Painting - paint?

What is the best paint type and color(light or dark) to use on old solid wood doors to best hide 103 years of dings, bumps, scratches, and nail holes?

Now there's a BIG question! If the doors are that bad, can they be salvaged? Are there mutiple coats of paint? Are you up to a lengthy (but fun) task! It sounds like a complete strip job to me. If they are worth saving... I'd strip them with a good chemical stripper, repair or sand any deep scratches or gouges, fill holes, sand smooth, clean, prime, and top coat. Use good quality, name brand brushes and paints.

I wouldn't overly fussy with the dents and scratches. Wiith 103 years worth of use, call it "patina".

If you could, it would be easier to remove the door from the jam. Remove the hinges and knob from the door. Find a spot with good ventilation, lay the doors flat to work on them.

This is a very worthwhile job... enjoy! :)

As long as the doors are painted with quality primer and paint, any color will work. After stripping the doors, fill the gouges, nail holes, bumps, and scratches with wood putty. Roughen the putty finished surface so it is not too smooth and it will blend in with the wood under the paint.

look in the yellow pages and you might just have a company near-by that strips furniture and door, They have big dip tanks and do this so easy... then you don't have that big mess to contend with either...
:p