ORC Week 2 | Paint Trim

It’s week 2 of the One Room Challenge and painting trim was something I said I would NEVER ever do again when we painted all the trim in our last Wisconsin house a few years ago. But here I am painting all the trim in this house! That just goes to show, never say never, hah! I’ve updated a few things and have a few more tips to share, so let’s talk about how to paint trim.

I’ve also added our old dining room table. I’m still on the fence about rather or not I’ll keep it, but it’s nice to have something in this space! And clearly these are some behind the scenes iphone photos ;)… but this is about the process right? The process is never clean!

Painting Historical Trim

Sometimes you just have to paint trim. Half of our house already had painted trim. I’ve mentioned before, but don’t talk about it a lot, our house was at one time turned into a duplex and we changed it back to a single family. The entire upper unit had painted trim. Granted it wasn’t done well so I still repainted all of that. Here’s the process I took to paint our trim.

How to Paint Trim

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1. Clean the surface from any dirt with a wet rag. No need to use chemicals, we will address that in the next step. I prefer to use a microfiber cloth.
2. De-gloss the wood. If your trim is already painted you can skip this step. I used this deglosser and followed the directions. Make sure you get the right gloves, because this is a strong chemical!
3. Prime, Prime Prime. Literally. Put 3 coats of primer on the trim. I find it’s easier, and cheaper to do multiple coats of primer vs your final coat.
4. Apply 2 coats of your top coat. I prefer to use a satin finish on my trim, and eggshell on my walls. The satin finish hides imperfections a little better, so when working with old trim it just looks way better. Plus I’m just a matte kind of person, I’ve never been a fan of reflections on my walls and trim.

Just a reminder… this is what we started with. I’m still cutting in the wall paint and doing little touch ups here and there, but I’m just about done. I can’t wait to get some curtains in here!

Dining Room Makeover

*The most important tip I can give when painting trim is to let everything dry properly in between each coat. I’m not one to really follow that rule, but when painting trim and cabinets, it’s super important to let everything dry properly!

I still have some work to do in this space, but we are making progress! Here’s my scheduled (fingers crossed)

One Room Challenge Schedule –

Week 1: Before tour & Design Plans
Week 2 (THIS WEEK): Painted Trim
3rd Week: Install Curtains & Light Fixture
4th Week: Desk Makeover
5th Week: Table/Chairs & Rug
6th Week: Final Reveal

Catch up previous One Room Challenges I’ve participated in:

Pink & Gold Girl’s Bedroom | Rustic Industrial Kitchenette

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