Trim Painting Part 2: The Stairs and Upstairs

It took a few weeks before I had another chance to get back to the trim and finally paint the the stairwell and upstairs hallway.   Like the previously painted downstairs, the carpet in the hallway was lower than the old pink stuff, leaving an unattractive line between the paint and the rug.  We also had a lot of dings around the door frames and on the doors themselves, so it was finally time to give everything a fresh coat of paint. 

Once again - the ugly truth about the carpet/trim line

I spent 5 hours carefully edging the unfinished gap just above the carpet with a tiny brush up the entire staircase and down the hall.   I painted the base molding, door frames and doors.  Then, after 5 looooong hours (there was a lot of detail work and I didn’t want to get paint on the carpet), I thought I was finished.  I started putting everything away... when I realized that I had painted everything Bright White in Exterior Flat.  Instead of Interior High Gloss Enamel.  Whoops!  My excuse is that I was tired, and I kept the paint can in a plastic bag to help prevent drips on the carpet.  But I felt really dumb and I was so mad that I had wasted all that time using the wrong paint.

Mike came to my rescue.   I couldn’t bear to redo the trim again.  He put a fresh coat of the right paint on everything.   And now it’s glossy white enamel - much easier to clean (high traffic areas are full of dirt and finger prints) and more durable (against bumps and nicks).  And everything looks so much nicer with fresh, clean trim. 

The stairs after - no more ugly line

The hallway with freshly painted trim (in the right finish)