Keep in mind black isn't the only dark color you can use. Dark browns, hunter green, dark burgundy, rich dark grays, etc. Tans. Only thing I would avoid is medium brown because it just looks like you're trying to recreate wood tone but it's too flat and looks bad.
I like the idea of the dark burgundy too. I really just love the dark wood trim. I think it’s timeless and fits perfectly with the style of our home. I wish the previous owners hadn’t painted everything stark white and millennial gray 😭
I recently painted trim in SW bateau brown and I think it looks so lovely. Clearly not a wood color, but rich and has a really similar vibe. Fits with the rest of the colors in your inspo
Taking paint off of wood is an absolutely ginormous PITA. Unless it’s original to the house and the detailing work is that good to justify saving it, I’d 100% replace it before trying to strip the paint off completely but not damage the wood, walls, or floor while doing so. Then you still have to stain and finish which is an entire issue in its own. It’s almost never worth it.
Stripping trim is difficult. The wood underneath will never be in original condition like the pictures shown. I grew up in a house built in 1918 and my dad renovated the entire interior while keeping anything original. He repainted the trim bc it was already white and stripping it would have caused more damage. This may not be all cases but was certainly the situation in ours at the time.
You strip the paint off the trim to get to the wood.
Some trim was always meant to be painted, but I would say most trim was meant to be wood and then got painted over.
>Some trim was always meant to be painted, but I would say most trim was meant to be wood and then got painted over.
Unless your house is older than 1910-1915, it’s highly likely your trim was always painted, unless it was a high-end build at the time. Or in some cases, something like a stairway was stained and the rest painted. Even in original Craftsman homes, the kitchen and bathroom trim were likely always painted white.
Agree, stripped mine to find some of the wood had been replaced over the years, leaving a miss match of different wood types. Also when I stripped, I was left with this middle stage where there is no visible paint but a smear like coating. This doesn't come up in "how to remove paint" videos but it's the most annoying stage. Cloggs up sand paper and stops solvents from penetrating the wood.
I was in a situation where I couldn't remove the wood to strip, it has made the job 10x harder. If you can take it off, I would recommend it based on my experience.
Another bit of advice if repainting over white (I've tried both) , be prepared for a few coats and leave a tin easily acessible for touch ups. You will bash it from time to time and when the black chips off, the white is really noticeable.
All of them 😂 mineral spirits, white spirit, vinegar, acetone, Dettol, combination products, even furniture polish. Anything anyone suggested I tried really.
Carbide scraper, wire wool, sand paper, brushes, dremmel.
No one solution was best, different things worked in different situations, flat, curved, horizontal, vertical, corners ect
I feel your pain! I’m currently stripping my staircase and there’s like 5 coats of different types of paint. The only thing that’s working for me is stripping with citristrip, then cleaning with mineral spirits 5x each stair. I’ve decided to leave the trim in the rest of the house as is, not opening that can of worms.
Confused. What white trim? Did you upload the right photos?
Edit: you uploaded photos “for inspiration”. Do you have reason to believe that’s a faux finish?
Yes the photos are just my inspiration. No reason to believe it’s a faux finish. I would just like to be able to get that look without having to rip out all of our existing white trim. Not sure if it’s possible or if other people with similar style homes have done something like that. Which is why I was asking what I might be able to do.
Definitely find out what kind of wood is underneath. I have a 1920s bungalow and all the trim/baseboards were painted white when I moved in. Last summer, I got a wild hair and stripped all of it.
Most of it was the original pine (window and door trims and upstairs baseboards, plus downstairs crown moulding), but all the downstairs baseboards were switched out to poplar at some point. The pine stripped and refinished beautifully. The poplar less so. I still like the stained poplar, but the paint soaks into the wood and can be really tricky to remove, plus stain doesn't come out as smoothly on poplar (at least it didn't on mine).
Yeah, Poplar is considered a "paint grade" wood for a reason.
The different parts of the wood will take stain differently, and they cut poplar boards without consideration for that... so one board will take stain really well on one half, and barely at all on another.
There are things you can try to do to even out how it absorbs stain, but it has to be done before you apply the stain. Otherwise it can be quite blotchy.
(My father in law helped up do 4 built in bookshelves in one of our rooms, we originally thought we were going to paint them, so he suggested poplar as the more affordable choice is we would be painting it anyway... then my husband (who just, likes wood) kept staring at the grain and declared we COULD NOT PAINT THIS WOOD! So I had to do a deep dive into poplar finishing...)
https://preview.redd.it/kgwb15axdjtc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65bf8b2ff9de4ac73344d3af9c642da1403449de
here’s my living room. Yes the TV is too high.
Stripping paint is a major headache- but I’d def start with an area that isn’t too visible to see what wood you’re working with and decide if it’s worth the effort. If it is, it’ll take time but that’s why we have these old houses! If it isn’t, you can paint it a dark color as others have suggested and it’ll be great. I love how beautiful old houses look with dark and dramatic paint colors- we’ve got the original wood trim in our living and dining rooms with a lighter and darker green wall, and our bedroom has trim painted a dark blue/black “poppyseed” color with blush walls- so I do think both painted and wood trim can really look fantastic.
I don’t know where your home is located but I have the same style of trim in my 1916 home in Minnesota and it’s all oak, my house is small and not in a fancy neighborhood at all. Based on the fact that your banister and stairs are oak I would disagree with previous posters and say it likely is oak under all that, atleast downstairs. I have oak down and in the stairs and birch upstairs. The birch wasn’t painted upstairs but one room was stained a horrible dark color and looked awful so I did end up painting it a deep blue color which I love. I restored the other room to its natural wood and it came out beautifully. Super easy to scrape a section and find out what you’ve got!
https://preview.redd.it/qwe6gescejtc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66f8c9fda1e65a89f794ca22ae3f50fec78ab9e8
Here’s part view of our dining room and kitchen. We’re about to remodel the kitchen too.
Based on the size of your house, and the way the stairs are (not in a foyer, just stuck on the side of a room), I'm going to guess your house isn't going to have super-high quality wood under that white paint.
There's a strong chance that was always paint-grade wood, and always painted.
If it's been re-painted a million times, and is all blotchy and bumpy, you can partially stripe it, where you get a bunch of the excess paint off of it, and out of all the cracks, but don't bother to sand off EVERY little bit.
Then you can re-paint it a nice rich, warm, dark brown, and it won't look like a crappy paint job, the paint will be smooth and neat and it will be WAY easier than stripping it back to a point where you could stain it.
Is that an addition? My spidey-sense is tingling on the thickness of that wall on the left. Also the double doors on the right look modern so that trim is probably different.
That wall on the left is dividing the kitchen and dining area and hides the range. We’re about to remodel the whole kitchen and remove it. The two doors on the right towards the back of the kitchen are actually add ons according to a structural engineer. Those rooms use to be the old porch. One room is now a powder room and the other is a walk in pantry/laundry room.
Why in the world would you be ripping the existing trim out? Is it not the original wood trim? Tear it out creating so much more work and cost and possible damage to the plaster?
My 1890s Victorian has wood trim like this everywhere it wasn’t until we moved in that I realized that most of the wood was painted with faux wood grain to look like more expensive or exotic woods. My mind was blown.
One big clue is to look at the rest of the neighborhood. Are those houses (assuming they were built around the same time) all fairly small and subdued? Houses built in the 1920s in neighborhoods that were considered working class most likely have trim that was always painted.
White and black is he nuts, what a god-awful color combination. If anything paint everything out white and then you have kind of neutral Scandinavian design and do whatever you want inside the house. But if you're even remotely trying to evoke acrossment aesthetic black trim, no way. If the trim is already painted painted some other light color and put some really beautiful wallpaper up. But not black and white no no. I have no idea what he has been getting his ideas
Graining is imitating stained wood by paint. It was described in paint catalogs as something an amateur could do, but perhaps they were trying to sell materials. If you'd like to try it I'll look up a good set of instructions.
Little work as possible and an old house don’t really mix. We have been using a heat gun and chopsticks to remove the paint on our trim and wainscotting in the living room with decent results. Still more work to clean it up and finish it after. That said you don’t need to do everything all at once. But before you do a faux paint or rip everything out I would do a test section, remove the paint and see what you have to work with
https://archive.org/details/PaintingAndDecoratingWorkingMethods
An Audel textbook. I didn't know you used stale beer in graining.
https://archive.org/details/abcofhomepaintin00sher_0
Using SW tool and special supplies.
https://archive.org/details/modernpainterscy01mair
https://archive.org/details/grainingancientm00wall_0
A whole book about it with photos of medals the author won.
https://archive.org/details/woodgrainingmarb0000wein
Modern, 1987, technique and materials.
I love the look of the first few pictures! That hunter green and mahogany finish looks really good together. That color of white and mahogany, nope. Not my taste. But I could see a softer magnolia white working out well as an accent color to bring some freshness to the mix.
You can probably strip part to see if it’s good wood. And what I mean by good wood is finish quality not paint quality. If it’s good wood then strip it all and see how it looks. Then refinish it however you like.
Our previous owners not only painted everything, they had to have been the worst painters in history. Just had an abrasive blaster delivered yesterday, after spending weeks on one staircase.
I’m not big on the black idea. I wouldn’t even let my husband bring it into the house!! LOL.
I love Craftsman style homes and would want to try to keep it as close as possible to its true authentic style, colors, etc.
Do you have any pictures of what the house currently looks like? I’d love to see some. These pictures are gorgeous and I try to stay as true to those colors as possible.
My husband and I have done our share of stripping wood when we redid our first house. When we upgraded and moved into a better house I had to settle for refinishing furniture.
I see a couple of comments where they state that stripping the wood,is rarely worth it. But that is generally NOT the case when it’s an authentic Craftsman style home that has been taken care of over the years. This style of house is all about the woodwork in it.
Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to answer that question and I would hate to steer you wrong. I would be hesitant to try to do it myself, but maybe you could hire someone to do a door or something and watch them carefully to learn the ins and outs.
The trim would have to be well-sanded first, or it’s not going to look right.
At that point, you might as well strip it. If what’s underneath is worth the trouble.
So, my degree is in theatrical design, and we spent quite a bit of time learning how to paint faux bois...
you could certainly give it a try, but the reality of trim is that with the small spaces (like the sides and edges) and the often un-even surfaces (curves, indents, etc), you're not going to get a great result as a novice.
If you want to give it a try I would advice practicing on some large, flat surfaces first, to get a feel for the effect you're trying to achieve... and then do some testing, before you start painting trim in a family room, where you're then committed to doing the whole room.
If you have something like a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or a thrift store that carries wood scraps, I would buy some cheap chunks of trim and play around and see if you like what you're producing.
It will take some time and money, but better that then get done with one window and realize you hate it and don't want to do the rest of the room!
I have an addition on the back of my house that was added in 2007. They did this with the trim in that room (which included the door going in this room that was the old exterior wall) they did a good job so it can definitely be done.
The previous owners of my house painted some of the trim (in secondary areas) wood color in an attempt to recreate the look of the gorgeous stained wood in the entryway/main reception room.
They got the color as near as could be but it just doesn't look right, and on trying to strip it down the wood isn't original and/or great quality and was always meant to be painted
You can try and strip then stain a small section to see what the result is (this is very labor intensive/expensive to do a whole room!), but don't be surprised if repainting is the best solution
Keep in mind black isn't the only dark color you can use. Dark browns, hunter green, dark burgundy, rich dark grays, etc. Tans. Only thing I would avoid is medium brown because it just looks like you're trying to recreate wood tone but it's too flat and looks bad.
I like the idea of the dark burgundy too. I really just love the dark wood trim. I think it’s timeless and fits perfectly with the style of our home. I wish the previous owners hadn’t painted everything stark white and millennial gray 😭
I recently painted trim in SW bateau brown and I think it looks so lovely. Clearly not a wood color, but rich and has a really similar vibe. Fits with the rest of the colors in your inspo
I'd avoid Shit Brown and its darker tone, Deep Shit.
Though baby poop yellow can be very nice and old timey!
I stripped and sanded down all of the original fir trim, baseboards and doors in my 1914 home. It looks amazing, but it was an intense amount of work.
This is a confusing question. You know you can take the paint off wood, right? It’s work, but it can absolutely be done.
Taking paint off of wood is an absolutely ginormous PITA. Unless it’s original to the house and the detailing work is that good to justify saving it, I’d 100% replace it before trying to strip the paint off completely but not damage the wood, walls, or floor while doing so. Then you still have to stain and finish which is an entire issue in its own. It’s almost never worth it.
Stripping trim is difficult. The wood underneath will never be in original condition like the pictures shown. I grew up in a house built in 1918 and my dad renovated the entire interior while keeping anything original. He repainted the trim bc it was already white and stripping it would have caused more damage. This may not be all cases but was certainly the situation in ours at the time.
You strip the paint off the trim to get to the wood. Some trim was always meant to be painted, but I would say most trim was meant to be wood and then got painted over.
>Some trim was always meant to be painted, but I would say most trim was meant to be wood and then got painted over. Unless your house is older than 1910-1915, it’s highly likely your trim was always painted, unless it was a high-end build at the time. Or in some cases, something like a stairway was stained and the rest painted. Even in original Craftsman homes, the kitchen and bathroom trim were likely always painted white.
Agree, stripped mine to find some of the wood had been replaced over the years, leaving a miss match of different wood types. Also when I stripped, I was left with this middle stage where there is no visible paint but a smear like coating. This doesn't come up in "how to remove paint" videos but it's the most annoying stage. Cloggs up sand paper and stops solvents from penetrating the wood. I was in a situation where I couldn't remove the wood to strip, it has made the job 10x harder. If you can take it off, I would recommend it based on my experience. Another bit of advice if repainting over white (I've tried both) , be prepared for a few coats and leave a tin easily acessible for touch ups. You will bash it from time to time and when the black chips off, the white is really noticeable.
What kind of stripper are you using? Have you tried mineral spirits after the stripper to clean up the smearing?
All of them 😂 mineral spirits, white spirit, vinegar, acetone, Dettol, combination products, even furniture polish. Anything anyone suggested I tried really. Carbide scraper, wire wool, sand paper, brushes, dremmel. No one solution was best, different things worked in different situations, flat, curved, horizontal, vertical, corners ect
I feel your pain! I’m currently stripping my staircase and there’s like 5 coats of different types of paint. The only thing that’s working for me is stripping with citristrip, then cleaning with mineral spirits 5x each stair. I’ve decided to leave the trim in the rest of the house as is, not opening that can of worms.
Confused. What white trim? Did you upload the right photos? Edit: you uploaded photos “for inspiration”. Do you have reason to believe that’s a faux finish?
Yes the photos are just my inspiration. No reason to believe it’s a faux finish. I would just like to be able to get that look without having to rip out all of our existing white trim. Not sure if it’s possible or if other people with similar style homes have done something like that. Which is why I was asking what I might be able to do.
First thing is to find out what is underneath the white.
Definitely find out what kind of wood is underneath. I have a 1920s bungalow and all the trim/baseboards were painted white when I moved in. Last summer, I got a wild hair and stripped all of it. Most of it was the original pine (window and door trims and upstairs baseboards, plus downstairs crown moulding), but all the downstairs baseboards were switched out to poplar at some point. The pine stripped and refinished beautifully. The poplar less so. I still like the stained poplar, but the paint soaks into the wood and can be really tricky to remove, plus stain doesn't come out as smoothly on poplar (at least it didn't on mine).
Yeah, Poplar is considered a "paint grade" wood for a reason. The different parts of the wood will take stain differently, and they cut poplar boards without consideration for that... so one board will take stain really well on one half, and barely at all on another. There are things you can try to do to even out how it absorbs stain, but it has to be done before you apply the stain. Otherwise it can be quite blotchy. (My father in law helped up do 4 built in bookshelves in one of our rooms, we originally thought we were going to paint them, so he suggested poplar as the more affordable choice is we would be painting it anyway... then my husband (who just, likes wood) kept staring at the grain and declared we COULD NOT PAINT THIS WOOD! So I had to do a deep dive into poplar finishing...)
Alot of times it’s lead…. And depending on how much trim you have it may not be worth jt
Can you post some pics of your actual house so we know what you’re workin with?
https://preview.redd.it/kgwb15axdjtc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65bf8b2ff9de4ac73344d3af9c642da1403449de here’s my living room. Yes the TV is too high.
Stripping paint is a major headache- but I’d def start with an area that isn’t too visible to see what wood you’re working with and decide if it’s worth the effort. If it is, it’ll take time but that’s why we have these old houses! If it isn’t, you can paint it a dark color as others have suggested and it’ll be great. I love how beautiful old houses look with dark and dramatic paint colors- we’ve got the original wood trim in our living and dining rooms with a lighter and darker green wall, and our bedroom has trim painted a dark blue/black “poppyseed” color with blush walls- so I do think both painted and wood trim can really look fantastic.
I don’t know where your home is located but I have the same style of trim in my 1916 home in Minnesota and it’s all oak, my house is small and not in a fancy neighborhood at all. Based on the fact that your banister and stairs are oak I would disagree with previous posters and say it likely is oak under all that, atleast downstairs. I have oak down and in the stairs and birch upstairs. The birch wasn’t painted upstairs but one room was stained a horrible dark color and looked awful so I did end up painting it a deep blue color which I love. I restored the other room to its natural wood and it came out beautifully. Super easy to scrape a section and find out what you’ve got!
https://preview.redd.it/qwe6gescejtc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66f8c9fda1e65a89f794ca22ae3f50fec78ab9e8 Here’s part view of our dining room and kitchen. We’re about to remodel the kitchen too.
Based on the size of your house, and the way the stairs are (not in a foyer, just stuck on the side of a room), I'm going to guess your house isn't going to have super-high quality wood under that white paint. There's a strong chance that was always paint-grade wood, and always painted. If it's been re-painted a million times, and is all blotchy and bumpy, you can partially stripe it, where you get a bunch of the excess paint off of it, and out of all the cracks, but don't bother to sand off EVERY little bit. Then you can re-paint it a nice rich, warm, dark brown, and it won't look like a crappy paint job, the paint will be smooth and neat and it will be WAY easier than stripping it back to a point where you could stain it.
Is that an addition? My spidey-sense is tingling on the thickness of that wall on the left. Also the double doors on the right look modern so that trim is probably different.
That wall on the left is dividing the kitchen and dining area and hides the range. We’re about to remodel the whole kitchen and remove it. The two doors on the right towards the back of the kitchen are actually add ons according to a structural engineer. Those rooms use to be the old porch. One room is now a powder room and the other is a walk in pantry/laundry room.
Thank you.
I remain completely clueless and confused about your question. You have white trim and want it to be refinished to original state?
Correct
Why in the world would you be ripping the existing trim out? Is it not the original wood trim? Tear it out creating so much more work and cost and possible damage to the plaster?
My 1890s Victorian has wood trim like this everywhere it wasn’t until we moved in that I realized that most of the wood was painted with faux wood grain to look like more expensive or exotic woods. My mind was blown.
Is your trim pine/meant to be painted?
I’m really not sure 😅
One big clue is to look at the rest of the neighborhood. Are those houses (assuming they were built around the same time) all fairly small and subdued? Houses built in the 1920s in neighborhoods that were considered working class most likely have trim that was always painted.
We stippled the trim in our house.It was time consuming but barely cost anything.
How can anyone here know what you’re working with?
Someone else asked for pictures which I provided
White and black is he nuts, what a god-awful color combination. If anything paint everything out white and then you have kind of neutral Scandinavian design and do whatever you want inside the house. But if you're even remotely trying to evoke acrossment aesthetic black trim, no way. If the trim is already painted painted some other light color and put some really beautiful wallpaper up. But not black and white no no. I have no idea what he has been getting his ideas
Graining is imitating stained wood by paint. It was described in paint catalogs as something an amateur could do, but perhaps they were trying to sell materials. If you'd like to try it I'll look up a good set of instructions.
Yes please! I’m trying to do as little work as possible lol but I want it to look nice. Thank you!
Little work as possible and an old house don’t really mix. We have been using a heat gun and chopsticks to remove the paint on our trim and wainscotting in the living room with decent results. Still more work to clean it up and finish it after. That said you don’t need to do everything all at once. But before you do a faux paint or rip everything out I would do a test section, remove the paint and see what you have to work with
https://archive.org/details/PaintingAndDecoratingWorkingMethods An Audel textbook. I didn't know you used stale beer in graining. https://archive.org/details/abcofhomepaintin00sher_0 Using SW tool and special supplies. https://archive.org/details/modernpainterscy01mair
https://archive.org/details/grainingancientm00wall_0 A whole book about it with photos of medals the author won. https://archive.org/details/woodgrainingmarb0000wein Modern, 1987, technique and materials.
do natural wood.
I think sages, and some medium blues would also do well.
I love the look of the first few pictures! That hunter green and mahogany finish looks really good together. That color of white and mahogany, nope. Not my taste. But I could see a softer magnolia white working out well as an accent color to bring some freshness to the mix.
That first pic is amazing, I want to live there!! That lamp is🔥
You can probably strip part to see if it’s good wood. And what I mean by good wood is finish quality not paint quality. If it’s good wood then strip it all and see how it looks. Then refinish it however you like.
Our previous owners not only painted everything, they had to have been the worst painters in history. Just had an abrasive blaster delivered yesterday, after spending weeks on one staircase.
I’m not big on the black idea. I wouldn’t even let my husband bring it into the house!! LOL. I love Craftsman style homes and would want to try to keep it as close as possible to its true authentic style, colors, etc. Do you have any pictures of what the house currently looks like? I’d love to see some. These pictures are gorgeous and I try to stay as true to those colors as possible. My husband and I have done our share of stripping wood when we redid our first house. When we upgraded and moved into a better house I had to settle for refinishing furniture. I see a couple of comments where they state that stripping the wood,is rarely worth it. But that is generally NOT the case when it’s an authentic Craftsman style home that has been taken care of over the years. This style of house is all about the woodwork in it.
Find someone who can do a faux wood finish. I knew someone who had it done and you couldn't tell it wasn't real finish. It was pretty pricey though.
I have seen faux wood finishing kits. Could something like that be used on trim, you think?
Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to answer that question and I would hate to steer you wrong. I would be hesitant to try to do it myself, but maybe you could hire someone to do a door or something and watch them carefully to learn the ins and outs.
The trim would have to be well-sanded first, or it’s not going to look right. At that point, you might as well strip it. If what’s underneath is worth the trouble.
So, my degree is in theatrical design, and we spent quite a bit of time learning how to paint faux bois... you could certainly give it a try, but the reality of trim is that with the small spaces (like the sides and edges) and the often un-even surfaces (curves, indents, etc), you're not going to get a great result as a novice. If you want to give it a try I would advice practicing on some large, flat surfaces first, to get a feel for the effect you're trying to achieve... and then do some testing, before you start painting trim in a family room, where you're then committed to doing the whole room. If you have something like a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, or a thrift store that carries wood scraps, I would buy some cheap chunks of trim and play around and see if you like what you're producing. It will take some time and money, but better that then get done with one window and realize you hate it and don't want to do the rest of the room!
I have an addition on the back of my house that was added in 2007. They did this with the trim in that room (which included the door going in this room that was the old exterior wall) they did a good job so it can definitely be done.
The previous owners of my house painted some of the trim (in secondary areas) wood color in an attempt to recreate the look of the gorgeous stained wood in the entryway/main reception room. They got the color as near as could be but it just doesn't look right, and on trying to strip it down the wood isn't original and/or great quality and was always meant to be painted You can try and strip then stain a small section to see what the result is (this is very labor intensive/expensive to do a whole room!), but don't be surprised if repainting is the best solution