How To Upgrade Your Door Trim – Beginner Friendly!

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When we first moved in to our house, our entryway was VERY boring! I did a few things here and there to liven it up but was never satisfied with it. While remodeling other rooms I started replacing the door and window trim as I went. This is a high impact upgrade that can really transform a space! Especially if you go bold and paint your doors and trim something other that white! I only do a few doors at a time as I’m working in a space rather than going and doing all the doors at once.

I start by scoring the caulk along the inside and outside of the trim with a sharp razor blade.

I usually use a large flathead screwdriver and a hammer to pry the trim off once the caulk was scored, but they also make this handy dandy tool that helps protect your drywall when removing trim. I’ve damaged plenty of drywall myself with my screwdriver and hammer method. This time I used a hammer and a multi tool to remove it, which worked better than the screwdriver.

Once the trim is removed I like to bend the nails that are left in the trim so that way they aren’t sticking up just incase someone steps on it or falls on it. Then there will be some nails that are left in the drywall, I just remove these with the claw side of my hammer.

You will most likely still have some caulk left on the wall that you will need to remove. I use this type of razor because it’s easy to get the caulk off with. If there is caulk left on your floor, you will want to remove that as well.

Now, you should be ready for your trim. I use this 1×3 primed pine for the sides. You will want to measure and cut each piece separately. You can see below, these 2 pieces have a pretty big size difference for going on the same door. Not sure how that happens, but it does.

I usually sand these with my orbital sander before installing. This will leave an extra smooth finish and if you sand them outside you won’t have to worry about the dust in your house. I install these about the same place on the inside as the previous trim. about 1/8 of the way out past the casing. You should be able to see the old caulk line, that’s about where I put it. I nail the pieces in place with brad nails, no need for glue. You may also need to trim away baseboards if the pieces you are installing are wider than your previous trim. You can use a multi tool for this.

Next, I use 1×2 primed pine and put it on its side sitting above the 1x3s. I take my measurement from the outsides of the 1x3s on the top and add an inch so that way the 1x2s overhang the 1x3s by a half inch on both sides. I nail them down into the 1x3s. Be sure to keep your fingers far away from where you are shooting the nails in, they can turn and come out of the wood into your finger if you aren’t careful.

Next, I add a 1×4 primed pine above the 1×2 and nail it into place. This 1×4 will be cut the exact width of the outsides of the 1x3s so it won’t overhang like the 1x2s do.

Last, you’ll add another 1×2 that overhangs by a half inch on both sides to the top. I just nail down into the 1×4. One thing I will try next time is to assemble the 1x2s and 1x4s ahead of time and then just nail the whole top piece into the drywall.

I replaced the trim on my French doors leading into our office, the front door and the coat closet door. Once the wood was all installed, I filled the nail holes with wood filler and I caulked where the wood met the wall and where the wood met each other, you want to make sure your caulk is paintable! Once all that was dry I sanded the wood filler with 220 grit sandpaper and then went over all the trim with a tack cloth to get the dust off. Then it was time for paint. I’ve painted all my trim and doors in Accessible Beige by SW and I’m loving the contrast it gives to a boring space! It’s still neutral so it’s not a huge risk, but it’s more exciting than just white. This is my FAVORITE paint brush! The bristles are super soft and it leaves a smooth finish. For the doors I use the brush in the grooves and a foam roller on the flat surfaces.

I even painted my French doors! This was a pain because of all the glass. But I stayed in the lines the best I could and then used my razor to scrape off the excess paint.

Once all the trim was painted, I felt like the brown door stuck out like a sore thumb! I tried living with it for a few days and still hated it! So I primed and painted it!

I didn’t tell Tyler I was doing it, I wanted to see how long it would take him to realize the door was beige! He probably would have never noticed if Mia didn’t point it out to him! ha! What a tattle tale!

This was obviously before I built the built in unit in my entryway or built the new entryway table. But just this pop of neutral color in here really made a huge difference!

Do you think this is a project you could take on? You need the wood, a sander, a miter saw, a trim remover tool, a nail gun, maybe a multi tool, wood filler, caulk and some fresh paint!

Entryway links here.

Next up, entryway reveal!!