Hi Faye, I have dark stained alder wood cabs also. I used them on the perimeter cabs only, with ivory/glazed cabs on the interior. I've had many compliments on the combination. I didn't want the kitchen to be too dark OR too light. I have dark hand scraped floors, and all my furniture is medium to dark wood.

As for the interior doors/trim, it's 3 shades darker than the warm tan walls, and I love it! I didn't want white trim/doors since I tend to think of it as 'colonial', but that's just me since it seems to be the norm with older homes as well as new builds. I've thought of replacing w/dark stained doors, which I think would also be pretty with the trim color. I'm not a fan of white trim w/stained doors, again, just my taste. I know it's not easy making decisions. ;o)

I, too, live in the woods and am a real fan of wood finishes. I don't have any pics of my interior that I can post right now except my bath remodel, which I am sure people are sick of seeing (you can go to the baths forum and search for treetop bath). But I have wood floors, wood doors, wood cabinets, wood windows with wood wrapped trim, etc. Kitchen cabinets are birch, all floors are oak, windows and trim and new bath cabs are Douglas fir. It is a warm and serene look, in my opinion. If you go to houzz and search for Craftsman interiors or Arts and Crafts, you will see lots of homes with all natural wood finishes. I think the look blends very well into a forested setting.

I went with creamy walls and all med. colored wood trim doors and floors in my last house and loved it for 16 years. When I moved here the walls trim and floors were also a med. stained wood and the over all effect was way to dark. As long as the wall color isn,t too dark and works well with the wood color using wood ever were else looks nice and is easy to live with. Stained real wood doors are usually a upgrade for most builders as is stained real wood trim.

Thanks ladies - patty I was also planning on adding the ivory glazed cabinets in the island . I am not a fan of mixing white with wood either but just worry it will be too dark . I am thinking of all wood doors and door casing with maybe white baseboard trim in the bedroom areas and all wood in the large open greatroom / kitchen / dining areas . I will definately check out your pics olychick - thanks again !

Is there any reason why you can't paint the alder doors to match the rest of the white trim?

We have hardwood throughout, all natural stained woodwork, the Marvin windows we had installed throughout the entire house are stained, as well as all of the indoor wood doors. I love the look of wood, and DH would freak if I took a paint brush and started covering the natural beauty of the woods. It took hours just to stain, etc., all of the windows. We live on a wooded property, so the inside wood just seems to look more natural to our eyes if that makes sense?

I think it is more of a preference thing. If you love the woods then I think you'll be happy (like us). Or, if you love white woodwork and doors, etc., can't you just prime and paint the wood and such white?

I prefer stained woodwork - trim and doors. I don't think it makes a room look dark even with hardwood floors and stained cabinets. Looks richer to me than white.

All my window trim, door trim and baseboards are white. The majority of the interior doors are stained white pine....exception are the front doors which are stained darker. Floors are white oak and cabinets are Hickory.

The only white doors are the french doors along one wall in the LR and I have more white with the beadboard on the walls.
I love the mix of woods and I 'need' the white since our winters (PNW) can be a little dark and dreary .

All of the window, crown molding and baseboard molding in our house is oak stained dark. We have unstained white oak floors in all the house. Our kitchen cabinets, dining room, living room and family room built ins are all quartersawn oak and are stained a chestnut color.

Our home feels very warm and welcoming. One can't have too much stained wood IMO!

Sorry I could never bring myself to paint over alder lynxe .
Work in progress - I live on a beautiful piece of heavily wooded property and I could just stare outside for hours so I think you are right - I will love all the wood . Prob why I like the alder so much . My hubby also says that we have high ceilings and I have to remember there is still alot of wall and ceiling that I can paint in light colors to brighten things up . So I have decided on doing all wood with just creamy crown mouldings and a cream island in the kitchen .
Thanks for all the input - made my decision much easier !