think this will increase the sale value.

You can paint it if you want, but it will affect the value of your home. Personally, I would pay less for a home with painted woodwork and would try to avoid buying one at all as it's quite a project to reverse your painting. Given two similar homes, I wouldn't consider yours.

It depends on the quality of the trim. If it's a softwood like pine (which it appears to be from the one photo), I would have no trouble painting it, personally. Especially if it's nice and wide, a nice white with a bit of sheen adds drama, where the current wood is just folksy looking.

If it's a gorgeous hardwood (think maple, cherry), then restore it to its glorious beginnings. Also, I noticed that the walls are blue. If you decide to keep the original trim, I'd say go with a warm cream. I think any "real" colours look silly with wood trim.

Sometimes the inherent character of a home necessitates building a style around it.

Your trim isn't particularly special at all - it's just pine.

Paint it.

At least in the photo shown, I think the trim looks quite nice. I don't think anyone expects perfection, particularly in an older home. Have you heard of Tibet Almond Stick? It can do wonders to hide scratches and nicks (for just a few dollars). It is your home to do what you want with it. It should make you happy. I think painted trim is neutral, but original wood could be a definite plus to some buyers. Also, what's with everyone dissing pine? I've got a 1930s Craftsman with red oak floors and pine trim everywhere, and the grain in the pine is really beautiful. Very few, if any knots. Not all pine is the same!

No paint on the wood trim. It's hard to tell from one small photo, but it looks like the grain is subtle, the pine color is warm, and if you paint it white it will look like an inexpensive slap-up molding. I like that the wood trim matches the door.

My folks had cheap wood trim, stained walnut, and hollow core doors, and painting was SO RIGHT in that situation... Not yours.

I highly agree with Urbancricket who said the blue paint doesn't set off the wood, and agree that something more neutral and/or with plenty of black mixed in (to gray out the color) would be very pleasing.

Good luck.

The previous owner of my house painted all of the beautiful old oak woodwork. The neighbors tell me they thought it was crazy of him at the time. It still grieves me.

The paint chips off and needs touching up in spots fairly regularly. I'd rather have nicked wood than fussy paint...even if the wood was pine.

I think your trim is beautiful. I wouldn't paint it. You can take off paint spatters fairly easily (so they in themselves would never be a reason to paint it.) Also, you can use an easy wipe on product that will clean and renew the wood - I did this on my pine kitchen cupboard doors before I sold my place, and it really worked wonders.) So I say renew it, don't paint it.

Of course, it is your house, so do what you want. (I like wood trim - you may strongly prefer white.) If you aren't certain what you want, renew one doorway to see what's possible before you decide to paint.

If you are concerned about resale, remember this. Buying a place where you want to paint the trim is easy - you just paint it when you paint the rooms. Buying a place where you want to strip all the paint off the woodwork is hard - it is a much more laborious, tedious, and exensive process. Plus, you'd never get the nice result of the original patina that you have. So, many who want wood will pass your place by for a place where they don't have to strip, or pay to have it stripped. Few who want white woodwork will pass it by - they'll just paint it when they paint the rooms. So, if your main concern is resale, you keep the place open to more buyers if you don't paint it, and let the buyer decide.

I've been pondering whether to paint our bulky oak staircase, which currently has a dark and alligatoring stain. A friend cautioned me against it, saying that it's one thing to paint over a flat surface-- easy to strip later. But any kind of detailed molding is impossible to get back to its original state. Something to ponder.

I have a house with dull, dark, crackling wood, lots of it. Had been shellacked/varnished over and over, since it was built 100+ years ago. My solution was not to paint, or strip, but to refresh it with a satin finish urethane. The wood looks enriched. But better yet, it's not a glossy finish, which would deflect attention away from the grain and the carving detail.

This works great: http://www.minwax.com/products/exterior_clear_protective_finishes/helmsman_spar_urethane.html

Your wood trim is beautiful, and walls are a lot easier painted and changed than trim is once you put paint on it. I think your resale value will be damaged. If you want to make an investment in the look of your home that would maintain the value and eliminate the nicks and scratches I would take the time (or hire someone) to sand down the trim and stain it in another stain color - perhaps something a cooler tone to match your cool blue walls, or a darker ebony. Something that doesn't match your floors but compliments both the floors and the walls. It's more work than the white paint, but it won't decrease the value of the home and it won't get ugly dirty hand smudges all over it as white trim is wont to do. Just my thoughts.

I'm with Celt-grrrl up there.

I say, dont paint the trip. Just add some stain n varnish and u'll be ready to go...n plz do change the blue color..its clashes wid the trim..

Paint, no paint, it makes no difference.
Sorry, but I couldn't resist dropping that quote into this passionate discussion. In our 100+ year-old house we repaired and painted the trim and glazed the finished wood doors similar to how oh_heck described. It produced a unique combination often complimented by many persons.

I would paint it and I think it will increase the resale value of your home.

Either [1] paint the trim or [2] paint the walls.

Either works fine, but they should match -- and natural wood trim tends to go better with more traditional neutrals (off-whites & creams).

But, as others have said, do what makes you happy. It's your house, and unless you plan on selling it anytime soon -- I think you're better off doing what you like.

What did you think when you bought the house? Was it a selling feature, or did you automatically think you wanted to paint it?

If you plan on selling it in the next few years, I would say leave it. Painting trim is pretty easy and wood trim probably wouldn't turn anyone away, but the opposite might be true for someone who would want to strip it off. That being said, I don't think we're talking $1000's of dollars in the value...

For me, my preference is usually for painted trim, but it depends on the type and the kind of wood.

I’m curious as to how many Europeans answered this post and if they did, what did they say?

I’m French and from what I know, painting wood trim is really not an issue either in France or in the rest of Europe. I think it’s a very *pointless* American thing.

Really, it’s your house, paint it or don’t paint it. If you’re worried about the resale value, then why did you bother buying a house in the first place? I don’t know about the people who answered, but when you buy a house, it’s to *live* in it, not to resell it after a couple of years!

For what it’s worth, I live in an 1900s house in the Parisian area, and all the wood trim and doors are painted white. When my mom bought the house 15 years ago, she transformed it to suit our needs and living in a dark and gloomy house with lots of dark wood and no light, not to mention the awful carpet in the stairs and the cheap-looking though old hardwood floors was really not our idea of a home.

In the end, all you need to ask yourself is: which way do you like it best? And if you decide to paint it, do it well, like some people said. Sand it first to remove the varnish and then paint it. I’d personally go with a matte finish which will make the trim less present and overwhelming in the house. It’s also less difficult to remove (if you’re still worried about the resale). And I’d paint the doors too, though not necessarily the same colour. It really depends on your colour scheme and the light the rooms get.

Good advice from Celt-grrrl and urbancricket.

If you do decide to paint, do it right. Poorly painted trim is worse than ANY of the options. And a big negative in terms of resale (and aesthetics and durability, for that matter). Hire a pro if you are not an experienced and capable painter.

If you decide not to paint the trim, then you need to paint the walls. Remember that your wall color has to work with the wood trim. The blue paint is not working.

If you are not painting the door don't paint the trim around the door. I would not hesitate to paint the rest of the trim in the room though. If you paint the trim around the door paint the door or the door will look tiny.

Not sure where you are, but in my neck of the woods, painting wood trim (assuming it is in pretty poor shape) a bright white or slightly off-white is the best bang for your buck in terms of resale. But definitely, you want it to look like a pro job, otherwise you might as well just leave it as-is. Personally, I like both original and white painted trim.

"I've been pondering whether to paint our bulky oak staircase, which currently has a dark and alligatoring stain."

IT's not the stain that's alligatoring - its the old Varnish/Shellak and wax buildup that's causing that...
...and if you don't remove the old finish, it's going to make any paintjob just as bad if not worse than what you had before.

Questions for Oh_heck or dansx- did that mean you sanded the wood, then applied the urethane/glaze?

i'm in the same boat. my trim has layers of varnish on it, doen poorly at that, and knicked all up and down. i too want to paint it, but it does look like its going to be ALOT of work! i say if you're up for the work go for it! even if wood trim was desired in your neighborhood i cant imagine it would be so much that it would lower the value of the house.

You have to make the choice yourself because everyone has their own opinion. Personally I HATE wood with a passion and would never buy a house with a bunch of it. Obviously that is not a popular thought. I would paint it but the next buyer may not. Do what makes you happy unless you are selling it within the next year or so.

If this is your forever house, and you never plan to move, do whatever you like.

If you plan to sell one day, then don't paint. You will probably get more for the property if the trim is unpainted. People tend to value natural woodwork, where on the other hand, it's easy to find woodwork that has been painted.

I absolutely hated painted wood trim. It makes me want to cry when I watch TV shows that 'fix' things by slapping paint on them. My husband and I actually used painted trim as a negative when we looked at homes to purchase 2 years ago.

I am not with those ppl saying to repaint the walls. Presumably the wall color is something she chose and enjoys. The trim, on the other hand, is something she does not enjoy, and didn't choose. Change the part you dislike. Whether that means painting it or restaining it so it goes better with the walls is up to you; it seems like they could be an equal amount of work. I guess if you can refinish them in an attractive way that works with what's going on in the rest of your home, that gets my cautious vote as a concession to the apparent preference for wood trim the AT crowd has.

nothing like a good painted trim. i'd do it...but i can't stand wood trim so that's just me.

Believe me if someone wants to buy a house it won't be because you painted the trim.

Paint it. I painted mine, even though a lot of people tried to make me feel guilty about it. But even they admit it looks way more awesome now.

Wood is overrated in many instances. There is no reason to pointlessly preserve the wood finish in case future owners may want it that way. Do what you want now - and love the house you live in.

Paint it. And don't forget to caulk.

Like others have mentioned, it would probably depend on the age of your house and if the wood trim is an original feature.

My mid-century modern split level home still has the original wood trim. The trim is a bit beat up looking. It's a dark wood trim as well. The original doors are stained in the same color. For some of the rooms, the dark trim works very well. Other rooms it can be a bit gloomy looking.

But even though the trim is beat up, I honestly didn't notice it much when we purchased the home. I was too much in awe of the other original mid-century features, such as the tongue and groove ceilings and blue bathroom. Even though the trim is beat up looking, I still get compliments on it from my neighbors. They all wish that their trim hadn't been painted over by previous owners.

When in doubt DON'T

It looks like stock standard cheap pine trim. It's not even done properly (the corners should be mitred). I say paint it.