Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

Do you have a 70's-chic or 80's-tastic house full of oak trim? I sure do!

I decided to make the really risky decision to slowly paint all my trim white. People warned me about how horrible this would be, but I really wanted to do it. So I'll be honest when I say how much it sucks to do it. It looks amazing when it's done, but I guarantee it's a huge PITA.

Now that I've conquered the trim in 3 rooms, can I consider myself an expert? I've learned a lot along the way and I wanted to share my tips.

First off, be SURE you want to do this. You can't go back!

Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

Once you're sure, start by lightly dusting the trim with a rag. People may tell you to lightly sand, but I've found that it really didn't help at all, so don't waste your time.
Paint on your first coat of primer. It should be pretty thick, but not horribly thick that it dries weird. After trying a couple different brands of primer, I prefer Kilz.

Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

Primer dries pretty fast, so you won't have to wait too long to do the next coat. Again, add a thick coat, but not too thicker. The thicker and neater you can get it on, the less coats you'll need.

Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

And as you start to get sick of doing this, add one more coat of primer. The wood grain should be showing less and less after each coat. I promise you're getting closer!

Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

If you're planning on painting the walls, do that next. (I know some people like to do these things in a different order, but this works best for me.) If you need 2 coats of wall paint, do both of those before continuing with the trim.

Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

When the wall color is done, continue with the trim. I switch over to a semi-gloss white for the final coat or two. I like semi-gloss for the trim for a brighter finish.

One or two coats of the semi-gloss and you're finally done!

Painting Wood Trim Tutorial

That was a LOT of work and I promise I never could get this done in a weekend. All 3 rooms I've done took weeks or months to finish. Anyone wanna come do the rest of my house?

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