The process you are using is pretty much the correct one, though I usually pick BIN for priming when the wood is previously stained and varnished because it sticks the best. Spraying will help you get there in fewer coats for sure and the end result should be brush mark free, but spraying is generally not something a novice painter can just pick up and learn in a few hours. It takes a lot of practice and some good hand eye coordination. I prefer to use an airless because it's faster, but if you want to mess around with spraying, I would suggest trying to rent a HVLP unit because it's slower. Another thing you can try to speed things up is applying the paint with a little 4" roller and then brushing it out. This just saves you some time dipping your brush into the paint so much. The roller helps to get the paint on faster.

As long as AIR & SURFACE temps are above 50, you're good to go. * If it's the 123 Latex Zinsser, 3 hours is usually enough, unless temps are below 50. * In the fall, the "painting window" is a lot shorter, depending on your location. * After each coat of paint, make sure there's 3-4 hours dry-time b4 temps go below 50/upper 40's again. * Dew can form pretty early too, and take a long time to dry off in the morning, so watch the dewpoints as well. Faron

We used a combination of pine/MDF. We used MDF were we could, as it is quite a bit cheaper than pine. In my experience, the MDF is easier to paint and cut, and won't crack if you nail close to the edges. We wanted to recreate a more "old farmhouse" look without too much work. Our house would never have had any "fancy" woodwork to begin with. For the pine, we used high quality, well sanded, and you can't see the grain through the paint anyway. I used a brush as I wanted the old, hand painted look. We created "corners" also. These are sort of like the two we found in a back closet. I think you would want to match the windows with the doors. And in case you are wondering, the flat peices are clear pine, and the moulded peices are MDF. We used a combination of MDF and pine to build the caps. The trim was cut and painted before getting put up (after the walls were painted). We uses 1x6 pine for the base with an MDF top. The top peice is flexible enought to conform to the variations in the wall, so helps to minimize those rather large gaps that can happen when using thicker base boards. Or you can use a lot of caulk and repaint (done that too). BTW- the actual window will get primed and painted once the weather is warm enough to have the windows open all day. Cathy

"IF YOU ARE GOING TO DISTURB LEAD-BASED PAINT FOLLOW THESE PRACTICES: Children and pregnant women must not do any lead paint removal work, and they should stay out of the work area until clean-up is complete. (See “Clean-Up.”) If you're not sure you can clean up every day, arrangements for temporary living quarters should be made. Work in one room at a time, and seal off the work area from the rest of the house, including any heating or ventilation ducts, using heavy plastic sheets (6-mil thickness). EVERYTHING in the room (furniture, rugs, carpets, floors, bedding, drapes, dishware, food, toys, etc.) must be removed, or covered with TWO sheets of plastic (6-mil) and all the seams taped. Plastic used to cover the floor should be secured to the wall or baseboard with duct tape. Wear disposable coveralls, shoes, hair covering, goggles and a properly fitting respirator. Only HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) respirators will filter lead dust and fumes. Simple paper or fabric dust masks will NOT protect you from lead dust. To avoid ingesting lead, do not eat, drink or smoke while working. Clean up carefully. Before leaving the work area, dispose of coveralls, and remove dust from your clothes with a HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner. Shower as soon as you can, so you do not spread lead dust around your home or elsewhere."