Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Painting Tongue and Groove Pine

I know that painting over wood can be a topic of debate for many people. There are purists that will tell you to never paint over any wood, ever! Then there are people that will tell you to paint anything and everything.  

I probably fall somewhere in the middle. If I lived in a historic home with original woodwork, I would probably leave it as it. But I don't. And that's why I painted this wall white:


I did take before and in-progress photos, but I seemed to have deleted them all. Oops! Here's a little photo of what the wood looked like before.


It's the real-deal tongue and groove pine. There's a whole lot of wood going on in this tiny house and they're all different types and colors of wood.  Yellow pine, gray barn wood, dark ceilings, cherry stained cabinets, etc. It's a very busy look for a very small house. 

Time to brighten and simplify this space. Paint to the rescue! 

First, wipe down the wood. You want a clean surface to start with. You could lightly sand, but I didn't. My wood is pretty smooth.



If you have holes or uneven knots in you wood, you may want to use a paintable, sandable wood filler on these areas. I've used Minxwax Stainable Wood Filler on other projects with good results. 





I decided to leave the wood as-is. It is a wood wall and I didn't want to completely hide that. Just purty it up!  




Then, two coats of primer. I used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3. 




I used a brush to get in the cracks and a small foam roller for the flat areas. I also brushed over any dark knots in the wood with an extra little coat to make sure they didn't show through.

After the primer has fully dried, apply two coats of paint. I used a white, semi-gloss, latex paint. Nothing fancy... most types would probably do. 



So far it's held up well and it really brightens up the room. I don't regret painting it at all! 

I sometimes have reservations about painting things in my house because my parents built it (guilt!). I have to remember that it's my house and I'm living in it now. It took me forever to finally paint this brass chandelier, but I love it white so much, I wish I'd done it sooner!  

Happy painting!!  





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