Thank you sambah006. What about the other woodwork? I have already rolled the doors (several years ago). They have a slight texture - I may have used a thinner, but not brushed after. The wainscotting is not up yet, and everything else is max 6" wide. I am most concerned about the interior panels - the larger recessed surfaces.

The overall size of various pieces and where natural breaks are would determine whether or not I rolled and then brushed, or just brushed. But if I had a whole room of wainscoting paneling to paint, the roller first it would probably be. If it were just a single door, maybe just the brush depending on my mood, the temperature, etc.

I'd be careful of which white I used too, if painting in white with oil paint. Because the color will shift over time to a warmer tone. So if you're looking to use a cool white it might turn ugly. But if you're painting in warm white the paint should just mellow to warmer tone in time like a really faint ivory color.

If you are using acrylic paint, it's very hard if not impossible to brush out a door, or any large surface, and have it come out looking good. You should either roll the door and leave it or roll the door and brush out the rolled paint. Modern day paints just dry too fast. Aura is a good product for rolling and the Aura extender you can buy to increase the open time is also good. Regal is not really a good product for rolling...it does not self level as good as the Aura. Also, this does take practice. DIY'ers and homeowner painters have 2 tendencies. They do not put enough paint on and they overwork the paint. The key to getting paint to look good is to put the paint on heavy and then leave it. After 15 second have passed, do not go back into an area that you have already painted. Try a 4" Wooster Pro Dooz sleeve, 3/8" nap or even 1/4" if you are afraid that 3/8" is too big. The pros always tend to use bigger naps than the homeowners. Try not to get frustrated...painting these days is hard! This is why I try to spray as much as I can.

I forgot to mention that I will be replacing the stair and guardrail balusters and adding newel posts. The balusters are primed square 1.25" wide wood. I will be installing them close together, maybe 2" apart, so I plan to paint them before installing, then touch up afterward.

Should I use the thin paint approach and roller/brush? Any tips for technique? Should I paint vertically or horizontally? I am concerned about paint dripping or clumping. I will need to cut them, and I could do that after painting if it helps to have an extra "handle" on the end. Or should I try spraying them since they are so small? What should I rig up to hold them? They have a dowel cutout on one end that I may or may not use.

It might be fairly easy to just roll the spindles if they are just flat without any detail. You could also spray them. What I did for spraying spindles is drill a bunch of holes the same size as that dowel into a 2X4, stick the spindles in those holes and spray away...I did have to attach some crosspieces to the 2X4 so that it doesn't fall over. I know other painters have put a screw in the top of each spindle and hang them up somehow. Another method is to just lean them on a wall, spray one side, spin them around and spray the other.

Jane,

Here's an example of the spindle rack.

Spindle Rack

I painted my bathroom cabinets with little, if any brush marks. I used Cabinet Coat paint, a good Purdy brush and small foam rollers.

I'm older than dirt but to me, the only thing that should be rolled is a ceiling or walls. ALL woodwork and trim should be painted with a brush. I love handpainted (with a brush) kitchen cabinets, but today, factories do spray them. Spraying at home is quite another matter as the cabinet companies have some sort of catalytic finish they put on the sprayed paint. Yes, painting doors and cabinets with a brush takes longer, but it looks right when you're finished. I'd cut the hand off any painter I hired who tried to use a roller on a door...

We are just rolling with the times. Back in the old oil paint days, we used a brush for trim painting and this worked fine because the paint dried slowly, so you had more open time. During the transitional period when people started using latex paints more often for everything, you could still use a brush because the paints were a vinyl/acrylic mix. Now, the paints are 100 percent acrylic, and brushing it out just isn't a good option anymore. I decided to retire the brush in favor of the roller because it just looks better. The idea behind rolling is to arrive at a finish that looks sprayed. If you are ending up with giant roller stipple like you may have on the walls, then you are doing it wrong.

I would not like woodwork or doors that look "sprayed". I had a hard enough time going with factory sprayed cabinets! I still use oil based paint for woodwork in my house.