Making Old Baseboards Look Pretty

There is something really satisfying about painting the walls of a room a fresh new color. Everything looks so clean! Unless, of course, you live in a 200-year-old house. That's when you lower your eyes and look at the stained, beat-up old baseboards and think, "Well, dang! Those look even worse now..."

Fixing up baseboards isn't too complicated. But it is a giant pain, mostly because they are ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, and you have to sit on the floor and scoot around to do them. I've been tackling them one section at a time, which is much more manageable. I start at one end and then follow that particular baseboard around corners and whatnot until I get to a natural stopping point. And then I take a break, because I do, at some point, have to parent my children, and I don't feel like scooting around on the floor all day with a paintbrush!

But I digress.

What You Will Need:

• White Paint (something durable and glossy)
• Angled Trim Paintbrush (2" or 3")
• Painter's Tape
• White latex ("painter's") caulk
• Caulk gun
• Paint scraper
• Wood filler (if there are holes to fill in)

STEP ONE: Prep the surface. Baseboards get pretty dirty! Take a soft, damp cloth and wipe them down really good. You may need to use the paint scraper to remove old paint drips that have dried, or who-knows-what-else that might be stuck on there. Get it nice and clean!

STEP TWO: Get that painter's tape out and tape off the top and bottom of the baseboard, so that you don't get paint on the wall or the floor! Go slowly, work carefully, and press the tape down firmly so that the paint can't leak underneath. Please note that if you did a bad job cleaning in Step 1, the tape won't stick very well. Don't say I didn't warn you! And yes, the reason I know this is because I've done this. More than once. :P

STEP THREE: Paint! This is the fun part. Follow the grain of the wood and apply nice, even coats. You'll probably have to do two coats. As soon as you think you've done enough coats, remove the painter's tape and let the baseboards dry.

STEP FOUR: This is the most complicated part, but it REALLY gives baseboards a "finished" appearance. If there is no visible gap/crack between the top of the baseboard and the wall, you can probably ignore this step. But chances are, there is EXACTLY such a crack. So read on! Get some painter's tape and tape JUST ABOVE the edge of the baseboard, on the wall. You should be able to see just a little sliver of the wall color between your tape and the baseboard. See all those little jagged pieces? They're going to disappear!

Now, cut the tip of the caulk at an angle, creating just a SMALL hole (bigger hole = lots more wasted caulk!). Use the caulk gun and squeeze a THIN line of caulk along the top ledge of your baseboard. You can view my expert technique in the following picture (haha!!). It doesn't have to be pretty. Obviously. :)

Next, use your finger and run it along the ledge to get the caulk nice and smooth (keep paper towels handy!). Remove the tape, and VOILA! Good as new!

It's really not so bad, until you imagine yourself doing this to thousands of feet of wall. ACK! But clean, crisp moulding makes a HUGE difference in a room, and it's a cheap thing to do! It's definitely worth the hassle!

P.S. The exact same techniques apply to fixing up door trim and crown moulding, too! Crown moulding is especially unpleasant, since you have to work with your arms constantly above your head. Maybe I'll post about that some day... Fun times!