Yes, Paint That Wood Trim!
Don’t stop now! If you’re updating your home and are stuck on whether or not to paint that unrelated wood detail…
When we moved in to our home, there was a dark wood accent wall at the front entrance – directly across from the newly painted pastel pink door. That confusing wall was the very first thing you saw when you entered. It served no purpose other than being an undeniably bossy design element that I knew had to go – even the wall knew it had to go! While obvious to us, the unsolicited feedback I received was nothing new… “you can’t get rid of perfectly good solid wood details!”. Oh, yes I can.
Some love the look of dark wood trims/details and cringe at the thought of painting it. Others hate the look, yet they’re still resistant to changing it… because… wood. Well, we applied more than just paint to that wood wall, but stick with me while I make my case! And it really is a case that needs to be made since the amount of push back I receive from clients and disagreements I’ve witnessed between partners re: painting that “perfectly good” trim or getting rid of a design element that may have once worked, but no longer does (I see you busy granite!), needs its own blog post.
Here’s the thing: that dark wood paneling at our front entrance related to nothing in our home. And this is key! If it doesn’t relate to the home/the vision you have for the space and it can be worked in to the design budget, it doesn’t matter if it’s cherrywood, or busy patterned granite, or a backsplash tile that’s dated and tired because of the overbearing accent tile that was paired with it… it’s gotta go! Paint it, remove it, replace it; otherwise, that one bossy element will end up dictating the look and feel of the space. Often fighting against other design elements that you’ve spent time and money updating. If there’s no harmony and flow to your design, it will fall flat. Something will always be missing. And you’ll know exactly what it is because once you “see” something, it’s hard to unsee it. Commit to your vision — stopping at painting wood trims is like applying mascara to 2/3 of your lashes. Why? After you’ve taken the time to choose the brand/colour, budgeted/paid for it, and taken the time to apply it to most of your lashes, the only make or break to finishing the job is deciding to do it.
Our wood panels were in excellent condition, but it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t designing with them in mind. Just because something is wood or in good condition, doesn’t mean it relates to the space. Unless you’re excited about incoporating it in to your design, holding on to it despite of the rest of room isn’t going to make you happy in the end.
We went from a bleak and dingy front entrance with zero function to a bright and welcoming space where we can (finally) hang coats. Keeping that dark wood wall despite of the pastel pink door, white walls/trims, natural oak floor, and our desire to get our coats off the floor, didn’t make much sense. This entranceway refresh is a great example of how digging our heels in and keeping a couple of unrelated design elements would have left the room incomplete and falling short.
One of the first things we did when we moved in to our house is painted — everything (walls, doors, trims, ceilings)! The house was dingy and dirty so a fresh coat of paint (in this case three coats) went a long way to reviving it to any former glory. I swear, even the house exhaled upon being painted. It just felt GOOD! We used Benjamin Moore ‘Simply White’ throughout (Simply White is an off-white, so it’s not as stark as Chantilly Lace or as yellow as Cloud White), with the exception of two rooms that we updated to black walls (future blog post!) and the back of our front door, which became the most beautiful pastel pink. Painting the inside of a solid wood front door *may* be an easier decision for most if the wood isn’t in good condition. In our case, the door would have needed a lot of sanding and staining being that it was dry and damaged throughout. Painting it a colour that brightened up the entranceway was not only faster/easier, but it worked best with the overall look we were going for.
We used ‘Pink Ground’ by Farrow & Ball for the inside of the front door and LOVE how it turned out. It feels like springtime in our entranceway, even in the middle of winter. Never underestimate the power of paint — the door went from damaged and dingy to fresh and LIKE NEW! The floors were a badly damaged dark wood, which strangely enough, didn’t relate to the wood paneling either — even though they were installed at the same time (it sounds like I’m picking on those wood panels, but they never stood a chance!). We replaced the dark flooring with natural oak wide planks and once again, the space felt lighter and brighter. We were two for two. Paired with white walls and trims, the one thing left that would make the space fall flat were those purposeless wood panels that happened to be directly across from the pastel pink front door. The very first thing you’d see when you walked in to our home would have been this weird and confusing wood wall… where you could then rest your coat on the floor underneath. ?
This part was a no brainer and a quick refresh! We didn’t remove the wood panels because for the first time in its existance, it finally had purpose. It was going to provide a strong foundation for the shiplap wall we would hammer on. Not having to remove the wood paneling saved time, money, clean up, and meant that we could easily install hooks for coats by drilling through the MDF shiplap boards and into the solid wood panels behind. So, over top of the wood panels went the shiplap MDF panels and in a matter of hours, it was ready for painting and installation of wall hooks!
A rug, a narrow bench, a dresser with lots of drawers/storage (instead of a less functional console table), a few other decorative elements and this front entrance was complete. Can we get a “if it doesn’t relate, we must negate!” for those elements we’re holding on to… because… ? Happy renovating! Xo
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