Another shot

or maybe once walls are painted white they will tone down?

i suspect the GREEN sea haze colour is complementary to the orange maple, making much more pronounced!

Yes! *breathe*

I would do the trim in white if possible. Also, is there any way to change the stain on the doors? A darker ash brown would be nice, or painted white? The look of the door knobs seem modern so I think either of these colors would be keeping in line with that

Ok. I would love to stain the doors but they are hollow core maple and I would worry about taking the already thin veneer off. I would love to do a browner stain - is that possible without sanding first? (I'm totally clueless about these things)
Thank you for your suggestions.

You would have to sand in order for the stain to have something to hold onto. Again, this is only possible if these are wood doors. If it is veneers then stain isn't an option and you will need to pain. Again, you will need to sand and then paint

I noticed the wood on the railings and on the shelf are matching the doors. You would need to change those as well if you changed the door color

I was contemplating painting those out black. Too austere against the white?

The doors are not that bad:) I like wood. It is natural and pretty. The floor is lovely.

However, hollow core doors are nothing to write home about. Paint them if you wish. A good bonding primer - ask at a reputable paint - store will reduce or even eliminate the need to sand. I painted two hollow core doors in my laundry room 20 years ago and never sanded - used Zinsser 123 primer. However, the doors were not glossy. I replaced the rest of the doors with paneled doors (wood).

You can buy white hollow core doors that look like paneled doors - very inexpensive - if you like the look, or can even upgrade to solid core white paneled doors - a bit more expensive.

i know. i like wood.

i actually also don't mind beech/honey/orange look like here:

of course, their floor is a more harmonious match.

this is one of my inspiration photos:

light walls, light floors. we have a walnut dining set too.

here are a few other shots of my kitchen so you can see context.

the handrails really bug me.

do i paint them black? do i sand them down to "naked" and do a bit of whitewash so they mimic the ash floor? it's too nice (& expensive) a piece of carpentry to get rid of...

I would not try to mimic the floor color. I don't mind the color of the doors at all! The blue you have goes really well with the honey/orange tinged doors. I definitely would not paint it black. Black may be to harsh. Leave the doors as they are.

@lulu - are you looking at pre or post new floors? (i agree - the honey maple did go with our previous floors,, i'm happy to hear you say keep them!) the green paint HAS to go - it reads "80's green with orange doors" at night without natural light. i agree that black may be too much. thank you.

Your woods do not have to match - just harmonize. Most old houses have a certain amount of wood of different colors. My first 1950's home had natural oak floors with dark wood doors and white trim. My present home has natural floors main level, a little darker upstairs, darker on the stairs, really dark on the handrail and natural oak doors with white trim. It manages to all work together - the evolution of a house that has been remodeled a few times:) There is something comfortable about the "evolved" look - it is one factor that makes farmhouses so cozy.

You don't want this to snowball and I understand that. I am just not very fond of hollow core doors and they are worth considering replacing in the future. I am not into the snob factor, but hollow core doors can make a house look inexpensively built, when the rest of you house looks really nice. Paneled doors just set off a house - perhaps because they are old fashioned in a sense - like when houses were more substantially built.

I am not sure I would add black because it is one more color - however it is also not my thing - and it would be a lot of work, but that doesn't make it wrong. I get incredibly tired of everyone doing things the same way and appreciate it when someone steps out with their own sense of style. So if you have the energy to go black, go ahead.

I painted all my very dark 1970's trim white with Zinsser 123 primer, 2 coats, and a latex acrylic enamel topcoat - 2 coats. I did not sand, but cleaned the wood well. If the wood is glossy, a deglosser can be used instead of sanding. That is one formula if you decide to paint.

thank you jhmarie - i may consider that option. but i think you're all right...i should just sit with it a while. i made the mistake of having the house painted before we moved in ... the original colour was "elmira white" - a beautiful taupey white that would have totally sufficed. now i'm having to re-do, and could have had an extra $8k in my pocket. :(

i will not rush in to any trim decisions! thank you. and perhaps we WILL paint those flat doors (i actually like this clean look, just not the cheap-y hollowness of them! lol)

thank you again for all your suggestions.

Alana,

I think I'm looking at the pics with the new floor. The honey looks great with the blue (on my monitor), but not so much with the green. If it were me, I'd live with the doors as is for a while! The blue is nice, not too pale, and not too bright.

I would consider doing all the trim white or cream. if you want to darken doors without a full refinish, use one of those Min wax Poly shades. They are a transparent finish which can enhance wood colors.

I would paint all the trim white after seeing the other pictures you added. I think painting the wood white would quickly update and modernize the space. I think it would also show off the floors better

@kathleen - i've never heard of min wax. i might start there. i might also use their white wash pickling stain on my oak handrails, and then paint out my doors and jambs and trim with the suggested paint that adheres without sanding. thank you again everyone!!