7 sanity-restoring rules about trim color
by Annie from
I recently posted about a bedroom in progress that presented a trim challenge. In response, a Gentle Reader left this comment:
I have started to hate thinking about trim colour. If you paint the trim a creamier colour, will you need to paint the door? If so, will you need to paint BOTH sides of the door? Will you then need to paint the trim in the hallway (and thus presumably the rest of the house, and the rest of the doors) to match? Argh!
Basically I just don’t understand the rules for trim.
Ok, my friends. Let’s see if we can nail down some rules. It would be so delightful and easy if every single room in our home could have the same trim color. Alas, this is never the case.
Jeffrey Bilhuber in Elle Decor
Rule #1: Trim color does not have to be exactly the same in every room
If your floor plan is REALLY open, then yes, using the same trim color makes sense – but in that case, you might be using the same wall color everywhere anyway.
Marilyn McMackin in Elle Decor
Rule #2: But don’t be schizophrenic about it
Sticking with various off-whites in most of your rooms is a safe bet.
That way, when you’re standing in a particular room, the trim color you’ve chosen for that room looks perfect.
But when you’re standing in the front hall and can see several rooms at once, your eye won’t discern the subtle differences between the varying shades of white. Make sense?
Amy and Todd Hase in Elle Decor
Rule #3: Paint only the room side of doors
This is in response to, “…will you need to paint BOTH sides of the door?”
No. If your house has many, many doors that open into other rooms, then painting all of the trims off-white – not necessarily the same off-white, mind you – makes sense.
But if this is an occasional situation for you, stand in the room you’re painting, close the door, and paint everything that shows.
Mikael Anderson in Elle Decor
Rule #4: Think twice before using non-white trim in public rooms
It’s dramatic. And with great drama comes great responsibility. If you’re going to get fancy and paint the trim in a room black or light blue, then limit it to that room just to be safe. If you start getting fancy with trim in your LR and DR and family room, the effect can be crazy or hokey. Neither look is for you.
(Go crazy in your kids’ rooms if you like, though. Colorful trim there can be super cute.)
Steven Gambrel in Elle Decor
Rule #5: Lighter color wins
If you have an open doorway / door frame between rooms, and an off-white trim color in the first and a much creamier taupe in the second, paint the inside of the door frame the LIGHTER color.
Rule #6: Bathroom trim doesn’t have to be white
Shocker! But look. If you have a shiny new bathroom in which the sink, toilet and tub are all sparkly new and white, then match the trim color to that white and call it a day.
But what if you had to replace the toilet – so now it’s blinding white – but your sink and tub are, well, aged?
Use a non-white trim color and the conflicting whites in the room will settle down. For example, use one of my favorite blues, Benjamin Moore’s 2136-70 Whispering Spring, on the walls, but then do the trim 2 shades darker, 2136-50 Colorado Gray, or even a different color that’s not much darker, such as 2028-40 Pear Green. You and your guests will be so taken with how attractive the room is that you won’t notice the mismatched fixtures.
What do you do if your fixtures are a color other than white, you ask? Replace them immediately.
John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross in Elle Decor
Rule #7: Deepen the trim if the wall color is dark.
This isn’t a rule so much as a preference, but I think bright white trim with deep walls can look cheap.
This is where this post started, remember? Because I painted a bedroom deep blue and hoped we could get away with leaving some of the trim bright white.
We couldn’t.
Look at Benjamin Moore’s OC series for excellent, versatile off-whites for darker wall colors. Some of my favorites are OC-9 Ballet White, OC-12 Muslin, and OC-18 Dove Wing.
Black dining room/Jill VanTosh in Elle Decor
I hope this is helpful, Gentle Readers. It makes me so sad to think of you losing sleep over trim colors. There are many more important things to lose sleep over.
Like wall colors.
John Lyle in Metropolitan Home
Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to Real Simple and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.
Thank you. I think i understand how to proceed.I have been unable to decide how to paint my trim which is currently BM linen white in hall going into lr and dr with doors at each end that are linen white. Also my bath and kitchen are off this entry hall and are c2 America's cup.i wanted to do America's cup woodwork in hall and up the stairs to open space with a sky light and 2 doors to 2 small bedrooms and in open space2 large louverec closets with sliding doors. I like white . I thought I would paint walls a c2 color cricket white along withe the previously mentioned woodwork of Americas cup. I have red (jewel tone) wool carpet on stairs. Does this sound ok? I have been reading things for the past 2 weeks about perfect whites etc but this was the first article to answer my particular decorating dilemma. thank you again. My condo is in a federalist building two levels on the 3 rd and forth floor. Nice light on stairway ….not much in the entry hall.
We are building a new house and trim is a problem because color in general is a problem. I have no clue what to do, but just one question. We got a bedroom set for my daughter, it is white. Would an off white trim look odd or should I use a white trim or a color trim? We don’t like repainting so we want something that will sell if we have to move in 4 yrs after our tour is up (we’re military).
Thanks for posting Jacki. From my perspective, your trim color and free-standing furniture do not have to match. It is only when they are built into a niche that it becomes a more serious consideration. I have a sister who is married to a military man, so I very much understand your challenge with adding colors in your homes. While your base colors in your home need to stay quite neutral, do not discredit pillows, window treatments even vases to add punches of color! Good luck and know that I am thankful for the sacrifices that you and your family make to serve our country!