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Is your “white” trim actually white?

Before we moved into this house, I thought the trim was white. Then, we discovered the leaking washing machine three weeks after moving in and reconstruction started. During all the repairs, new baseboards needed to be painted. That’s when I figured out the current baseboards were more pink than white.I really wouldn’t have guessed how un-white the baseboards were.

Here’s one baseboard with a little of the new white dabbed on. You can see the big difference.

The construction crew only painted very specific trim that was included in their repair estimate. Here’s where a newly painted door trim meets up with the old pinkish colored trim.

The doors are the most drastically pink to me. Before we painted the trim, the doors and trim were the SAME COLOR. {I’m in the process of painting every single door now too because they all look too PINK against the new white trim!}

THE OLD WAY IS NOT WORKING

I started painting trim and doors months ago, but I just couldn’t take the slow progress anymore! I had to figure out a new way. Painting by hand was just taking too long. I don’t have that much time to spend on it. Plus, for all the effort I gave, the paint never seemed to go on evenly and there were endless unwanted brush marks.

SPOILER ALERT: I figured out how to do awesomely … it involves a paint sprayer.

HOW TO PAINT TRIM LIKE A BOSS

Step 1: Tape and Paper.

The unavoidable step no matter how you paint. You need to tape and prep no matter how you do it. Good music helps this part go faster. I buy the brown paper that doesn’t have tape attached because it is much cheaper and I can just use tape to get it down. Matt was home to help me with this part. It went so fast with us tag-teaming. Even the kids participated.

Step 2: Light sanding.

I used a flexible sanding pad to give the trim a little buffing.

Step 3: Wipe down.

It doesn’t really matter if you get the scuff marks off the trim, you’ll cover those up. You do want any dust type debris off so the paint can stick to the trim. My paint is water-based, so I didn’t bother drying. Wet + Wet = still wet.

Step 4: Caulk the Trim

I only needed to caulk the bottom since the top caulking was still in good shape. In Arkansas, the bottom of the trim wasn’t caulked against wood floors, but it is a thing I see everywhere in Texas. Since these floors had been caulked before and then the floors were re-done, the caulking really needed an update.

Squeeze some caulk onto the seam, then spread with your finger or a damp cloth. Wipe off any excess with a cloth.

Meet My Paint Sprayer

Let’s take a break and meet the MVP of this blog post: the HomeRight Paint Sprayer. There’s a reason it is a best seller on Amazon. It is powerful but really affordable. As in, the time you save using it and the cost of the paint you save makes up for the cost very quickly.

Step 5: Fill the paint spray container with paint and water. 

You need to add some water to help thin the paint a bit coming through the paint sprayer. For my trim, I used about 2 cups of paint with 1/2 cup water. After I painted a lot of trim, I still had leftover paint to pour right back in the original paint bucket!

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE ADDED WATER! I had to think through this to be okay with it, but let me help you. Think about it this way: Water-based (latex) paint has water in it. When paint dries, it really means all the water in the paint has dried. By adding a little water, there is just a little bit more water to dry out. In my experience, it does not take more time to dry, actually less time, because with a sprayer you can get a consistent coat without as much paint. Paint sprayers make expensive paint last a lot longer!!

Step 6: Set the paint control setting.

There is probably a technical term for this, but I’m not sure what. There is a little +/- wheel on the side of the sprayer. Push it towards the “-” so that you don’t over-spray past your tape and paper. You’ll need more tape and paper if you want to spray on a higher setting. 

Step 7: Spray the paint!

Spray one coat of paint, then wait about 15 minutes and spray a second coat. If you’re painting a large area, just finish painting and then circle back to the first area for the second coat. If you want to experience the feel of the paint sprayer before you get used to it, spray a cardboard box. You’ll quickly see that it is pretty easy to control the paint sprayer. This step goes so fast, it is amazing!

Here’s this spot of trim with 1 coat of paint. Pretty good coverage for one coat of paint!

Step 8: Cleanup (surprisingly quick!)

I really think cleaning up the paint sprayer is quicker and easier than cleaning a paint brush.

Pour the remaining paint from the attachment container back in your original paint container, then fill the attachment container up with water. Go spray it in the grass or on a cardboard box until the water comes out clear. Very simple! Afterwards, I let my sprayer sit in my laundry room sink until it dried. I’m not too picky with getting paint off of every square inch, as long as paint is cleaned out of all the important functional parts … I figure the sprayer it is a tool that will reflect lots of use.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE

It is such a relief to get such big chores off my to do list. Painting this trim has haunted me for months and it is finally done!!!

After the paint dries, but within a day, take off all the painter’s tape. Looks good!

YOUR TURN

If you think you have white trim, but it is actually pink, it could be affecting how the paint on your walls looks, and even how all of your decorations look. White trim is just so crisp and fresh. I’m so glad I took on this job.

Now, it’s your turn. If you don’t already have a paint sprayer, get one right now! Thanks, HomeRight, for sponsoring this post and helping me get this big chore of mine done so much faster and easier.

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