Aesthetic Connundrum

[shadesofmauve]

I'm having the sliding glass door in my bedroom replaced when I get the studio windows. It's single-paned aluminum, the most poorly insulated part of the house and an eyesore to boot. Replacing the slider is a no-brainer -- I should have had it done when I paid for the front windows.

Unfortunately it brings up the problem of trim.


My house has mix-matched interior trim styles. Not just mix-matched from room to room, but within the rooms. I haven't helped this situation any, because I had windows replaced almost as soon as I moved in, well before I had any kind of vision or plan. I can't just pick something that matches the rest of the house.

If I knew what paint colors I wanted in the bedroom that would help, but Erik and I haven't come up with a paint scheme we agree on in three years of me owning the house (No, technically he doesn't need a say in it, but I'd rather not have my bedroom be a place he hates to be... :P). It's a sliding door, so any mismatch with baseboards will be incredibly obvious; I need to have it trimmed in a way I'll want to continue throughout the room.

Of course, thinking about it makes me question the trim I had put on the other windows, too. ARGH.

In the rented bedrooms (oak floor, crap mahogany trim and doors) I paid for paint-grade poplar, intending to paint it (because hey, renters! Low-upkeep is good). When it was installed I thought it was pretty, though, and I put a ridiculous amount of time into staining one of them instead. I haven't finished the second one at all, because madalchemist is busy living in that room.

The living and dining rooms open onto each other and have four different trims between them. Off-white molded MDF crap around the baseboards, blockish butt-jointed off-white wood around the slider, ancient beaten up mahogany around the door, and newer not-yet-stained mahogany around the window. It's a mess. I chose the not-yet-stained mahogany to match the mantle and tie in with the wood door (it's fir, and it's freakin' gorgeous) but the trim on every other wall is painted fiber board. The wood-on-white looks beautiful next to the green wall... but the green wall has off-white fiber-board trim.

The dining room's no help -- I want to paint it a very bright color that will really only work with white trim, which pretty much necessitates white trim in the living room, that would then leave the window frame not matching the baseboards, which I'm pretty sure is some kind of design sin. So I probably should have paid less and painted the trim.

What was I thiiiiinking?!

The only thing I know for sure is that I want to replace the fiber-board junk with wood (painted or otherwise) because you really should be able to bump your trim without denting it.


TL;DR: My house has an identity crisis, I can't make decisions, and fiber-board sucks.

Comments

[stasia]

I don't think you need to have the trim match from room to room. It's okay if the dining room's trim is white and one thing, while the living room has stained trim in a different pattern/style/wood/flavor. You could, even, play up the differences, as a way of demarcating rooms.

Bear in mind, I'm a chromaphile and would have colorcolorcolor everywhere, so I might not be the best adviser for this.

And yes, fiberboard suxxorz.

Stasia

[oddlittleturtle.livejournal.com]

I love mahogany. I'd keep that, stain/restain it so that it all matches, and lose the fiber board. Fiber board is the devil.

The stuff that's in our current rental is a conglomeration of mishmash trims that I pointedly ignore every chance I get. They're all painted white, but they're all different. Some windows have those little ... I can't think of what they're called... ornamental thingys in the corners and none of them look plumbed. :/ Some windows have wide trim, some windows have thin trim... ugh. Can't wait to leave. lol

The new house has been freshly painted (flat beige and flat white D: ) and all the rooms' trims appear to match, though the foyer is getting wainscoting in high gloss white and a nice bright color and crown moulding the first chance I get since the entryway looks so plain and uninviting. I may carry the look into the formal living room...

[pyoor_excuse]

Our baseboards don't match our windows, because our windows are hideous UPVC atrocities, as is standard in the UK, and the trim in every room except the kitchen is not-white. Having the baseboard change from painted to stained in the middle of the room would be a bit odd... but you could probably make it work somehow.

Stick some furniture over the joint and people probably won't notice anyway :)