Woodwork in Victorian house

[Terrysyogurt]

My doors, bannisters etc.. are all dark wood, should I keep it like this or paint it white. All the pictures of Victorian decor nowadays are painted white with nice farrow and ball painted walls. I like the dark wood but is it just too old fashioned.

A lot of hard work but if you’d rather have it white then go ahead.

Absolutely keep it! It's your house, if you like it that way, keep it. Fashions will soon change and you'll wish you'd kept them.

If you are looking to sell, white will help make things look brighter and bigger but will be a lot of work to get done.

If you aren't selling and like the dark, why change?

I like white because it makes the home feel lighter and brighter, but there are other options for achieving that without painting the bannisters white.

It is your home and you should opt for whichever you prefer. You can always change it later when you come to sell if it isn't in fashion then and you actually think it would put people off. It wouldn't bother me as a buyer because it would be easy to paint, but not so easy to reverse if I were a buyer who preferred it dark.

If you leave it dark I think it helps if it is in good condition.

We currently have ours dark, but I intend to paint them white. My husband makes staircases for a living and he wants to replace them. I am resisting that because he would put in something ultra modern that I would hate.

Thanks guys, I think I will keep it, I do like it just didn't want it to look horribly old fashioned, may go for a really light wall to brighten up.

I've spent hours/weeks slowly removing awful paint from lovely 19th century bannisters etc. If you paint you'll lose all the detail on the wood. Don't worry yourself about other people's idea of decor or you'll end up with a white and magnolia house. Have what pleases you and enjoy it

Actually white woodwork seems to falling out of fashion at the moment - it’s more on trend to paint your woodwork a dark colour (which is more what the Victorians would have done) or the same colour as the walls (which is more Georgian). In 5 years things will change again... do what makes you happy

Thanks defo keeping it now!! Doesn't show dust as bad too