I’ve had quite a few questions lately about living with dark trim in a home. I totally understand an itching desire to paint it. And a few of you are seeking inspiration to make it work. One question in particular, was in reference to our sofa remorse posts found here, here and here:
“I’m so glad I found this post… my husband and I are couch shopping for our new house. We have lovely wood trim and hubs is convinced we need a sophisticated living room complete with dark leather sofa. My gut tells me I would hate it. Any chance you want to do a follow up post on how to live with dark trim? Our wood is lovely, I can’t bring myself to paint it white, though I love the look of white trim.”
So I gathered up quite a few of my favorite images.
And I think you’ll see, no matter how different, one commonality between all of them. {besides the dark trim, of course.}
It’s that no matter what the home owner’s style, there’s no reason to let dark trim impede on your mad decorating prowess skillz.
There’s ways to make it work.
If light and airy is what you’re after, there’s definitely a way to make that happen, by combining fresh and light to make a great contrast with that dark trim. There’s certainly a way to find a happy medium between the dark masculine characteristics of a home and the light, fresh + feminine feel that the right decor and accents can bring to a space, as well.
To me, the most exciting spaces are those that stay true to era, while paying respect to the architectural history of a home. They restore or leave some things untouched, while bringing in some unexpectedly fun, modern, eclectic pieces to make the space truly their own.
The “beachy/cottage/eclectic look” might only enhance the beauty of that natural wood. A real life juxtaposition, if you will.
Likened to decorating a log cabin, there’s a real charm that only dark trim can bring into a space, especially when paired with the right accents and decor.
So if you don’t want to paint it, because you don’t think you can bring yourself to do it, but would like to find a reasonable, design-savvy solution…
no matter what your style…
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I hope you feel inspired this fine Wednesday, to make the space yours, no matter what you may feel limited by. Because there are no limits. Only challenging solutions.
Here’s to making a space truly yours!
I love looking at all these ideas and I don’t even have dark trim to deal with. The best part is spotting a coffee table that is the same one I have (only the one in the picture is double the size). Makes me appreciate that I saw the good design twenty years ago and scavenged it from my parents.
sweet! which one? I kind of want dark trim now, because it’s different around these here parts!
The 6th picture. It has barley turned legs (?). It’ Henredon from the 80′s. Mine is like one half of the table, with inlaid squares and medallion on the corners. It’s definitely from the same line.
awesome! what a cool find!
Wow, you did a great job finding images! Another consideration for home owners with wood trim would be to sand (eeek, i know, huge job) and then stain in a cool airy color like a blue grey stain . . . would be one of a kind and you wouldn’t be throwing paint on top of good wood.
The house on the cover of the Feb. 2011 issue of House Beautiful is one of my all-time favorites and it has blue trim-the interior design is by Alexandra Angle.
I also found this link, some nice images of blue trim
http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2008/11/house-for-sale-in-illinois.html
No suggestions ~ just admiring the view! We happen to live in a standard colonial in CT which + 70′s wood trim = not so pretty. Thank you for the inspiration and the alternative to painting white (which I have done a time or two).
Wow! I ‘ve always loved dark trim! It looks so beautiful while bringing so much warmth and history. I wish i had dark trim. I should have my husband look at these gorgeous pics. They make me swoon
love this post–as well as the log cabin one, which I read when you originally posted it. blogland is fulled with trends, including the “paint it!” one….and i’m always happy to see “another way.” those images are great.
my home is filled with 1980′s dark trim. i actually don’t like it, since the house is a 1950′s split level that originally had white trim. the former owners “redid” everything in the 80′s. but since now is not a good time for me to paint over it (4 small kids = no big painting projects) these images give me hope that i can work around it *as long as i want to* and still have a gorgeous space. this was just the post i needed to see to remind me that i don’t need to feel like i have to wait to decorate until i get it all “just right.” i’ll start working around my dark trim today
i have every reason to believe that it can look just great.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! for posting about individuality in decorating! We have a new home with dark trim, and I don’t regret our decision to think outside of the current trend box AT ALL. As a matter of fact, I began painting trim white and changed before one window was completed. It just didn’t work with our home’s character. Once again, thank you for not bowing down to trends and encouraging originality.
Agree completely!!! I have been looking for inspiration and am so, so glad I found this!! We are looking at homes and I was leery of buying one with gorgeous, old dark trim because I really like the white (and I could never bring myself to paint it because it has so much character)-but this made me see how beautiful it can be!!
Ashley, Do you remember the board game we made together in high school, “All Roads Lead to Rome,” and now I see that you are FAMOUS. I just moved into a house with dark trim and couldn’t find any inspiring pictures, so thanks!
thanks for all the ideas! i don’t have dark trim but it’s stained and i’ve been wishing lately that we painted it instead. love seeing all these colors with stained wood trim instead of with with trim-i know my husband would never paint it all after staining it all!
This post has given me a lot to think about! We have wood trim all in our new house and I really want to paint it, but the Hubsy doesn’t so I’m trying to think of a happy medium…
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thank you SO much for this post! I have been struggling with how to decorate a living room with dark, cherry wood trim. it’s original to the century home we’re about to buy and it would just be a shame to paint it. I always gravitate towards light, airy spaces and have had the hardest time imagining paint colors and decor to compliment something that is not my style. this inspiration helps so much!
i love this post – thanks for sharing! most of the pics have a link so we can see more information and more photos. but the room i’m drawn to the most – the 2nd one down, pale green walls and the yellow leather sofa – can you please let us know where that picture is from?
Thanks!
Hi Jenn- It links to the correct link, but this post is over a year old, so the link no longer works with the orignal photo. It belongs to Anthropologie…I guess they changed it! ;}
Thank you so much about blogging about your trim. I also have wood trim in my house.