If we’ve made one thing clear about our new house, it’s that we’re not fond of the existing trim colors.
The shades—somewhere between “Williamsburg Blue” and “Muddy Mauve”—had us equal parts excited and a little intimidated. We couldn’t decide if we were thrilled to transform the place or nervous about tackling such a visual overhaul.
With all the carpet removed and before the new hardwood floors go down, we took advantage of the exposed subfloor to paint the upstairs trim—and the doors. Sixteen doors, to be precise, which we removed and de-hardwared first so painting would be easier and more efficient.
Given the scope—four bedrooms plus closets, a long hallway, nine windows with lots of mullions, and those sixteen doors—a paint sprayer felt like the right tool for the job. After a recommendation from the Bowers, we picked up a Graco TrueCoat II on sale at Lowe’s for $180. (Update: we later had better results with a different Wagner model.) We decided to buy rather than rent because there’s still a lot of painting left in this house, including more blue trim downstairs.
The sprayer turned out to be simpler than we expected: basically a plastic cup attached to a gun that plugs in. Setup was quick—we did read the instructions carefully—then started with a coat of primer.
We’d heard cleanup could be the worst part of owning a sprayer, so we used disposable bags in the paint cup to keep things tidy and reduce cleanup time.
We didn’t take many process photos because one of us watched the toddler while the other sprayed, and the work moved quickly. We could spray the baseboards of a single room in about 10–15 minutes; most of that time was spent refilling the paint cup.
Spraying is definitely faster, though it does use more paint. We could only cover about two sides of a door before needing a refill. Still, watching that blue disappear with each pass was hugely satisfying. It’s not waste so much as a different distribution—spraying often deposits as much paint as two brushed coats.
We’ll publish a fuller guide to using the sprayer once we’re more practiced, but for now our biggest lesson is: don’t over-spray. It’s tempting to go back and touch up missed spots, but adding too much paint creates drips. Slow, steady passes give the best, smooth, factory-like finish.
We chose to hand-paint the windows instead of spraying to avoid overspray on glass and the risk of rogue drips. In hindsight, that decision had trade-offs: the windows needed scraping with a razor to remove any paint on the panes, and each blue/mauve window required a coat of primer plus three coats of paint by hand. It was slower work, but more controlled.
This project has occupied the better part of a few days. Spraying took two mornings—one for primer, one for paint—but the additional trips to hand-paint windows and tricky details extended the timeline. Still, the difference is dramatic.
We didn’t tape off walls or floors around most sprayed areas (only close-to-outlet and vent spots got protection). That means the walls will need painting sooner than planned, but since our priority is getting the new floors installed before moving day, that’s a future task.
Some rooms—like the guest room and master bedroom—already had cream trim and doors, so they required no primer. Overall we used two gallons of primer for the areas that needed it.
For the white topcoat we used Benjamin Moore’s Ultra Spec in Simply White, semi-gloss. It’s contractor-grade, No-VOC, and more affordable than BM’s Natura. Locally it ran about $36 per gallon—a noticeable saving compared to higher-priced options—and we ended up needing approximately 4.5 gallons. If we’d realized that up front we would have bought a five-gallon bucket and avoided multiple store trips.
To pick the exact white, we brought home about ten swatches and taped them up to compare. Some leaned too yellow, others too blue; Simply White gave the crisp, clear result we wanted without feeling cold or warm. It will look even better once the yellowed walls and ceilings are refreshed.
Here’s our budget for the upstairs trim, doors, windows, and hallway:
- Paint sprayer: $180
- Primer, 2 gallons: $36 (on sale)
- Paint, 5 gallons: $180 (we have about half a gallon left)
- TOTAL: $396
It’s more than we anticipated, but buying the sprayer was worth it given our timeline to finish the floors before moving. Now that we own the sprayer, it should pay for itself over the many rooms left to paint in this house—especially with all the remaining blue trim.
Next up: re-hang the doors after replacing some old, pitted brass hardware, then install the hardwoods. We briefly considered painting walls and ceilings while the subfloor is still exposed, but the move date is approaching fast (T minus two weeks), so we’ll prioritize floors first. Painting walls after hardwoods are installed is something we’re comfortable doing.
So that’s what we’ve been up to—how about you?