5 Steps to Painting Oak Trim White

This is the second post in a series about making over my basement. First, I ripped out the carpet and painted the concrete floors. The next major step was painting the oak trim white.

Our home was built in the 1990’s and has that traditional honey oak trim throughout the whole house.

We’ve been thinking about painting all of the trim and doors white, so I figured the basement would be a good place to start.

We also thought the new dark blue wall color would look great with white trim. It does! We are so happy with how it all turned out.

Here is the Before.

So let me take you through the process so you can see the before and after pictures of our trim.

It’s not difficult to do, but it definitely takes a lot of work. Initially, I thought I could finish this project in a couple of days. Ha! I’m so funny, aren’t I?!

It actually took me 2 weeks to finish. Painting the trim is a lot of detail work and just takes a lot longer then painting a wall.

But the outcome is absolutely worth it! So let’s get started.

Painting Oak Trim White

1. Wipe the trim clean.

Before painting the trim, you’ll need to clean off any dirt or grime. Mine weren’t too bad. I used a simple solution of mild soap and water and wiped down all the surfaces.

2. Lightly sand the trim and doors.

Next, you’ll want to lightly sand the trim in order to give the primer something to stick to. This is an important step. You don’t want to do all the work of painting your trim only for it to easily scrape off.

I used 200 grit sandpaper and got most of the shiny layer off the trim. Once all the trim was sanded, I wiped it down with a dry microfiber cloth to remove any dust.

3. Put painter’s tape around all the trim.

My baseboards were already removed from the wall since we ripped out the carpet. However, if your baseboards are still on the wall, you’ll want to make sure you tape under the baseboards and on the top edge against the wall.

I did add painter’s tape around all the door frames and the door knobs and hinges. This is a time consuming step, but super important.

4. Apply 2 coats of primer.

Before actually painting the trim and doors, you’ll need to apply primer. This is an added step to ensure the paint sticks to the wood and you get good coverage.

I used the primer I had on hand which is an all purpose Kilz, but there are primers specifically for painting wood.

You’ll want to apply very thin coats and make sure you don’t leave any clumps or drips. This takes a long time to do, but ensures a smooth finish.

5. Apply 3 coats of white paint to the trim.

Once the primer has dried and you have applied 2 coats, it’s finally time for the white paint! This is where it gets fun because you’ll start to see some real progress.

Again, use thin strokes with your paintbrush and go over any drips or clumps. You’ll need to allow the paint to throughly dry between coats.

Most paint requires at least 4 hours before another coat can be applied. As you can see, that will take time.

The key is to work slowly and carefully for a smooth finish.

We have 5 doors in our basement! That’s a lot of doors. They are nice to paint compared to the baseboards because you can roll them.

I hope you enjoy seeing the before and after pictures. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments. You can also watch the process on the video below.

I had to nail the baseboards back to the wall. I also added wood filler over the nails, sanded that down, and painted over all of the wood filler for a smooth finish.

If your baseboards are already attached to the wall, then you are all done!

Here is the after.

Can you tell how happy I am to be done with this project? 🙂 For now, I’m taking a break from working on the basement makeover as we start the new school year.

But I’ll be sure to share new updates as we finish them.