I would say you need to sand but that's the way we do it you can experiment and not and see what happens

Sand it well, prime it well, and then paint it two coats of paint, and please do not use chalk paint on your trim. It is a lot of work, and it will take months, and months, to do entire 3000 sq ft house.

@ cat_ky so in other words using a liquid sander will not work? I think I’d just do a room at a time starting with a kitchen area mostly because unknown it will take a while. Prolly something I don’t wanna do myself having to young kids BUT they do have professionals around here who paint wood trim. I’m sure they don’t charge cheap though

I wouldnt use a liquid sander on anything. Trim has nicks, nicks have to be filled, you wont know sometimes, if you have them or not, until you sand. Oh, and by the way, make sure you keep a lot of touch up paint. Since you also have young kids, painted trim, will not hold up as well, as your stained oak does. It would also help if you posted a few pictures of your trim.

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Sand, fill dings, sand again, prime, sand again, two coats of paint. That’s what yields a professional paint Job and why it costs a small fortune. Not much skill involved just a lot of labor.

@hallett- yea I think if I had a professional do it, I would prolly just do kitchen area to start with since we will be redoing the kitchen white. The rest can be put on hold. I’d want the main living area (first floor) before my upstairs. I feel it’s something that could be done slowly through the years

Would you all recommend an electric sander??

And if so what kind?

Also here is a picture of my nice oak. It’s really nicely kept but it’s just dated and dark to me 🤷🏼‍♀️ guess I just might have to live with it, right? Lol

It gives off such an orange hu to the house sometimes and I feel white would just brighten everything up but my hopes are high for ever getting all the oak trim painted white

Well, I would most certainly never paint the doors, they are quality and they are beautiful. If you paint anything, just paint the trim itself. Also, use a proper paint for trim, not just regular type paint.

@cat_ky even those oak is “dated” you still think the doors should stay?

@cat_ky the doors too I would never ever replace for white like some people say to do to save me time because these doors are SOLID!!!

Have you cleaned the wood doors and trim thoroughly? Once you do that you can try new hardware. The knobs are dated. The doors are lovely.

Based on that photo none of your trim is oak it’s all pine. That means it is already much smoother and will take paint easier. Mechanical sanding will work great on smooth areas but mouldings will need to be done by hand.

@hallett what do you mean the pine will take paint easier because it’s already smooth? Isn’t oak smooth too? Yea this “oak” color trim is much darker then the oak my in laws have in their home. Theirs is more blonde in color (they live about a half mile down the road). This trim is much darker. Is that why? Because it’s pine? Why would pine take to paint better then oak?

@newideas yes! We plan on changing hardware for sure! We actually just moved into this house beginning of November and paid a small Fortune for a dated home bahaha (idk what we were thinking sometimes), but we liked the area and the yard and it’s right down the road from my in laws. No I’m kidding. The house has got a lot to love and great flow and size and an amazing finished basement, pool, and yard but it definitely need some TLC and updates

Here’s more of my “oak” or pine and someone said they it could be? Not sure how you can tell

Pine and oak have completely different grain patterns, yours appears to be pine. The advantage to pine is its grain doesn’t have the large open pores that oak has.

I agree, yours is pine, not oak, but, it is still very nicely done, and I personally wouldnt be changing any of it. I dont think stained trim, is dated. It is just a notion some have gotten in their heads. I do agree, some should be painted, because, it probably wasnt done all that well in the beginning. (like the trim, and doors in my house). Yours seems to be done well, and is in great condition. You have a darker stain, than your inlaws house, is why the color is different. These days, to get any wood trim, that doesnt have to be painted, is very expensive. You have nice quality trim from older growth lumber, and I just would not paint it. I did paint mine (definitely not white though ), but, in my house, it was necessary, since it was not in great shape. It actually should have been all replaced, but...

So is pine easier to paint then oak?? Like does it still have to be sanded lol

I think your doors and trim look quite nice. Try painting walls in your preferred colors and leaving the trim and doors for a year or so and see if you're still interested in painting them all. It's a good deal of work and/or money to do well and there's no going back to stained wood (without a ton of work) once you paint everything.

The pendulum has swung in favor of white painted trim and doors over the past decade, and I'm starting to see it swing back the other direction provided the wood isn't orange-toned or rustic (neither of which seem to apply to yours). The one thing I would paint now is the trim around your front door, since it contrasts with the white door and the surrounding windows give it a funky shape that I don't think the trim accentuates very well.

Why is my
Trim oak/pine and then the inside of the windows white? It’s like that in my entire home

Yes, it needs sanded, you cant get by without sanding. If you dont sand, all the paint will chip right off. The windows, may have all been replaced. Are they vinyl? Your house would most likely have had wood windows originally, and probably they were stained. If someone has had them all replaced, they chose the white finish. Its quite common to have the windows white, and rest stained for that very reason. I dont see any oak in your house in any of your pictures. It is all pine. Oak has a grain, that shows up even if the wood is painted, and is entirely different. Pine will not show the graining, if sanded, and primed and painted the correct way. Some people do not like oak grain showing, and they use a filler to fill all the grain in, before they paint it.

Cat_ky so in other words the pine is east I essentially easier to paint then oak? Because there isn’t grain to worry about