How to Turn Your Trim From Wood to White

Now, this was not a fun nor easy job, but it was a well-worth-it change. But after a year and a half of living, all paint has held up quite well. All floor trim, window trim, built-in's and cabinets on our main floor were wood color; so yes, we painted every piece. Be prepared for a one-week project; we only had the time to work on it a few hours at a time, which took three weeks roughly for the whole main floor of the home.

You will be using spray paint, so this job is definitely something you want to start with before moving into a house, painting walls or redoing your floor. If you are already moved in, I recommend taping plastic around your door ways so the excess spray paint does not spread to another room.

Supplies:

1. Heavy Duty Painters Masking Paper; we bought two rolls from our local Sherwin-Williams

2. Lighter painters paper to cover windows

3. Kilz Original Spray Paint Primer; I tried to use this one linked when our Walmart had it in stock, but sometimes I had to get whatever was on hand. I didn't see much of a difference.

4. Sherwin-William Professional Grade Masking Tape; my dad has more experience that I with painting, so he recommended this as it was the best with less bleed.

5. 2" Purdy Paint Brush

6. Snap Dry Door & Trim paint in Extra White

7. 180 and 220 grit sand paper

We began by taping the floor off close to where the trim and floor meet. This taping should be pretty flawless to avoid paint bleed on the floor. Next, we laid the heavy duty paper out taping the edge of the paper to the tape first placed. This step is for the paper to protect the flooring. The tape on the top does not have to be perfect, nor all across the paper.

Next, we were not painting the window inserts, but just the trim around. We taped the inside window off similar to the trim. We then laid the paper on top and taped the edges to the tape first laid out. The paper is to avoid the spray paint covering the window.

We removed the doors to paint around the door trim, and left the built-in's as in since we were going to paint the walls later, so a mess on the walls was okay.

After all taping and papering is finished, you will use the 180 grit sandpaper to sand all the wood surfaces. I used my rotating sander to make it easier. After sanding, use a wet cloth to clean the surface.

Next, we used the Kilz spray paint to prime all of the wood. This step does not have to be perfect nor a thick coat. It took us quite a bit of spray paint since we had two built-in's to prime. Use the 220 grit sandpaper to lightly sand the spray paint since it may have left a gritty surface. Do not sand so hard you remove the layer of white; I used a sand block for this step.

Last, ensure all surfaces are clean and primed for the finishing white coat. The Sherwin-Williams door and trim paint you are using is a thick, quick drying paint so start with an area you may not see to practice using it. I only used one coat of the finishing paint, but did have to touch up a few spots. Be sure to check spots for any dripping to catch it before it dries. It took about six hours to completely dry. If you paint on right with enough paint, it will not leave brush marks and will leave a smooth finish.

After the project was finished, we were able to paint the walls and clean up all imperfections. The paint gave the trim new life and is a great satin finish that cleans very well. I was extremely happy with the results, even though it was a long project.

Stay tuned next week for a run down on how we painted our cabinets using the same technique.

-Lauren