Painting Oak Crown Molding

[Deleted]

Has anyone painted over oak crown molding and/or an oak mantel?  Our new house has it throughout the house and I prefer the look of white crown molding/white mantel.  Can I just paint over it or do I have to sand it down first?

[Susie]

We're about 3 rooms deep into painting the oak trim in our house.  I would really strongly suggest lightly sanding, even though it's a pain.  It'll paint just fine if you don't, but it's more likely to chip.  (That might not matter tons for crown, but it will for chair rails, baseboards, door frames, mantles that you will put things on, etc.)  Then prime, then paint.  The primer doesn't have to be opaque, just cover the wood.  On top of the primer, I needed to do 3 coats of semi gloss to completely cover the dark trim with no dark streaks showing through.  It is slow going, but doing it right means you don't have to go back and fix it later - worth it.

For funsies:

Before:


During:  primer only on the trim


After:

[Deleted]

OMG the after picture looks so much better! I love it! It is going to take us a long time to do the whole house since it is in every single room. Thanks for the advice.

[Deleted]

Ugh...hire someone.

Best decision I ever made because my house is FULL of ugly oak.