How to Paint Wood Paneling and Its Best Friend, the Trim

Your small paintbrush’s shining moment.

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In Back to Basics, we’re providing you with the straightforward step-by-step instructions to tackle all those household projects you’ve been wanting to try. 

Painting the average wall is no impossible feet—once you have a good roller brush in your possession, it’s a pretty easy task for even a beginner renovator. But the prospect of changing up your wall color gets a little more intimidating when faced with not-so-smooth surfaces: paneling and trim.

The good news, though, is that it’s simpler than you think. When you paint wood paneling and trim, just a few extra steps ensure that your final result is as neat and even as can be—and your patience is well worth it. Here, Domino contributing editor Elaina Sullivan shows how it’s done. 

What You Need

Trim painting supplies
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

Prep

Before - white trim
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

Hand sander sanding trim
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

Sanded down trim
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

1. Sand down large surface areas with a hand sander, and more intricate areas—including trim—with sandpaper. 2. Brush off excess dust. 3. Patch up any holes with wood filler and sand down when dry. 4. Tape around edges that you are not planning to paint with painter’s tape. 

Paint

Trim in process of being painted
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

Trim painted with blue stripes
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

After - blue painted trim
Photography by Elaina Sullivan

5. Using the flat or angled brush, cut in with paint to the intricate details like the trim and grooves of the paneling. Make sure that the brush isn’t too full to avoid having to sand down excess paint. Let dry. 6. Using the roller brush, paint over the flat portions of the panel and let dry. 7. Repeat the last two steps until paint completely covers the surface. It should take two to three coats.

Introducing Domino’s new podcast, Design Timewhere we explore spaces with meaning. Each week, join editor-in-chief Jessica Romm Perez along with talented creatives and designers from our community to explore how to create a home that tells your story. Listen now and subscribe for new episodes every Thursday.

Rebecca Deczynski

Writer/Editor

Rebecca is most often found digging through troves of vintage treasures, both in-person and online. Ask her to recommend a good book to read or an obscure Instagram account to follow, and you won’t be disappointed.