Definitely paint. Oil based paint is more likely to yellow over time and water based paints have improved enormously. Your house will look much more modern with the skirts painted white.

Will look much better white BUT! Having done this to big old sliding doors and window frames in an apartment with more ‘steps’ in the frames there are a couple of things to watch out for.

Sealing - as mentioned in another post is essential, if the wood is stained then the colour will come thru to the paint.

I did this just as the manufacturers were getting the water based enamels right and have done several recoats since.

Agree that Zinsser are great paints, I have used their wall and ceiling paints everywhere, cost more, are a bit more ‘drippy’ but also have a sealer component and actually do a real white that doesn’t yellow. They also last really well on the wall.


When you transform to white - especially if you are thinking high gloss EVERY defect in the wood surface will show up. This adds to the charm or is a problem, depends on your perspective. I dropped back to a satin finish on wood trims. There is only so much prep you can do, sometimes it is easier to fix the obvious dings and then do another round after the first coat of white, after the sealer.


This is harder to explain - but you can end up with a dark line around each window pane - because the glass is sandwiched between two pieces of dark coloured wood and the ‘inside’ of the wood shows through the glass and you notice it from across the room. I painted slightly onto the glass, a few millimetres to achieve a fully white effect. You only notice it if you look closely.

Fly screens - wooden fly screens have the same ‘edge effect’ metal flyscreens are a bit easier to paint.

They all look significantly better in white than the dark wood - in my case the two sets of sliding doors have very wide frames. Depending on your skills and patience you may want to get a professional.

I am about to replace the south facing repainted bathroom and study windows with double glazed UPVC tilt and turn with white frames - no more arctic bathroom, jammed winder, condensation or mould.

These are now made (licensed) in Australia so only have to pay for shipping from Vic to ACT rather than from ‘overseas’.

I wish the carriage returns worked in this iOS app! Apologies, they were there :(

Congratulations on your new home, I'am not sure if I would paint them depends on your style and furniture, once you paint them it has to be kept up. skirtings and doors can show chips and scuff marks, so if you have kids timber would wear better.

If you must paint just do skirtings and leave windows and doors as they always look good, timber venetian Blinds look great.

if you're planning any floating timber floors, removed the skirting and replace after the new floor is installed, then stain to match the timber floors otherwise white trim always look good

I got mine painted as I felt that the dark stain was dating the house. It looks so much fresher and lighter. However it dies chip, so I do have to keepmdoinb touch ups.

That was supposed to say "does chip". I just had another look at your photo and it looks like the window frames are wood rather than aluminium. In that case I would probably keep them as they are. It will be difficult to open and close them without the paint chipping.

I would be tempted to paint the skirting boards and trim around doors (white to match walls - but satin) only, and leave the window frames alone. Best wishes in your new home, and please update us as you progress. : )

Hi wong_kar3n

I would definitely paint the skirtings and the window trim white as per walls but in a satin finish and water based. Undercoat with a sealing coat to stop the wood stain bleeding through.Making them white will make the rooms appear more spacious and gives you a broad scope for furnishing and decoration schemes. Best wishes and congrats on your new home.

Personally, I would paint them all white (after being sanded properly!)

I love a blank canvas to work with