Expert: Darlene Farmer - 3/29/2009

Question
Hello Darlene, We just moved into this 1960's house with paneling all over. My husband & I took down the paneling in the first floor. Have a contractor come in & tape the sheetrock. The walls are primed & ready for paint. We shall be painting the walls light neutral colors. The doors,windows,trims,crownmoulding,baseboard all are dark stained solid wood. We are changing the mouldings & the baseboard to white (just finished priming them last night) The PROBLEM is what to do with the window & door trims. we both love the dark doors & don't have the heart to paint over them.> When the paneling came off there is 1/4" space in between that needs to be filled up with the shims to put back the trims. If we paint the trims white the shims can be caulked & it will look flawless. But if we decide to keep the original trims we will need to stain the shims (not a problem) but the joint will be visible from the sides. Don't know how to make it look like one piece. So our biggest dilemma is  :

Can we paint the trims of the doors white & leave the door dark. Do the door trims have to match the door ? Will it look awkward?

Staring at the walls /doors in wait of your help :))
thanks !!
Plzz help  

Answer
Hi!

Yes painting the trim around the door white would really frame the dark door nicely. Attached is a photo of a black interior door with white trim. You can see it is stunning!

Thanks
Darlene,owner/designer
Creative Carpet Design
www.creativecarpetdesign.com