First coat on the trim. You can see the difference from the bright white vs. the cream.
I’ve officially been working out of my home office for a few months. Three days before the officially move in earlier this summer, I decided it was the perfect time to start painting. I finally bit the bullet and painted all the trim, baseboards, and doors in the room. After the first, and very scary, swipe of paint, I couldn’t help but smile. I also couldn’t help but say out loud, “Why did it take this long to do this?”
Painting the trim was one of the easiest painting project’s I’ve tackled in this house, and that’s saying something. I’ve painted a lot of rooms in our home so far. But after seeing the contrast between the cream paint on the closet doors next to the newly painted white trim, I know that I will continue to update the trim throughout the entire house. Not all at once, but I know it’s a task I can handle moving forward.
After lots of Pinterest DIY research, Facebook polls, I simply walked into Sherwin Williams and asked what they recommend for updating trim. Thankfully our builders used the same Sherwin Williams store and they knew what I was working with – wood trim that was sprayed with latex paint (Vanilla Cream to be exact).
Working my way around the room, I simply taped off the carpet and used the taping knife as a guide.
They recommended that I lightly sand, wipe down with a damp cloth, then two coats of their Trim and Door paint in semi-gloss or satin, depending on preference. So, that’s exactly what I did. Over three days I tackled the door and window trim, baseboards, closet doors, and finally decided to paint the back of the door leading into the room. I left the front of the door cream, because I know once I take the leap and paint the front of the door, I’ll have to move into the hallway. Right now my moto is, “One room at a time.”
Tools I used:
- Fine Sand Paper
- Damp Washcloth/Rag
- Soft Bristle Brush – 2″ Purdy
- Foam Roller
- ProClassic Smooth Enamel Finish for Trim & Doors – Satin in Extra White
- 20″ Taping Knife
I didn’t bother taping off any of the walls (despite what it looks like in the photo below, you can see I didn’t bother taping any other side of the door or windows) because I went on to paint over the taupe walls with bright white paint. I left the back wall untouched because I installed a removeable wallpaper mural from Walls Need Love and didn’t want to waste another gallon of paint just to cover it up.
First coat on the door, I was definitely nervous to tackle the doors.
For the closet doors and the back of the door leading into the space, I followed the same process. I lightly sanded the doors, wiped them down, and then used the brush for the edges of the panels. I painted each section with a foam roller and then went over it, with long brush strokes to even out the paint. The paint is leveling, so even when it didn’t look like it when the paint was wet, it dried smooth.
Slightly blurry but that’s because I’m jumping for joy. No more cream trim!
Check out the before and after shots below, the complete office reveal will be up within the few weeks – I can’t wait to share!
Featured Image by Cassandra Monroe Photography for The Brunette One
