Every well-run home is teeming with tricks and tips to keep it humming along. We are enjoying sharing our shortcuts with you to help you maintain a clean and organized home! Plus saving you tons of money as well. One of our new favorite tips is how to paint baseboards the easy way. If you are anything like me, you absolutely loathe the thought of having to paint your baseboard trim; especially when you have carpet involved! Yikes! But keeping a fresh coat of paint on your trim every few years will keep your home looking newer, cleaner – which means MORE money in your pockets if you plan to resell! 🙂
1) Blue Painters Tape –Â this will be your best friend during the painting process! It absolutely HAS to be the “Blue Painters Tape” for this to work the non-messy way – and make sure to purchase the extra-wide one!
2) Wooster Paint Brush –Â I LOVE this paintbrush! Â The soft rubber handle is very comfortable to use for hours and hours of painting.
3)Â Pittsburgh Paints Breakthrough / Paint Color L4 –Â This paint dries fast, and works well for stained wood. Â If you have oak trim, you will need to apply an oil-based primer for your first coat, and then the Breakthrough paint.
4) Liquid Deglosser –Â Â I used this product to prepare our varnished baseboards for paint. Â It can be used instead of sanding the baseboard trim. Â You must have adequate ventilation to use this product! Â If you would rather not use the deglosser, you can clean the baseboards with liquid TSP, sand with sandpaper, and use a tack cloth to clean the baseboards after sanding.
Easy Step by Step!
- 1- Use blue painter’s tape to tape off the carpet right next to the trim.  Try to tuck the tape in under the baseboard trim if you can.
- 2- Use a liquid deglosser to prep the trim for painting.  It cleans the wood and also takes the shine off so that the paint will adhere better to the wood.  You must open the windows if you use this product.  If you don’t want to use the deglosser, you can clean the baseboard with liquid TSP and sand.  Wipe off baseboard with a tack cloth.
- 3- Apply first coat of paint by starting at the top of the front of the baseboard, working you way down to the bottom of the baseboard.  Only paint a small section of baseboard at a time – maybe 12″ or so.  (If you have oak trim, you will need to apply a coat of oil-based primer first.  The oak will bleed through the Breakthrough paint.
- 4- After painting the front of the baseboard, paint the top edge.
- 5- After first coast of paint has dried, caulk the area between the top of the baseboard and the wall.
- 6- After caulk has dried, paint two more coats of paint.
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