Painting the trim!

Ah, the smell of progress... ok, it was really just oil-based primer, but progress indeed! I already shared with you guys the before pictures and how we chose our paint (if you missed that part of the story, click here to get caught up!) But dang. I was thrilled at what just a coat of primer on the woodwork did. Think what it'd look like actually finished in the color we wanted!

We decided to hire some help for this because of the two-story trim and walls that connected into the open main level that we wanted to connect visually. That's a decision I'll never regret! It was confirmed the minute I saw his ladder.

He recommended starting with the trim first before painting the walls. In what I'm calling the "just get us started" phase of painting, we decided to paint all trim in the upstairs hall and 2nd story entry, the crown molding in the living room and the crown, chair and floor trim in the dining room.

With the color and size of our woodwork, he said an oil based primer is his go-to because it won't bleed through. As you can see a little in the photos below, the crown molding over the entry was stained wood but as it hit the upstairs hallway, it was painted white, along with all the rest of the trim around the doors and floors. We couldn't figure out what exact white the hall trim was since it was put on at time of build, but since you can see it from the entry, we decided to just paint over it to make everything the same color.

After a coat of primer, the trim was painted with a sprayer. That was my first experience seeing what a paint sprayer can do. It was magic. I might buy myself one for my birthday this year. Again, so thankful to have his help for this because our crown molding in the 2nd story and living room is "dentil molding" and has hundreds of little decorative grooves in it. (Confession: the first time I heard the term for this, I thought it was "dental" molding. Seemed appropriate since the person who first told me this was my aunt who's a dental hygienist. She was right, I was wrong.) The trim got two coats with the sprayer.

Here's what we used:

• Fast Drying Primer from Sherwin Williams. Brushed it on and waited a day before starting in with the paint.

• Interior Semigloss Enamel in White Flour for the trim

Back to the paint sprayer, I asked whether he thought I should rent or buy one if I wanted to try it out someday, knowing there's no reason I'd need a pro quality sprayer. He said as long as we follow the directions and clean it as they recommend, a sprayer at your local hardware store in the couple hundred dollar range would be perfect for the types of projects I'd need it for..

Next up, walls!! Stay tuned.

Need a Fix Up? Here's what we used:

• Fast Drying Primer from Sherwin Williams

• Interior Semigloss Enamel