What Color Baseboards Should I Have?

[Kate]

I am in the process of installing new cabinets in my bathrooms. At first, I was going to put in opal oak (also called bleached oak) as that is what I have now.

I had a cabinet maker here today, and he said I should upgrade (opal oak is out of style now)by installing oak cabinets, as the cost would be the same. He also said he is installing different woods in different rooms of high end homes. I have always thought it looked best to have the same wood cabinets throughout the home.

If I go with oak cabinets, will my white baseboards look fine, or do I need to change those to oak as well?

Thanks for all feedback.

Kate

[aemeijers]

In a bathroom, I'd be inclined to use faux wood baseboards. The stuff made from sawdust and old pop bottles, painted same color as the walls. The real stuff soaks up the floor-level moisture, and seems to be the first place the finish fails. If your existing white baseboards are in good shape, I'd leave them be. Putting base and shoe behind the toilet is a PITA, unless it is out anyway.

Unless there is a major color battle going on, nobody but you will even notice them. Baseboards are a non-reportable event. Quiz your friends after they come out of there- odds are they won't even be able to tell you the color, or painted vs. woodgrain.

But I'm a guy, and therefore have no interior decorating style or skills.

[Kate]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, my existing baseboards are white, and in excellent shape. I will more than likely keep them.

Many thanks.

Kate

[Ed Pawlowski]

"Kate" wrote

Nothing wrong with keeping the white if you like it. As for different woods in different rooms, I have different woods in the same room. IMO, there is nothing sacred about mixing and matching of nice woods.

[h]

I'm a huge fan of mixing very light and very dark woods in the same room for contrast. I prefer natural oak and dark mahogany, but that's just because my house is very old and that's what was there.

[HeyBub]

You can't go wrong with white.

I just ceramic-tiled a bath and had a mess of tiles left over.

What the hell.

I used an angle grinder and masonary wheel to cut the left-over tiles into six-inch strips, glued them to the wall, and grouted the gaps. Looks absolutely marvelous.

[Bill]

I like the way the linoleum floors in hospitals and doctors offices curve up at the walls and go up about 4 inches. Then have a metal edge on them.

Seems to me that would be easier to clean. Plus I would bet that would irritate your home decorator to no end if you suggested it! (If you just want to have a bit of fun...) Like this...

[The Daring Dufas]

Back in the 80's I worked out in the Central Pacific for a contractor that bought potable housing units that were manufactured in Australia. The seamless vinyl floors had a distinct curve up the walls in a tub like manner. I assumed that the designers knew that construction workers drank a lot and tracked mud into their housing. The living quarters were built that way so they could be hosed out whenever a drunk slob barfed all over the place. 8-)

TDD

[Kate]

I believe more and more folks are mixing woods. I like most all of them.

Thanks.

[Kate]

It sounds nice, and keeps everything interesting.

[Kate]

I would love to see a picture. It sounds nice.

[Kate]

I never thought of this. It definitely would be easier to clean. I just had one bathroom tiled, so this would not work for me.

[dadiOH]

Think of the cabinets as furniture. If you put an oak table in your dining room, would you change the baseboards to oak?

BTW, opal oak (whatever that may be) is only out of style if you think it is.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

Worth saying again-- it's your house, Kate.

Reminds me of the time 40 years ago when the mason showed up to build us a brick hearth. 'How do you want the joints raked' he asks my wife and shows her several choices. She asks how it would have been done in colonial times, as that was her 'deco' goal.

His answer- "Well, ma'am, the mason would come out, show the lady of the house the choices and she'd pick the one that pleased her."

Jim

[Kate]

I was glad to see this reply. I like light and airy homes. My home has many windows in it. This allows me to have dark oak furniture in my living room, and a lighter oak in my family room. My bedroom furniture is cherry wood. I love nice woods. My kitchen and bathrooms all have opal oak cabinets, and I actually love the look. I had it many years ago, and it then faded out of style, so to speak. Twelve years ago, when my home was built, it came back. Now, you don't see it as much.

This gives me something more to think about. Maybe I should not worry about updating my home, but live in it according to what I like.

Thank you for your input.

[Kate]

Right on!

[tmclone]

That's it! I find it very funny when people decorate their home for "resale value" even when they are not planning to sell any time soon. I've been in my home for 25 years and plan to be carried out of it feet first. I make all my decorating and remodeling decisions based on how I want to live in the house. And, since I have a nearly 200 year old house, I couldn't care less about being "in style". I've worked very hard to maintain and restore the house to its original greek revival style, but with a modern kitchen and bathrooms.

[Oren]

Tile looks nice as a baseboard.

All this time I thought I was the only person with tile, instead of wood or MDF.

My entire home _is_ tile as a baseboard. Various colors, sizes, etc. The bride calls it the Tuscan look.

Best part is I did not have to install baseboard. The tile guy was here already.

[keith]

OTOH, in these times one never knows when one will be forced to move. Something out of the ordinary scores many more points against you than in times like these than it does when it's a seller's market. While I wouldn't put in anything I didn't like, there are things that I like that I wouldn't spend a lot of money on, either.

[HeyBub]

Yeah, but I bet it's a bitch if you decide to replace the carpet with laminate or hardwood.