Fulfilling My Dream of Painted Trim

*This post is sponsored by Dutch Boy® Paints*

As an avid DIYer, I often find myself seeing a design element somewhere, and then dreaming of putting it in my home. Who am I kidding?! This doesn’t just happen often; it happens ALL THE TIME. One project that I have been wanting to incorporate into my home for a long time is that of painted trim. Painted trim- sounds pretty standard, right? Well, not in this case. I’m not talking about your run of the mill white or cream trim here. I’ve been wanting to go dark, and in a good way. I absolutely love the look of having a trim that is painted darker than the walls, and in particular, a trim with beige undertones against white walls. Every time I see this look in a magazine or online, I swear I let out an audible gasp. It is so beautiful to me, and I desperately wanted to try this look in the new house. I must admit, I was a little nervous at first, and I couldn’t commit to painting all the trim in the house dark right away, so I decided to start small.

In our new house, there is a little loft area right off our bedroom. I knew right away when I saw it that it would be a perfect office space for me. Since it is a bit secluded from the rest of the house, I thought it would be a great spot to take my chances with the trim project. What better place to try a design risk than in the office of a DIYer, so I got to work as soon as I could. I started by painting all the walls the same color as the rest of our house, which is Sherwin Williams, “Alabaster.” It is a beautiful, warm, creamy white that looks good with just about anything.

Next up was picking a trim color, and this was a bit more difficult than picking the wall color because I wanted to make sure that it would coordinate well with the walls, and also make a statement at the same time. I landed on the color “Khaki-ed” (419-4DB) from Dutch Boy Paints, and it was a no-brainer to use the Dutch Boy Dura Clean Cabinet, Trim and Door paint for the trim in this space. This particular type of paint is water based, so it makes cleaning up easy, but it gives you the feel and benefits of an oil-based paint. I found the consistency to be sufficiently thick, which made me feel confident that it would hold up well. Our trim had already been painted in the past (hello old farmhouse), and it was in pretty good shape, so I was able to get to work painting right away. If the trim in your home is in rough shape, you may want to consider sanding and/or priming yours.

This process moved along quite quickly, and one of the main reasons for that was my decision to paint the wood floor as well (no need to tape those floors off, so I saved time there). For the floors, Dutch Boy has a specific product called Porch and Floor paint that is perfect for jobs just like this. This particular paint includes resistance to scuff marks, which is important to me in a space like this. It also has a fast drying time, which is always a plus! Almost every other inch of the floor in our home is in the process of being replaced, but I decided to leave the office floor with the intention of painting it. Now I realize that some of you reading this may very well be screaming at their screens right now in disgust. I know, I know. I truly understand how it is a trigger for some to paint over beautiful wood. But hear me out. I have always wanted to give this a try, and it is a small area. It is also secluded from the rest of my house, and I promise that it will look amazing. So, like I say to my husband before almost every project: “Trust me, okay?”

For the floors, priming is not a step that can be skipped, so I primed them well with an oil-based primer. Whenever planning on painting wood, you will want to prime well with an oil-based primer. I followed the primer up with the Dutch Boy Porch and Floor paint in the same Khaki-ed color, and then topped it off with three coats of a water based polycrylic (I used Minwax®) for protection. I have painted tile in the past, and this topcoat usually holds up pretty well.

All that was left now was to wait for paint to dry, and I must tell you that I am SO happy that I took this risk. I think the photos speak for themselves, but if you ask me, it looks absolutely stunning! The monochrome trim and floors make just the statement that I wanted to, and my husband even wants to do the same to the rest of the trim in the house now- it looks that good! So, if you need me, I’ll just be over here painting trim!