Interior Trim/Doors Brown or White?

Question

I am doing a rehab and the interior doors and trim are stained brown and are in decent condition.  When it's time to sell, would it show ok leaving as is in brown or would it show better to paint white?

Ann Bellamy · Answer

With the majority of buyers, I think white shows better - light and clean.

However, having said that, if the trim is beautiful old mahogany, such as in a victorian, or Craftsman stayle bungalow, I'd leave it alone.  It's almost a crime to paint that woodwork.  But it has to make sense.

Stained trim from the 60's or 70's doesn't have much redeeming value in my opinion, at least from the perspective of what buyers are looking for today.

Shaun Rourke · Answer

White all day !!! It looks cleaner and accents the paint on the walls .

Sharon Vornholt · Answer

White always. It looks good, buyers love it and it is classy no matter what type of property you have.

Account Closed · Answer

Thanks for all the replies,  I painted the trim and doors in semi gloss White.  Looks great.  I should have this flip ready in about a week.

Erick Caffarello · Answer

Sanjiv:

Most definitley white doors/trim.  It totally brightens up the room, and looks so much cleaner. I use Dutch Boy Bright White in Semi Gloss on the doors and trim. For the walls in every room, I use Almond Oil from Lowe's with one accent wall in every room. To enhance the color, I also use bright DAYLIGHT CFLs (which have a slight blue tint) to mimmick natural sunlight.

I had dark doors in my house, and it took 6 coats of paint, even after sanding and priming. After doing one door that way, I decided to just paint away. Finished the rest of the doors in the house in less time than it took to sand down and prime just one door.  Good luck.

Aria Khosravi · Answer

light, tight and bright is the way to go!! But make sure you have enough money in your budget to do so. It does take a little time and money and potentially a little drywall repair if your contractor can't take off the old trim correctly. See if you can find a good supplier for trim, HD and lowes is a rip off.

Mark Yuschak · Answer

I would never recommend straight white for any part of a flip.  All trim in my flips gets Sherwin Williams "Creamy" in semi-gloss.  Just an off white and not too bright.  Same goes for ceilings..."Navajo White" for those.

Rich Weese · Answer

Dark colors always shrink the sq footage whether, doors, trim, cabs, floors etc. while white or light enlarges space. If this is a smaller home, do the white-unless the dark wood is something special like stated above. Rich

Chris Calabrese · Answer

Yup, white trim and doors.  Just make sure they're prepped properly.  Most are oil stain and will require a good oil primer like Kilz for the paint to adhere properly.

With all rehab decisions, like Ann said, do what the majority of buyers will like in today's market.  Walk some builder models and duplicate.

Nathan Emmert · Answer

Contrast the wall color.  The place I looked at over the weekend had a darker tan colored walls with white trim in the foyer area and then the units were flipped with more white walls and the darker tan for trim.  Essentially you just want the contrast... I think most people go a bit darker on the walls to hide dirt better which necessitates light colored trim.

Just don't go white on white... too closely resembles what the French flag should be :)

Interior Trim/Doors Brown or White?

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