It’s like the question, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” but with painting your room
Most people paint the trim before the walls.
Beginner DIYers may want to paint the walls first.
Painting the trim first makes it easier to get the trim right.
Painting the walls first is great for instant gratification.
The final choice is up to your needs and your specific project.
Do you paint trim or walls first? It’s an age-old question. If you’re planning to paint a room, you’re probably already wondering if it’s better to start with the colorful walls or the complementary trim. While there is no “right” answer, there are pros and cons to each strategy. These simple guidelines will help you decide what makes the most sense for you and your project.
When figuring out a painting order, most people choose to paint the trim (using painter’s tape to help) before they paint their entire walls. Why? It’s a lot quicker to tape off the trim in a room than it is to tape off the entirety of the walls. Plus, if you make a mistake painting your trim and you haven’t painted your walls yet, you can easily cover it up when you do get ready to paint the walls. By painting your trim last, you have to be exceptionally careful to avoid dripping, splashing, or smearing paint over the surface you just took a long time to paint.
There are some exceptions and reasons people choose to paint the walls first, however. If you need that extra bit of motivation that comes with seeing the entire wall painted before you move on to the more meticulous job of painting the trim, by all means, paint the wall first. In fact, we typically recommend that beginner DIYers paint the walls first instead of the trim for that confidence boost.
We’ll go over some other good reasons why people choose to paint the wall first further below, as well as more reasons why the trim can be a good starting place. When in doubt, you can always hire a painter to help or provide advice on how to start.
When redecorating or remodeling, you may be wondering whether you should paint the walls or the trim first or if it even matters. It might seem like a small detail but there are a number of reasons why you should opt for painting the walls first. If you're looking for a quick transformation, trying to avoid common mistakes, or just following traditional methods, painting your walls before other surfaces can make a big difference in how your project turns out.
Paint the walls first if you want instant gratification. Since walls are the largest surfaces in a room, painting them makes a big, noticeable difference. When you want to feel like you’re making real headway during a remodel or after a new move, a fresh coat of paint on the walls can be a relatively easy way to give yourself that boost of confidence to keep at it.
A fresh paint color may also change how you think about the rest of the design of the room. Maybe the white trim you thought was boring looks great against a rich blue wall, and you opt to keep it. Or the bedroom you thought looked too small with dark walls feels much more open with three white walls and an accent wall. Either way, choosing the right wall color can totally change how you see a space.
While the paint colors of the trim and the walls should complement each other, it’s the walls that really make an impact–the trim is just an accent. Don't paint the accent first if you’re not 100% sure of the wall color you want. Paint color can look very different once it’s on a whole wall, let alone a whole room, and you don’t want to have to change both the wall paint and the trim paint if you decide the wall color isn’t what you wanted.
When you’re trying to pick the best interior paint color for your space, try a few different color samples. Tape color sample cards to the wall or ask for small samples of the paint to test out how it looks on the surface of your walls. Be sure to do this in different parts of the room, too, since lighting can change how a paint color looks.
In most cases, interior painting is done from the top down, and this isn’t just a matter of tradition. This method is followed to prevent paint drips from ruining finished areas. Just think how frustrating it would be to finally finish painting all the walls, only to accidentally ruin them with paint splatter from the ceiling.
If you’re planning on painting the ceiling, do that first, followed by the walls and then the trim. Crown molding complicates this a bit, but if your room already has crown molding, follow gravity and paint that first before continuing to the walls below.
In general, you should paint walls using rollers and paint trim using brushes (your final decision on the applicator may come down to the type of paint you choose). Rollers deposit paint on larger areas more quickly but provide less control than brushes. This is the main reason why painters use brushes to handle tight transition areas, such as between the ceiling and walls.
If you paint the trim first and then make a mistake when using your rollers on the walls, you’ll potentially have more paint to clean up than you would if you’d overbrushed slightly. Plus, rollers tend to fling paint droplets into the air (and onto trim).
Lastly, in most rooms, you’ll use higher-sheen paint (such as semi-gloss) for trim and lower-sheen paint (such as matte or eggshell) for walls. So, if you paint the trim first and get some onto the wall, you run the risk of that higher-sheen paint showing through. This even applies if you’re planning to paint the walls and trim the same color.
Painting the trim first isn’t the most common method, but it can be the right process for you since it offers some advantages. Trim painting can require being very careful and detailed, so painting it first gives you the freedom to be messy since you can paint over anything you get on the walls. Similarly, covering the smaller surface area of the trim before the big area of the walls can be a smart idea if you’re in the middle of a renovation.
Trim is three-dimensional and often painted with a brush, so it’s natural to be a bit messy when painting trim. If you already feel less confident about how steady your hand is, starting with the trim might be the best option. Once the trim is dry, cover it with easy-release painter’s tape before painting the walls.
If you’re replacing trim or installing new trim, paint the new pieces separately before installing them. This is the simplest way to make sure you paint every nook and cranny without ruining the other fresh surfaces. Lay down plastic sheeting and paint the trim on the floor, in the garage, or outside. You can feel okay about making a bit of a mess, knowing any miss of your brush won’t cause damage.
Walls are more likely to be accidentally damaged than the much smaller pieces of trim (you know what they say about hitting the broad side of a barn and all.) If your home is an active construction site and in the middle of a major renovation, it’s wise to hold off on painting the walls right away. Once the dust settles, you can go ahead and paint the walls, but until then, large areas of wet paint are likely to pick up all the bits of sawdust, plaster dust, and who knows what else.
If you want to make some headway with painting while construction is happening, you can start by painting the trim. While it’d be ideal to wait until the heavy lifting is done before starting on the decorating, painting the trim can be a way of helping you start to feel a bit more settled and see your vision come together.
| Walls | Trim |
|---|---|
| You want instant gratification | Your home is undergoing construction |
| Not committed to your wall color | Want trim painting to go quickly |
| Want to follow common convention | You struggle with detail painting |
Now, let’s ask again: Do you paint walls or trim first? At the end of the day, whether to paint trim or walls first is largely a matter of personal preference and what kind of project you’re undergoing. As long as you actually know how to paint walls and trim in your room correctly, you’ll do a great job. Whichever you tackle first, know that you can always correct mistakes and the results won’t be radically different either way. So pick up that brush and get to it.
Trim is often painted with a brush rather than a roller. A roller is great for smoothly covering large, flat surfaces like walls and ceilings, but it doesn’t fare well with uneven areas. A brush allows you to get into the nooks and crannies of more detailed areas like baseboards, window frames, and crown molding.
Yes, painter’s tape is a great tool when painting trim and walls for a number of reasons. Firstly, it protects the areas you’re not painting. Both brushes and rollers can splatter. Nobody’s hands are perfect, so covering the areas you don’t want paint to get on keeps them clean. Painters tape can also help you get nice sharp lines between paint colors or surfaces, preventing paint from bleeding into other areas. It can also save you time in the long run by reducing the need for touchups. It’s much easier to get clean, even lines the first time when using painter’s tape.
Streaky trim paint can result from several factors, including improper application techniques and insufficient coats. If you use a brush too large or damaged, you’re more likely to get uneven coverage. Using the wrong paint for the surface can also mean it’s not opaque enough to get the right coverage and a smooth finish. Remember to keep drying times in mind if you’re doing multiple coats. Make sure the bottom layer is completely dry before adding another layer. Otherwise, the brush and drag and clump the different paint textures, leading to a streaky, bumpy mess.
