I’m tired of going round and round and round with my husband and father-in-law over today’s topic. Ugh — BOYS!
It has nothing to do with my future son — we’re not arguing over his name, the clothing he will wear, or whether or not he will be allowed to play with dolls.
We’re arguing over this:
I want your attention directed to the trim/molding in this room. This is the point of our dissension.
I want to paint the woodwork a creamy white, to match the cream colored trim, molding and cabinetry in the kitchen; we have an open floor plan . . . to me, the look of white trim butting up against the natural wood trim is disjointed. In addition, despite a wall of windows, our living room is a naturally dark room — thanks to North/South facing windows. The darker trim only exacerbates the dark look of the room. FURTHERMORE, the majority of our furniture is a completely different wood color . . . and it drives me NUTS that everything looks different!!!!
I WANT TO PAINT THE TRIM!
(plus, if the trim is painted, I feel that we will have more options as to what the drywall panels (in between each vertical trim piece) can be painted . . . because, YES, I want to paint those too)
But, my “boys” have reacted to this desire as though it’s a travesty, a terrible act against humanity and all wood craftsmen.
Can I do all of this painting by myself right now? No.
Do I want this project completed before the baby arrives? Yes.
Will my father-in-law & husband help me? NO!
Am I really so crazy by wanting to paint the trim in our living room and dining room?
I need answers from objective perspectives. Should I put my foot down and insist that the trim is painted? Or, should I give in to the male voices, suck it up, and just live with what I’ve got?
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m with you — I would TOTALLY want it painted. But, I’m also really into white trim. It’s just “me”. As far as getting it done? I’d go out and buy all the materials and start the job myself…force them into it. I’d come home, change my clothes, start prepping the room, ask for “help” moving the furniture, and just GO AT IT! They will surely feel guilty and get into it…you go girl!
If you wait until after the baby is born, it’s likely that it wont happen for a very long time.
Get it done now!
And now, you’re not crazy lol.
Sorry, I disagree with everyone. I LIKE it darker. It adds depth and contrast to the room. You could still paint the panels without painting the trim.
I think you’d be making a huge decorating mistake by painting that trim. Sorry.
I’m sorry, but I’m all for leaving the wood trim. I only wish that I had such beautiful wood in our house. Unfortunately, it’s been painted over and over, long before it was ours. Now as we remodel each room, we spend ours trying to get the natural wood back, but most of it’s too far gone to salvage and we can’t afford to replace all that was once wood. I love color and I love wood. There’s not a room in my house that’s a basic color (except a couple rooms we haven’t gotten to) and definitely NO white/off white!! Wood is elegant and earthy and so many other beautiful things.
Gotta disagree on painting it!!
Just remind your hubby and your FIL — if Momma ain’t happy ain’t NOBODY happy!!!!
I am so torn when it comes to trim and the should be or not.
I love natural wood and it’s beauty…I have a hard time painting it.
HOWEVER, I love the look of painted trim, it’s modern and clean.
so yeah, I’m TOTALLY helpful here aren’t I?
Oh yes. Paint it NOW. I think it will look fabulous, and you will just stare at it more and more when you’re home on maternity leave, kicking yourself that it wasn’t done. And Men — Pfft.
I hear what you’re saying about how it divides up the room, but I couldn’t bring myself to paint over wood with such a great finish. We’ve just stripped back the paint on our window frames to get back to the wood. However, having said that, all the walls in our house are white with white trim except for two feature walls. Tough decision!
At first I liked the trim wood. And then I kept looking at the photo and totally agree that it would open up the room even more! Id go for it, but if they won’t help, you’ll have to wait.
Is bribery out of the question??
I completely understand what you mean.I am going round & round with my hubby about painting the red brick on our fireplace in the living room.
I do like the trim.I agree that it would look better creamy white.We have horizontal trim in our living room.Our walls are tan & the trim is dark mocha chocolate [its very dark & masculine]….we also have a somewhat open floor plan & the baseboards in my dining room are white.I just incorporate the dark trim into the dining room with chocolate colored accents.Placemats.wall decor ect.
I have also learned not to ask my hubby if i can do something bc he usually just says no.So when he calls on his lunch break & asks what im doing he usually doesnt like the answer.haha
All of the above are great suggestions.
OR… you can have your little sister come visit for a weekend and she can do it for you while your hubby is at work! Ta da
PAINT IT!!
I say either hire someone (I like the payment by sandwiches idea), or simply grab a brush and slap on a few strokes. Once you’ve started, it will have to be finished by someone.
Seriously though, it needs to be painted. Heck you could even try CollegePro (student) painters or just pick a handyman from the yellow pages but they will get it done in a day and it will look amazing.
Paint that shizz. Tell your DH and FIL I said so.
Gah! What is it with men and not painting wood? Crazy. PAINT IT. I think the dark trim looks dated. If the whole wall was (nice) wood, I might feel differently, but if it is just trim over drywall, that seems a little disjointed. On another note, my doc said it was okay to paint while you were pregnant if you were in a well ventilated area – an unpopular opinion, I know, but that’s what you get in a small town with no fear of malpractice!
I am with you! It would look VERY nice painted and really brighten up the room!
Tell your husband that if he won’t do it, that you are going to post an ad on Craigslist looking for an painter who would be willing to work for sandwiches and that you are going to hire the first homeless person who applies.
I say paint it, but you might need to wait until after the baby is born. Nick refuses to do any painting at our house. So if I want it done, I have to do it myself. I painted the babies room 2 weeks before she was born because I couldn’t take it anymore….lol
While I DO love the look of the current wood trim, if the room is as dark as you say (with not enough sunlight to brighten it up in there) then I agree that you should paint it. It will make the room so much brighter!!
Okay Rach… Curtis asked Audrey about your living room the other day and even showed her a picture. He was asking about how to arrange the furniture. But after he left, the first thing Audrey said to me is that you need to paint the trim. So…from a interior designer that I think he would trust…she says to paint the trim. I will be sure to tell him that tomorrow if he runs with Wes and better yet, maybe Audrey will run with them again and she can tell them. I am on your side and will help with your point. Us girls have to sick together because Wes would feel the same way!
1st – do it before the baby is born or it will keep getting delayed!
2nd – you could threaten to call a contractor, this drives men nuts!
3rd – typically wood trim is considered an upgrade. Show us pictures of the new living room and how it joins to the kitchen so we ‘decorators’ can give you a better opinion. LOL
Oh yea girlie! White trim would look so mod
We also have the brown trim and hubs says the exact same thing about it! Never thought it was a “man thing” to love the raw untouched look of real wood…I’m hearing the oh, oh, oh , oh from Tim the tool man tailor in my head! LOL. Anyway- if he is on the fence go for it, if he really won’t enjoy it- well…if it were me (and I tend to obsess over something and move along quickly to the next thing) I may just let it go. BUT I do like the white and if you get him to change his mind, tell me how it works! Caroline *mommy of two (one toothless wonder and one charmer-still doing awesome on his Vidazorb) Life is good w/o Eczema!
Don’t give up but you may have to wait till after the baby is born & just do it yourself. And no, you are not crazy. I obsessed over the littlest things when I was pregnant with both my boys. The first time was making sure the house was the absolute cleanest it could be & the second time I just made my husband add 350sf on to our house so the baby would have his own room. Funny thing is he NEVER slept in that room & we’ve moved twice since then. Blame it on the hormones, they make us all a little crazy at times.
I think you should paint it, now or later…but painted would look so much better. I think the dark wood looks dated and white would make it look fresh and clean. You could always do what I did with tree trimming and start it yourself…fail miserably…then Curtis would have to help. There is just something about men and needing to leave wood in its natural state regardless of what REALLY looks good.