Interior trim is a lot like a picture frame. The real focus is what’s inside the frame not the frame itself. Get it right and the whole picture looks amazing. Get it wrong and that ugly frame is the first thing you see.
Learn how to choose the best Resene trim colour by asking the right questions – what style of house do you have and what colour are the walls?
Trim (for the uninitiated) is all those finishing bits of timber that hide the building gaps and make your home feel finished. It can be ornate, large, minimal or not there at all.
Scotia is the trim between the ceiling and walls.
Architraves are the frames around your windows.
Skirting is the bit between your walls and floors.
If you have timber trim your job is done. Easy! But if you want to paint it read on. I’ll give you all the good options and if you make it to the end you’ll find a trim colour flowchart for extra colour nerdery.
THE BEST PAINT COLOUR TO CHOOSE FOR YOUR TRIM WILL DEPEND ON WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR HOME.
Ask your self this question – is the trim a feature, is it ordinary or do you have an architectural house with minimal trim?
1. Is the trim a feature?
If your trim is medium to large, interesting or beautiful then you have the most options. Houses like this tend to be more traditional – think heritage, villa, hamptons style.
White walls
OPTION 1 – If the walls are white ( and I mean true white, off-white or cream, rather than a ‘barely there neutral’) your trim is best as the same white or a shade or two lighter. Just make sure it’s a higher gloss level than the walls so you get the feeling of finishing and depth.
Alternatively you can go up one white on the whites scale eg. cream wall + off-white trim or off-white wall + white trim, but it really is easier to keep it simple.
OPTION 2 – If the walls are white you could choose a pale neutral or colour for the trim.
It can look amazing! Just know that the colour will be bossier on the trim than on the walls and make sure you pick it for a reason. Maybe it’s a neutral you’re repeating everywhere, or perhaps a tonal colour palette where there are lots of shades of one colour. If it belongs it will look good.
It will make it much harder to change the wall colour later – instead of a new wall colour and a fresh coat of white on the trim you’ll need to undercoat that trim and do two top coats of your new colour (in the words of my niece, owner of the dark blue trim, ‘you were right Aunty Nicki’!). Don’t let that stop you if you love it though.
Neutral walls
OPTION 1 – If the walls are a neutral they’ll look best with the right white. Barely there neutrals fall into this category too. Those super pale almost-but-not-quite-whites (eg. LRV around 74-78) look best with some contrast. Fresh clean colours and greys usually look better with white or off-white. Muted and earthy colours and beiges usually look better with off-white or cream.
OPTION 2 – If the walls are a very pale neutral you could try the same neutral at least two shades darker.
Coloured walls
OPTION 1 – If the walls are coloured they’ll look great with the right white trim.
OPTION 2 – If the walls are coloured and you love maximal decorating you could try the exactly the same colour, at least two shades darker or lighter, or a contrast colour.
2. Do you have an ordinary house with ordinary, not really exciting trim?
Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of New Zealand houses have trim that’s not an architectural feature. If that’s the case then you don’t want to draw attention to it. Neat and tidy is the best approach and if you’re worried about the room being boring you can instantly fix it with decorating. You trim is not the hero!
White walls
As above, if the walls are white (and I mean true white, off-white or cream, rather than a ‘barely there neutral’) your trim is best as the same white or a shade or two lighter. Just make sure it’s a higher gloss level than the walls so you get the feeling of finishing and depth.
Neutral walls
If the walls are a neutral they’ll look best with the right white. Barely there neutrals fall into this category too. Those super pale almost-but-not-quite-whites (eg. LRV around 74-78) look best with some contrast. Remember, greys usually look better with white or off-white. Beiges usually look better with off-white or cream.
Coloured walls
If you have coloured walls, choose the right white for the trim. Fresh clean colours and greys usually look better with white or off-white. Muted and earthy colours and beiges usually look better with off-white or cream.
3. Is your house very architectural with minimal trim?
Architectural homes are a different kettle of fish. When I say architectural, I mean houses that are less traditional and more modern – more about clean lines and the shape of the space.
The ceiling can be interesting angles or there may be a lot of texture and natural products. They often have negative detail or square stopped ceilings and no trim at all. That makes choosing trim colour easy because there is none so you don’t have to!
When there is trim it’s usually not the feature and you will want it to blend into the background so all the focus is on shape and materials. Your choice will depend very much on your particular house.
Timber trim
If you have timber trim your choice is done.
White walls
If you have a lot of white in your house your trim colour can be the same as the walls or the right white. I’d lean towards keeping things clean and simple and use the same white as the walls.
Neutrals only or No whites anywhere
If you have no whites in your house at all ie. it’s all timber, stone, concrete, neutrals, your trim choice really depends on what will look best with the everything else (obvious, I know, and not terribly helpful…sorry…hang in there…). Keep things simple and honour the space. You will probably want your trim to be the same colour as the walls if it isn’t timber already. Unless the space is really calling for some contrast, repeat what you already have rather than introduce something new only on the trim.
The room below would look wrong with a strip of white trim next to the floor.
Bedrooms in a house like this can go two ways. If they’re much like the living areas with lots of natural materials and minimal detail, continue with the trim choices above. Sometimes the bedrooms are more like regular bedrooms with white ceilings and neutrals or coloured walls – in that case head up to trim choices for non-hero trim.
Now you know where to start
There are a LOT of options, but just go through the questions and you’ll end up in the right place.
- What style is your house? Does it have feature trim, ordinary trim or is it a really architectural space?
- What colours are the walls? White, neutral or coloured?
- Out of the choices you have left, what do you like best?
I’ve mentioned ‘The right white’ a lot. If you don’t know what I’m talking about head over to my whites blog post.
And finally…here it is! The promised flowchart.
Love this! Am learning so much from your blogs. I’m choosing 1/4 parchment on the walls as have “warm white” kitchen cabinetry and don’t want it to look too cream against the walls. What kind of white would work for the trim? Thanks!