I’m baaack! Hi all, sorry we’ve been MIA. Last week kicked off the first leg of some traveling we’ll be doing (we’re headed out again in about 10 days) so things may be a little sporadic around the blog for a bit. Anyway, I had started this post a few weeks ago while we were elbows deep in painting the living room and thought it was about time I share.

Here are a few tips that have made our lives easier when it comes to painting.

Paint the ceiling first.

If for no other reason than this is the most back-breaking part, so get it over with. We lay down drop cloths to cover the room and protect any furniture. Paint will inevitably splatter down at you so don’t skip this step. We’re pretty careful people but you can never be careful enough. Also, word to the wise, if you wear glasses like me, try to wear an older pair when painting or suck it up and use protective goggles because you WILL get paint on your glasses.

Now you can move on to painting the walls.

Painting the walls as step two works nicely. Don’t bother taping off trim. Honestly, just focus on having a relatively steady hand, especially up near the ceiling, when cutting in. And if you have trim like crown molding and  base boards you’ll probably be painting that anyway so any deviant paint will get covered when you go to do that anyway. I like to cut in using a 2 1/2″ angled brush. We like the XL line by Purdy. Also, get yourself a quality roller with a nice nap as well. We also like Purdy rollers with a 3/8 to 1/2 inch nap. We like to cut in and paint smaller sections to keep the “wet edge” for a seamless finish. For example, we cut in approximately 4′x4′ then roll it out, then move on to another section.

Paint your trim as the final step.

So, for those of you that are able to paint trim without taping off with painters tape, hat’s off to you. You are my hero and I both admire and hate you at the same time. Seriously people, what’s the secret here. I tried it this way and let’s just say, epic fail. I was better at staying in the lines in second grade. So for those of you like me, get some good painters tape and tape off your trim.

The trick here is to continue to paint the trim as if you were trying to paint without the tape. As in, don’t glob paint over the tape. Also, REMOVE THE TAPE AS SOON AS YOU ARE DONE. We’ve learned the hard way ripping tape off after paint has dried and let’s just say, it peels chunks of paint away as well. Boo.

What brush to use? We have two favorites. Both are 2″ short-handled angled brushes. The first one is called the Premium XL Tight Spots 2″ Angle Short Handle Brush.

The second (and probably my favorite) is the Purdy XL Cub 2″ Angle Brush.

I found both of these brushes at my local Sherwin Williams paint store.

At the end of the day, I’m not much into all the painting gadgetry available. However, there are a few additional little gems that have made our lives easier. Here are our discoveries.

Wire Brush

Perfect for cleaning your brushes. More on that in a future post.

ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape with Edge Lock

Gave me nice clean and crisp lines for trim painting. Virtually no seepage around the edge of the tape.

Handy Paint Pail

Easy to hold and seriously prevents hand fatigue, especially when you need to hold a smaller amount of paint for cutting in purposes. Also comes with handy disposable liners and a magnetic brush holder.

SHUR-LINE Paint Can Lid

I LOVE THIS THING. Made pouring paint into the tray So. Much. Easier. Seriously. It made that step much easier to manage and clean-up was very easy.

Again, stay tuned for a future post on how we clean our brushes. We’ll compile some of the tips and tricks that have worked best for us so we protect our investment because a good brush isn’t exactly cheap!

(PS: In case you were curious, I feel it necessary to mention that we were not in any way paid or otherwise compensated for mentioning the products in this post. We just love them and wanted to share.)