Dark stained door decor

[Smoochyschmoo]

We're looking to buy our first property and this is what all internal woodwork is like. We'll have to replace the kitchen, bathroom, boiler and general decor so can't afford to change the woodwork.

Any decor tips to fit around this? It's white at the moment but that doesn't seem to help it 'pop' and we have 3 dc so seems like a disaster....

You can sand down the varnish on the stairs and paint the woodwork white - this would radically improve it! It's a big job, but worth it. I'd do the same with the architrave on the door, but replace the door itself with a new and more modern one. I absolutely hate those doors. They are old-fashioned, difficult to clean, and never look good - I have three downstairs and I am ready to throw a party when they go in a skip in a couple of months.

I think I’d sand it back to the original pale wood, but it’s an enormous job and a filthy one at that, past that I’d paint it white.

DH want to keep the dark but I'm trying to change his mind! Would white not be a disaster with grubby dc finger prints though?

Not normally no, you just give it a wipe.

I think it’s personal taste, I don’t like dark wood, unless it’s a big space, or a listed period property it tends to be very oppressive and dominate. However others feel differently.

Having just moved from our rented house which I had to deep clean, I wouldn't recommend white banister rail. Little fingers turn it black very quickly! Our new house has white frames and rails but the actual long piece of wood on the spindles is dark wood. I'm not a fan of the colour but it's perfect while kids little. Once we've completed the enormous list of more pressing jobs I might sand it back to wood then gloss it

Whiskyowl I did chuckle at your post...you don't feel strongly about those doors at all do you...
I have one of said doors if you'd like a replacement once you get rid of yours...you may miss them!!

We had doors like that when we moved in. You need to double check that the glass is safety glass because we found out the messy way that ours weren't.

Ah good point about safety glass, unlikely to be given the age of everything else in the house! I really dislike them but DH things with the right colour scheme they'll look great... I just think they make it look dark and dreary.

Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself we haven't even put an offer in yet!

A friend bought a house that was dark wood everywhere. The entrance hall looked like a sauna!
They gradually painted it all white, one skirting board per evening....
Took ages but what a difference!

You don't need to sand it all back to the wood at all - use a good primer like Zinsser and follow the directions on the tin. Then follow with a couple of coats of gloss or eggshell or satinwood paint. All can be wiped down easily. If you wipe the bannister weekly, it needn't be a big or time consuming job to keep it clean.

Don't try to mask the glass on the doors - use a Stanley type glass scraper afterwards to tidy up.

You don't need to sand it all back to the wood at all

Not if you’re going to paint it, no, but if she wants to keep thr wood, just paler wood, then sanding back would achieve that, that woods been heavily stained and in its natural state would be quite pale. I’m not sure what it is though, could be pine, so maybe not so nice in its natural state. If it’s oak it would be lovely, but it’s a huge job, painting it is much easier.

I’m not sure anything can make it pop op in its current state , it is what it is and will always dominate, as such a warm grey, a pale duck egg blue, or plain white on the walls could make the wood look warmer.

I had my whole downstairs either sand blasted or sanded, it’s an old period property the difference was enormous, lighter and brighter, as it’s now the original blonde oak, as opposed the very dark stained wood when we bought it. It really is personal taste and difficult if uou and your husband have different tastes,,,,,

Some folks love dark wood and thr patina that comes from age, others like myself prefer much paler natural hues. Very subjective....

Hmmmm....... every single door, frame, window in my house is dark wood. Two rooms are completely wood-walled and there are exposed wood beams all over the shop. In its defence, it's an early 80s Aussie builder's take on an Eichler house, but very much on the beach house side, so lots of windows and light. A fancy shed, really.

I wanted to paint it white, but took a deep breath and let it go for a year, and now I wouldn't have it any other way and am patiently stripping away the first coat of white in the hall from year one.

A smear of Vaseline on the glass when you're painting the doors is the least messy option. The paint doesn't dry and you can just wipe it off when you've finished painting.

Whatever I do it's got to be better than our current staircase which we haven't been able to paint!

I think taking it down to its original colour would be too much of a job so would be left as is or painted. The downstairs hall is quite small with 4/5 of these doors and the big staircase so it does seem to make it appear smaller, imo.