Whilst discussing office plans last week, a few of your comments about the blue trim situation were the push we needed. We were fooling ourselves if we thought we could paint all that trim by hand—baseboards, crown molding, and five windows with 66 individual panes. So we decided to bite the bullet, pull out the paint sprayer, tape everything off, brace for any mist on the wood floors, and say goodbye to the blue trim that weekend.
We had sprayed all of the upstairs trim before we moved in and before the new floors went down, which was easy since there was nothing to worry about ruining. For the downstairs trim we’d tackled so far (just the kitchen and foyer), we worked by hand because those rooms needed to stay functional during painting and we didn’t want to blanket them in paper and plastic while a fog of spray filled the air. The office, however, didn’t have much furniture and could be quarantined for a few days, so we took the chance to spray it.
On Thursday morning we emptied the room, leaving only the heavy file cabinet covered in plastic, and moved everything else into the dining room and foyer. The place looked chaotic for a while, but we’re comfortable with a little disorder when a project is underway.
We were eager to try a new method, but curious whether spraying actually saved time overall since the prep is more intensive. Some steps—wiping down the trim and taping the floor—would have happened regardless, but spraying requires extra attention to keep mist contained.
We rolled rosin paper across the entire floor because paint mist seems to get everywhere with our sprayer. We taped the edges of the floor first to make sure the hardwoods were secure—paint on the floor is our nightmare—then taped each row of paper down. That approach used more painter’s tape than strictly necessary, but the extra care felt like good first-time insurance.
With the floors taped, Clara thought the covered room was the coolest thing ever and even drew on the paper while we moved on to prepping the windows.
I’d heard about liquid masking film you paint onto windows before spraying so the dried paint peels off easily, but many pros warned that it often takes multiple coats and you end up scraping anyway. Instead, Sherry cut rough rosin paper squares and taped them to the center of each pane. We didn’t seal every edge perfectly, but we figured the squares would save time scraping the bulk of the paint later. I left one pane uncovered as a test—the uncovered pane proved to be a major pain to clean.
With furniture out (or covered), floors protected, and windows partially masked, our last prep step was sealing the office from the rest of the house. We taped a tarp across the doorway on both sides of the frame and added an instant-zipper entry so we could enter and exit without letting dust and mist escape. That zipper doorway was one of the best $10 investments of the project: airtight enough to keep primer and paint dust contained while still letting me come and go.
Sherry wished me luck as I brought in the sprayer, an extension cord, and a can of primer. I suited up in coveralls and booties and told her to send reinforcements if I didn’t emerge after a few hours. I was oddly nervous about getting started.
It didn’t get off to a smooth start. The sprayer clogged right away, leaving my hands covered in primer and the unit sputtering. After about 30 minutes of troubleshooting I finally began to spray, but the room had gotten dark with clouds rolling in and the rosin-paper-covered windows blocking light. I hadn’t brought a work light and quickly realized I should have.
I ran out to get a couple of work lights and the trim paint the next morning—Simply White in semi-gloss by Benjamin Moore—along with a few other supplies. Once the lights were in place the primer coat looked serviceable, even if not perfect.
After an overnight dry and a thorough cleaning of the sprayer, I returned early the next morning for the first coat of paint. Spraying a coat is fast—the room looked foggy with paint in minutes—but it takes more than speed to get all the nooks, edges, and angles in a trim-heavy space. One coat covered well overall but missed a few tricky spots.
Because you can’t immediately respray from a different angle without risking runs, I came back for a second coat the next day to fill in the missed areas. That meant the office spent three days in paint quarantine, and from the outside it didn’t look great until the work was finished.
Clean-up revealed that our rosin-paper window coverings weren’t perfect—some paper tore and left bits behind. Scraping 66 panes took effort. We tag-teamed the task, using straight razors for most of the surface and an X-Acto knife for corners. A putty knife worked for some spots but was harder to control. The uncovered test pane made it clear the paper squares were worthwhile: the bare pane was much harder to clean than the paper-covered ones.
By early afternoon on Sunday we had all the windows cleaned and enjoyed a celebratory lunch. Peeling up the floor paper revealed the floors were pristine underneath, which was a huge relief. The room still looked a bit messy from overspray on walls and ceiling, but there was no blue trim left.
We’re planning to paint the ceiling and walls next while the furniture is still out. However, spraying introduced some drips that required sanding and hand touch-ups, and we discovered more caulking was needed where moldings meet walls. The fresh white trim also made the existing wall color look yellower than before, so we’re debating new wall colors—likely something light but not pure white, perhaps with a hint of color—and testing layout options for built-ins.
So what’s the verdict on spraying versus brushing? Spraying is dramatically faster if you only count time spent applying paint—a single coat took me about 30 minutes, so primer plus two coats were roughly 1.5 hours of spraying compared with an estimated 4+ hours per coat by hand. But the prep, masking, scraping, and occasional sanding add time and complexity. We don’t regret trying it, but we still have a few process improvements to make before we’re fully sold.
We’ll be spraying the dining room next since it’s another space with little furniture that can be quarantined, and we’d welcome tips from anyone experienced with trim spraying. Once we refine our approach we’ll share the tricks that worked best. It’ll be a big day when the last bit of blue trim is finally gone.