“I’m Blue Da Ba Dee Dabba Da-eeeeee” (anyone remember that song?). Picture us maniacally singing it while priming and painting trim for hours days. We’re slowly losing our minds, but we’re having fun doing it. Please feel free to click over and jam out so we feel less alone (and slightly less certifiable).
Ok, so when we last left our hero, er, our foyer, he was sporting some snazzy blue trim.
We had stripped down all the wallpaper, and had also removed two closet doors and the bathroom door so we could take them out to the garage and use our paint sprayer to apply a coat of primer and two coats of white semi gloss paint.
As for how we like our paint sprayer, it has definitely been a huge help in these two scenarios:
- when we can remove something and lay it or lean it on a drop cloth and spray it (like doors, cabinetry, or crown molding before it’s installed)
- when we don’t have a ton of other rooms/floors/areas to tape off (like when we had removed the carpeting upstairs and could quickly spray all of the trim and doors without worrying about getting it on any of the floors upstairs)
We’ll still definitely roll walls and ceilings (we think the sprayer is best for when we tackle trim, doors, cabinets, furniture, etc). Like how you wouldn’t spray paint walls but you might spray paint cabinets, doors, or furniture.
Here’s a video of it in action, just in case watching the motion of someone using it helps you picture things. John’s moving a little slow here, so for an even smoother finish we learned to go faster (it lessened the chance of drips).
The pros that we’ve found to this particular model (we had a Graco True Coat II – but we’ve since switched to this Wagner model) are:
- great coverage (it goes on thicker and smoother than a brush or roller for a faster finished result)
- you don’t have to water down the paint with anything (many sprayers require this, and it’s nice and easy not to have to worry about it)
And just to be balanced, here are the cons:
- as with every paint sprayer, there’s overspray, so it’s not as controlled of an application as using a roller or brush since you get paint flying around outside the item you’re sprayer (check out the image above – all the paint on the plastic drop cloth behind the doors is overspray)
- you have to learn how to control it so you don’t get drips – spray quickly and don’t hold the sprayer too close to the surface (this just seems to take some time to master, so it’s not as much a shortcoming of the sprayer as it is a skill that the operator has to hone)
So with the doors out in the garage being primed and painted with the sprayer, we dove into priming and painting the rest of the trim in the foyer by hand.
As for why we didn’t remove the trim and spray it in the garage like the doors, we were all for using it on the doors that way (which were easily removed and brought out to the garage) but removing and reinstalling all of the baseboard, chair rail, and crown in the foyer, as well as the trim around the seven doorways (!!) in there would have taken forever. We also considered taping things off and then spraying while standing in the foyer, but it leads into the kitchen, the dining room, the office, the portico, two closets, and the bathroom – so taping those all off to protect them from flying paint would have taken about a million years.
So we primed, and we primed, and we primed, and we primed (two coats on all of the blue baseboard, trim, chair rail, and crown). This is my tired of priming face.
If you have shiny wood trim or glossy painted trim, you’ll want to rough it up with sandpaper and wipe it down with liquid deglosser before moving on to the primer and paint step (be sure to use a stain-blocking primer if it’s raw wood). But since ours was chalky and matte painted wood, we didn’t need to sand or degloss it, and we could skip right to applying a primer followed by some semi-gloss paint.
It really depends what color you’re starting with when it comes to how many coats you’ll need of primer and paint, but in our case it was four coats (so after two coats of primer we could move onto two more coats of paint). We used Benjamin Moore’s Simply White in semi-gloss just like the trim and the doors upstairs. Here are some other designers’ best white paints you could use instead.
Finally after everything dried we could rehang the doors (with the new knobs that we ordered to match the ones upstairs).
We have yet to paint the back of the front door in the same teal color as the front of it (or ebonize the stair railing and paint those blue spindles white)…
… but it’s already a lot lighter and more open than it felt when we inherited it with blue trim and wallpaper aplenty.
Here’s a before picture from the other side.
And a now shot with the white trim and doors. It’s also funny how much less blue the slate looks now that all the blue trim isn’t reflecting on it. It definitely still has some blue undertones, but it feels more neutralized now that we de-blued the trim.
So while the stairs are still quietly mocking us, we’re slowly inching towards a fresher looking foyer. We can’t wait to paint those yellowed walls.
And just in case you’re worried that we might be close to done painting blue trim, you’ll be comforted to know that it’s still hanging out in our office and our dining room – both of which not only have window trim and baseboards, but also have crown molding (along with blue chair rail and built-ins in the dining room). So there’s a fair chance you might be reading about us painting blue trim for the next decade or so. While we softly cry into our paint brushes.
But man oh man, does the glossy white result make us happy. The things we do for love.
Psst- In family news, here’s what we did for the Fourth of July and here’s how we spent our sixth anniversary.
Chantel says
Cursed Google Reader! I lost most of my blogs that I followed, friends and You guys! So with a busy summer life and not really being around I have Missed Everything! thankfully I just found a new reader and the first person I searched out was you and I have found your life is in a new home! Which is Lovely! I am excited but sad I missed most of the transition…Thanks for sharing your journey!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw sorry Chantel! So glad you found us again :)
xo
s
Amy says
It already looks so much better! I have some wood doors that are screaming at me for some white paint and I know it will all look so much better when they’re painted, but I counted this weekend and there are 14 that need some love, so it’s a little daunting to start that process! Seeing your transformation is good motivation though!
Cindy says
Love before and After photos! What an amazing difference white paint can bring to a space! Really dumb question for you, I know you posted about the new door handles, but did you DIY ORB the hinges or did you buy new hinges? Maybe I missed it in your post about the handles…
YoungHouseLove says
Bought news ones in a bulk contractor pack from Home Depot (they’re nice and cheap that way).
xo
s
Tyra says
Oh trim painting, what a chore, but what a reward! Our house is really random and some rooms have cream trim and some are pretty fresh white, and the hallway is 1/2 cream and 1/2 white…i constantly find myself looking at trim and trying to figure out what color it is and if it needs to be repainted. i should probably just put a fresh coat on everything and call it a day….
i know most of your houses have had hardwood floors (that you can tape off) do you know any suggestions for carpet? our hallway/bedrooms has carpet and i am not sure how to paint trim without getting it all over the carpet. does carpet take tape?
YoungHouseLove says
Anyone have carpet tips for Tyra?
xo
s
Jessica says
I use a long metal scraper that my husband has in his tiling/drywall supplies to pull the carpet back from the baseboard and then I put painters tape on the carpet between it and the baseboard. I then apply additional tape to make it a thicker tape line. It works great to keep paint off the carpet!
Laurie says
I love the long metal scraper thing. It is about a foot long and has a handle. I use it to hold the carpet back while I paint the trim. I didn’t have to use any tape though. Once I held it back and painted, the carpet did not “bounce” back to touch the trim so it was super easy. I would check to see what your carpet does because if it doesn’t really touch the trim, you save yourself a lot of time.
Aurélie says
I love the Game of Thrones reference at the end of your post :D
Melissa C. says
Wow! I love watching the transformation (and getting inspired at the same time!). I may have missed this, but does your home have AC/central air? I’m in New England and we’re at the beginning of another 90+ degree week (and it’s stupid-humid). Painting in this weather is miserable, not only because of the temps but because the humidity makes the paint dry really slowly. Still trying to psych myself up to pre-paint some trim and replacement doors (hello solid core, goodbye hollow core 70s nightmares!).
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, thankfully we have AC, but it did take things a bit longer to dry just because it’s hot.
xo
s
Jane says
The foyer looks great – what a transformation! Bye-bye, blue! And you are absolutely right about the slate floor being neutralized by painting over all that blue trim! The foyer will look so welcoming when you are done with all your painting and the fun part starts, by hanging some of your artwork and decorating.
Not to jump the gun, but I was wondering if you think you will be keeping your built in cabinets in the dining room or removing them? Just curious.
All the best,
Jane
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to keep them and paint them and give them a more built-in look (no more scrolly things on top I don’t think).
xo
s
Kara says
I think there’s another glitch happening – although this is minor one – the time stamps of the comments are off about 30 minutes into the future. Or did you just stumble upon the secret of time-travel?
YoungHouseLove says
Oddly enough wordpress does this (we call and reset it and it inches forward). What we think it is is accounting for daylight savings time (in some countries they don’t observe that) so the time creeps forward to bridge that gap. So weird!
xo
s
jessie says
It looks great! We installed similar slate in our entryway three years ago and it’s still one of my favorite things in our house. Do you plan on keeping yours?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’ve always hoped to keep it if we can fix a few spots where it’s damaged (we plan to replace it if we can’t but we hope we can).
xo
s
Robin says
So fun to watch as you vanquish the blue!
We have an open concept house filled with white, thankfully not blue, trim that needs a fresh coat. After seeing the result you achieved with your paint sprayer upstairs, we’ve been contemplating that approach since since the amount of overspray looked manageable, in pictures anyway.
The walls will be repainted after the trim, so overspray there is not a concern. Carpets will also be replaced. Where hardwoods are in play I thought we might be able to protect them using cardboard and lots of tape. But the fact that you hand painted makes me wonder if the pictures don’t do justice to the amount of overspray. Is that a fair conclusion?
YoungHouseLove says
If you just have cardboard and tape and do a great job taping off it probably can be done (our friend Katie does rooms this way) but in our case the foyer had 7 doorways leading into other rooms/floors that we had to protect so it seemed like way too much work to block all of those off.
xo
s
Alyssa says
Robin, I own multiple sprayers & spray everything! I recently sprayed every inch of a foreclosure we purchased – walls, ceilings, trim, doors, etc. The overspray is not bad even with a large sprayer that pulls from a 5 gallon bucket. To protect floors, I recommend tape and a strip of rosin paper. You can even buy the paper in a roll with the tape already on the edges (although it’s more expensive). For large sprayers that offer different tips, you can also get a fine finish tip that sprays 4″ wide to minimize overspray. Hope that helps!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, that’s awesome Alyssa!
xo
s
Kim says
:( I only got the first few lines coming through on feedly! The click through was worth it for the after, though less convenient, haha
YoungHouseLove says
Sorry Kim! We’re working on that glitch now. We think it was the video we embedded (blue aliens ruined our feed!) so we’re hoping it caches and shows up full in people’s feed (we also added an update to the top of the post for ya).
xo
s
Gwen, The Makerista says
It’s already looks so much more bright and open! I know with some paint on the walls and door, it will almost be unrecognizable. I’m pretty sure that song was stuck in my head for weeks at a time back in the day…thanks for bringing it back. Ha! :)
Teri says
The color transformation looks great! Do you two have any thoughts on the slate flooring yet? It just seems so out of place to me, I’m sure you guys are scheming on making that fit in though!
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve always hoped to keep it if we can fix a few spots where it’s damaged (we plan to replace it if we can’t but we hope we can). I think when we paint it’ll come together more.
xo
s
Caroline Leigh says
It’s amazing how much better it looks!!
How come I can’t read you in my feedly today? :-/
YoungHouseLove says
Gah, it seems like either a glitch on their end or the video we embedded (we didn’t change anything, and love that you guys can read us on Feedly). Working on it now :)
xo
s
Justine says
Soooooooo much fresher and brighter! The ceilings look higher and the room more open without the blue crown molding.
Jennie says
Wow! It really is incredible what the white trim did for the slate floors!
Kristen says
It looks great without the blue trim (and wallpaper)! Are you guys liking the slate floor more now that it doesn’t look so blue?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’ve always hoped to keep it if we can fix a few spots where it’s damaged (we plan to replace it if we can’t but we hope we can).
xo
s
Erin J says
Looks awesome!
Annie R says
Love it!
I’m kind of mad that I read the comments. When I read the title of this post I just read it as a blues song- now I have that song in my head!! And it’s kinda hard to sing along to the jibberish!!
Also. . I’m on my iPhone and I can’t see the video??
YoungHouseLove says
We took it out because we think it’s messing with people trying to read through a Reader like Feedly (our post is getting cut off for them, boo!).
xo
s
Erin@Managing the Manor says
It looks so great!! Now I have that daggum song in my head…
Michelle says
It’s so amazing what a little (ok a lot) paint can do! The transformation is amazing, it looks so bright, inviting, and beautiful now. Great job! Are you planning on leaving the flooring? I actually like the tile layout a lot.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’d love to keep it if we can repair/replace some of the damaged areas.
xo
s
Lauren says
Wow, I can’t get over how much better the floor looks! Who knew?
Kim@The Green Room Interiors says
Now that’s commitment. Way to stick with it. Love the cleaner look!
Leah says
Re: the song, you’re not the only one, Sherry! I totally thought it was “I’m in need of a guy” or “I’m in need; I’m a guy”. I’m pretty sure that was the common joke around that time (at least, it was where I lived).
To address the post: my mom loves to paint but once paid a painter to come in anyway. He used a paint sprayer to do the walls as well. It made the painting go super fast, and the paint was really smooth. I was pretty impressed.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow that’s cool about the walls! Never heard about them being sprayed. But most of all, thanks for hearing “I’m in need of a guy” too. We’re in this together Leah.
xo
s
Julia says
I was thinking the same thing about the slate floor – it looks SO much less in-your-face blue now, and much more of a grayish with blue undertones. You guys are really don’t a beautiful job restoring this house and making it yours. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
Julia says
Uh… “doing”, NOT “don’t”. Geesh.
Camille says
So much better already. I wish I had that kind of wood detail in my home.
I’m dying for you guys to talk about your overall color palette for the house, I seem to recall a post like that with the previous house. Is that still something you’re figuring out as you live there for a while? I’m curious to see how it will compare to your bold teals, avocado, grey, etc.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we’d love to write that up for you guys sometime this week!
xo
s
Julia says
Oh… and now I want new door knobs too. Y’all are good for the economy (not mine), but business – yes!
Amy D says
Love the progress! I’m not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but your floors look a different color with white trim versus blue trim. Before I thought they looked a little blue and now they look a nice grey color. Do you think you’ll keep those and maybe regrout them or something? They are really nice floors and break up all the surrounding wood.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes we even mentioned that in the post! The de-bluing of the trim seemed to tone them down. We’d love to work with them if we can repair a few damaged areas so we’ll keep you guys posted :)
xo
s
Amy D says
Oops! I totally see that now. I think I was mesmerized by the before/after shots that I missed that part! I really think its amazing the transformation in just a little over a month!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, no worries at all!
xo
s
Eri says
Stunning. It’s amazing what just a can of paint can do. The foyer area now feels open and airy.
Jessica says
Wow, what a change. The after pictures, even with the yellowy walls look great! Love it with the dark floors, it really looks classic. Also I was SO TOTALLY hating on the slate floors and was super hoping you’d just get rid of them, but the colour just reads so much nicer now. I’m on team keep-the-slate-floors. I really can’t wait to see what colours you pick… Is it normal to be this excited for someone else’s foyer?
!
Theresa says
Hubba, hubba! I’m such a sucker for white trim!
Tamara says
The trim looks amazing. I know from current experience just how tedious trim painting is–in the process of painting all of our muddy-ish yellowy white trim to actual white. It looks amazing when done but takes forever to do. This isbone of those times when you are watching paint dry!
Betsy says
My apologies if you have already answered this…
I am in the process of painting the glossy wood trim in my 1990’s home (so trendy then). I have done a small bedroom and started down the hallway. So far I have not noticed a difference between sanding or not sanding in how the paint goes on. Any thoughts on why this is? I want to be doing it right and you recommend sanded and using a liquid deglosser. “If you have shiny wood trim or glossy painted trim, you’ll want to rough it up with sandpaper and wipe it down with liquid deglosser before moving on to the primer and paint step (be sure to use a stain-blocking primer if it’s raw wood).”
…so my question is, what SHOULD I be doing? Any recommendations on deglossers?
Thanks for the help. LOVE learning from you both!
YoungHouseLove says
Sanding just gives glossy trim some “tooth” so the primer and paint grab better. The difference wouldn’t be in the look, but in the durability (if you scratch your nail across sanded and unsanded trim that was then painted you might have a bunch more come off in the unsanded one. As for our favorite deglosser, we love Next (at Home Depot) since it’s green/biodegradable.
xo
s
Maureen says
So much brighter in there, it’s crazy!
Did I see that right? Black railings? Woohoo! Love that!
Mary Beth says
Lookin’ goooooooooood, Petersiks!!
Can’t believe what a difference that made – look how bright it is in there now!
Fab…
You’re inspiring me – again.
My house is 67 years old and the trim is lovely and big but covered in 72 (I’m guessing on this one) coats of paint.
Time for a makeover!
Jen W says
With all the hand-painted trim you have going on, would you mind telling us your tricks to keep that brush in great shape? Also, ever let a brush get gunked up over time? Did you replace or clean it up somehow?
YoungHouseLove says
We just clean it with water when it’s water based paint and mineral spirits if it’s oil-based. I have two of them too, just so I can use two at a time (ex: John might need one for catching drips as he rolls while I cut in with the other one).
xo
s
Kate says
I will now have that song stuck in my head all day! AHH! LOL
Looking good guys! =)
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
It looks so much brighter and clean! I love it!
Kristen says
It looks soooo different already!! I’m so impressed. Cannot wait to see what color you choose!!
Kate F. says
Wow, the slate looks so.much.less.blue! What a great side-effect. We are trying to knock down a 65 year old brick outdoor kitchen. It’s also slow going. I just want to get to “the pretty” already!
Eileen says
Lots of work but so worth it! I really like the shape of the hanging light in the foyer and hope you are considering keeping and painting it something bright —-red would be fabulous !
YoungHouseLove says
Never thought of red! I was thinking ORB. Fun to think about!
xo
s
Pamela says
Paint it red quickly, before you redo the rest of the stairs. Then you’ll have a patriotic foyer. Only a little late for the Fourth of July.
Megan says
I wanted to let you know that the white is amazing. It’s a completely different house. I just love the new trim, the room is so much brighter and happier!! And we all want that. Good luck with the other rooms and can not wait to see more…
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Megan!
xo
s
Megan T says
Holy cow that makes such a difference! I can imagine the time and effort that went into all of the taping, priming and painting but it was (clearly) well worth it. When was it ever “in” to paint your trim country blue?! At least you only have two more blue-trimmed-rooms to conquer :) Great work!!
Kristen @ LoveK Blog says
The white trim looks great!! You definitely deserve a trim painting break before starting that dining room.
heyruthie says
John, you look like a real bad-ass when you paint spray to Eiffel 65 as your soundtrack *grin*. The two videos need to be played together :-) I’m lovin it.
YoungHouseLove says
HILARIOUS.
xo
s
Laura C says
All that trim painting seems really tedious, but what a difference! I’m kind-of digging the entry floor now that it’s surrounded by white and not part of some weird 70s Smurf Village.
Lauren says
Wow! What a beautiful change! Would you pretty please with a cherry on top post a close up pic of the trim work? I want to get a better look at the finish :) Thank you!
xx
YoungHouseLove says
I’ll have to take a detail shot for you in the next foyer post :)
xo
s
sheri says
If anyone ever suggests painting their trim work in any color but white, I’m going to send them to this page! It’s amazing how much brighter and cleaner everything looks now that that blue trim is gone!!
It looks awesome – and when you start to cry into your paintbrushes, thinking about how much more there is to do, you can look back at these pictures and convince yourself that you’re fighting the good fight =)
Lori @Vintage Charm Restored says
Looking so good!! I love following along… man that’s a lot of blue trim still left!! Can’t wait to see the staircase done!!
Stephanie @ The House on Hillbrook says
OMG! I can not believe how much you guys have already done in such a short time. WAY TO GO! As usual everything looks AMAZE BALLS! I can not wait to see what you guys do with this house! I’m in love with it’s size and beauty. Great find! Great job! And good luck!
PS I am defiantly intrigued by this paint sprayer. I have a door and some shutters to do so that might come in handy!