Too much wood can feel heavy and even dreary. It really depends, though, on the style. For instance, my 1880 house is Colonial in style ,so the woodwork is painted, as it was back then. But an Arts & Craft style house makes the decision much more difficult.

If you decide to paint the wood trim, bring that warmth in with real wood furniture, and good carpeting and upholstered furniture, drapes, etc.

I think that a lot of old homes originally had painted woodwork unless there was something special about the wood itself. Oak trim for craftsman style comes to mind.
Less expensive wood was sometimes false-grained to dress it up, or painted to protect the wood.
Comes down to your taste and the age/style of the house. I personally like white or off-white painted trim. It looks clean and crisp, and doesn't limit what you can do with wall and furnishings. IMO.
Unless you are putting in something fancier than pine or poplar, I'd paint.

It also comes down to budget...paint quality is less expensive than finished quality. Also you don't need to use stained woodwork in the whole house. We have a mix and it works fine....stained in the more formal rooms, painted elsewhere.

Our original heavy woodwork is stained downstairs and painted white upstairs.

It was that way when we moved in. For yrs I argued to paint the downstairs trim white & DH relented saying that I could paint the DR trim white but not the other rooms. I never did anything about it and it remains as is.

I'm glad that he kept saying no because now I really like the fact that I have 2 looks that I've managed to get to transition together seamlessly from all wood to all white and I really love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Now - if I were in the situation of having it replaced - I'd likely go w/ all white.

If you have kids though, that's a lot of door jams to clean! That's one of our kids chores - to wipe down all fingerprinted door jams and doors that are painted white. Lol!

Can you do a mix of both? I would have loved to have had my sunroom trim stained even with all my other trim painted. Also, very common in my 90 year old home was moldings were painted but the dark mahogany doors never were. There are a lot of acceptable options here. Do you have a separate library, that could be left unstained while other rooms are painted. At this point it is up to which look works and is liked best by you, there is no right or wrong now.

Can you do a mix of both? I would have loved to have had my sunroom trim stained even with all my other trim painted. Also, very common in my 90 year old home was moldings were painted but the dark mahogany doors never were. There are a lot of acceptable options here. Do you have a separate library, that could be left unstained while other rooms are painted. At this point it is up to which look works and is liked best by you, there is no right or wrong now.

I can't begin to understand your feelings on this as you must also be dealing with some grief over what you lost. I know having original stained wood work is becoming quite rare so I can understand your loss to a point, but not being in your shoes ... but I love old houses and I've generally viewed it as it is wonderful to keep it stained if in good shape, but painting it to preserve it is ok too. Restoring isn't always possible and with replacement you can as other said have both. Spend more to have the great quality wood in certain areas that is stained and then do the cheaper in painted. With an old house you can't go wrong as both are fine at this point in time. A 100 year old house will no matter what generally have improvements and changes over time and it is ok and white trim would be one of those changes just like bathrooms and kitchens would have been changed, unless you are a total purist, which I don't think you are.

If you like white embrace it (with the correct trim it will still fit your house) and it is wonderful in being able to pick paint colors that you don't have to worry if it works with the trim or not. Doing a mix would be fine too.

I probably sound like a broken record, but with all the decisions you have to make i would find a good interior designer and pay that oerson an hourly fee to help make these decisions. You have an opportunity to correct problems, update, even get a new look if thats what you want to do. An experienced design professional could make this a LOT easier.

It was common for kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and hallways to have painted trim of poplar or something not considered "stain-worthy" - for ease of maintenance.

Stained wood in the public areas was there for effect, to impress people with your good taste and ability to afford it.

Read the decor magazines of the day - they were all about tasteful color combinations of ivory woodwork and french rose walls.

What style is your home Daisychain? Can you share photos?
Since you are replacing the real wood, now would certainly be the time to do so. If you paint it, you can save quite a lot of money by using primed MDF.

Here is a link that might be useful: Google search results for primed MDF base molding

Yes - please tell us what kind of wood - would be a shame to paint over good quality wood. What style of house etc. Is this replacement wood trim the same style as the old - why are you getting rid of the old?

All this speculation about "some houses were always painted" may or may not be relevant.

If you're on the fence - don't do it! Or use only in areas traditionally painted ie kitchen and bath. Paint chips, peels, gets thick and lumpy over time as its repainted. Stain/finish and your'e good to go another 50 years. Doesnt mean it has to be dark stain - light beige, gray, cream white stains - lotsa choices.

Somewhere I saw a pic of old woodwork done in a dark charcoal gray stain that was stunning - it was a nod at traditional early-1900s dark stained woodwork, but with a very contemporary edge to it. I agree it might be worth paying someone to come up with a complete color scheme for the entire house.

I echo those who say "do both." My 100 year old Craftsman has stained oak trim--lavish--in the living room, dining room, and porch--that is, the "public rooms." The kitchen and upstairs bedrooms, hall, and bathroom have white painted trim. This is how it was originally and what was typical for Arts and Crafts homes.

White trim is popular today but people in my neck of the woods, at least, really want the stained wood in Craftsman homes.

Thanks everyone! Yes, right now it is a combination. Kitchen, baths, bedrooms are all painted. It is the main hall, living and dining rooms that I would change that are stained now. Because they will be ripping everything out, we can put back whatever wood we like and either paint or stain it. Doors will all be stripped and redone too so that they could be whatever we want as well.

I'm pretty sure that even if we paint, we will do some sort of hardwood. Insurance is prepared to cover it and even though I had a momentary thought of saving money and doing something cheaper so we could use the money to upgrade elsewhere, I just couldn't do that to my house. I would hear it crying everyday. I also know that people swear by MDF, but the few places I've used it, have always ended in disaster when water gets mixed in (not sure why but water always seems to find it).

It sounds like I am not the only one who would have a hard time with this choice (foxes pad, our houses are quite similar and I knew you would express similar feelings! what is it with those DHs and their stained wood?)

Kswl, I do have a call out to a good designer (if it's good advice, keep screaming it at me, I don't mind). I really hope she can take me on as she seems like someone I can work with. It is difficult to find someone who shares your aesthetic and has time. Especially here in the sticks where it seems most want everything to match and be made of leather or polyester. If I could afford to fly Lauren Liess in even for one day, I would.

I'm just trying to get a vision clear in my head, so that no matter what the designer says, I can either comfortably accept or reject as I am the one who will have to live with it. 10 years ago when we redid our kitchen the KD had me ready to sign to order dark stained cabs for the kitchen when I had a sudden realization that I hated dark stained cabs and wanted light painted.

Here is one pic from the where to put the piano thread. How lucky I took those pics right before the fire. Another garden web bonus is that I did a "finished bathroom" post after our reno listing all the paint colours, fixture names, etc. I would never remember them otherwise and it will make it easy to redo.

Thanks again everyone. Really appreciate the input.