AFTER:
The painting has made a huge difference. The upstairs hall, staircase and "wedding cake" room are now clean and bright. It would have taken us months to just do the trim; it was worth hiring a crew to get it done. The upstairs moldings and window frames are all Natural Cream. Each room's trim was previously painted in a variety of shades of dreary. Though I would prefer to strip and refinish the wood to natural tones, the amount of work that would require (and chemicals and time) just didn't seem worth it. Now, it's done and we can enjoy the clean feeling (and safely sealed lead paint remnants).
After treating ourselves to professional painters, it's time to do more work ourselves. Paul installed four new light fixtures today. Things are looking brighter!
BEFORE: