After just 3½ short years of living in our Little House On The Corner, we’ve finally started to make some serious progress on restoring most of our interior doors.
A few weeks ago we already shared the first step of the work with you – stripping away layers and layers of old paint.
Being slightly optimistic completely overly ambitious, we thought it would take around another day to give everything a sand. Needless to say, it ended up taking just a bit longer… instead of a day, it probably ended up being more like another 4 days – but we did decide to strip and sand the complete frames on both sides and not just in the hallway.
As much as the sanding is getting us down now, we know that the pained finish will be so much better because of the hours and hours of prep work we are doing.
In some parts the woodwork was quite damaged and required quite a lot of filling and patching up, especially in the areas where the original lock would have been. Now, after painting everything the area is hardly visible.
The first coat of paint always makes me wonder if painting woodwork is a good idea and if it wouldn’t have been better leaving it natural. But really it isn’t an option as the doors and frames are in parts quite damaged.
The first coat of paint always looks really patchy when painting woodwork , but as soon as the second coat goes on it looks much better and after the third we’re always relieved and sure that painting everything was the right decision.
It’s weird how much brighter the already light hallway seems. More importantly though, it has a really crisp and clean feel – no more yellow, chipped paint in sight. We still need to sort our doors, finish the skirting, paint the office door frame and we still need to completely strip and sand the door frame to the fourth bedroom, but it’s already sooo much better than before.
It’s surprising how much work it takes to strip, sand and paint woodwork, but the result is worth it every time.
We’re already looking forward to painting and decorating our hallway. Do you have any suggestions? Do you prefer painted woodwork or do you prefer to keep in natural?
Emily says
Hi Christine,
I’ve been reading your blog with interest, the house looks amazing. I only have a small flat to do but sometimes the amount to do feels overwhelming!
I also have a LOT of woodwork to strip, but am a bit concerned about the possibility of lead paint. Did you have any lead paint on your skirting and how did you deal with this?
Thanks very much.
Christine says
Thank you so much Emily! I know what you mean about it feeling overwhelming, but it is worth it in the end (at least that’s what I keep telling myself). We didn’t have any lead paint, but it’s always worth testing to be on the safe side. You can buy lead test kits which will indicate if you have lead paint. I can’t remember which one we uesd, but there is a selection over at Amazon.
Cx
Jessica@CapeofDreams says
Whether I like the trim natural or painted depends on the house. When the trim is in really good condition in a Craftsmen style or Victorian house, I love it. However, usually I prefer the trim to be painted. I really wish that I had taken the time to strip my trim before painting it. The house is not even that old, but there is a lot of paint built up in the doorways. That may happen someday, but first I have to finish painting the trim in the living and dining room that has been partially painted for over two years!
Christine says
Love that we’re not the only ones that start painting something and end up finishing it years later, Jessica! Originally the woodwork in our home would have been painted, so I guess it’s justifiable to do it again – and I do love the crisp white finish.
Cx
Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse says
It’s funny, I’m just like you. When I’m at the first coat stage, I always think “what have I done? THis is a huge mistake!” and then after the second coat I’m like “this was a great idea!”
Christine says
Haha, glad we’re not the only ones!
Cx