Painting a room is something that most everyone has done or will do at some point. Here are five tools that will make your next painting project more successful.
House painting doesn't have to be difficult, messy or extraordinarily time consuming. One of my first jobs was as a professional house painter and I am fortunate to have learned from the pros. These five essential tools are always in my tool kit when we decide to paint the walls.
For Cutting In: The right brush
If you are using latex based paint, which I hope you are if you are painting a room, you'll want a good 2.5 inch cutting brush. I have used a Purdy brush very much like this one for several years and have been very happy with it. Idahopainters' video clearly explains good cutting in technique for this kind of brush.
For Rolling On: 5 gallon grid and a 5 gallon bucket
Rolling paint on walls with a 5 gallon grid and 5 gallon bucket is cleaner, easier and produces better results than using a roller tray. It is much easier to get paint evenly coated on the roller with a grid so it will be easier to get paint evenly coated on your walls.
For Dealing with Mistakes in the Moment: A damp rag
It is easiest to clean up painting mistakes right when they happen because if you wipe up wet paint you will be able to clean all of it off the surface. I always have a damp rag in my pocket to clean up door frames, window jams and floors that are the target of accidental over painting.
For a Hard to Reach Fix: Putty knife or five-in-one tool
You will inevitably get paint in a corner where you didn't want it and it is difficult to reach. Wrap your damp rag around a putty knife to cleanly remove any paint from the surface where it does not belong.
For Prep: Painter's tape
Even though I can confidently cut around every obstacle in a room, I always tape off the baseboards or the floor when I roll the walls. Rolling is messy and small flecks of paint get everywhere. Tape baseboards carefully to get a clean line of new paint and avoid over spray from the roller.
MORE PAINTING ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
- Before and After: Painting a San Francisco Victorian
- On Trend: Ombre Painted Dresser
- Ceiling Stripes for HJ
(Image: Flickr member anneh632 licensed for use under Creative Commons)
Which Wall Color Gives the Best Sleep?
Marisa and Peter's Playfully Eclectic Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
10 Low-Budget Pantry Items Everyone Should Have
Summer Recipe: Gluten-Free & Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
Such great tips!...the damp rag saved my a$$ time and time again when I was working on painting my walls!
Also, those little plastic paint cups. Great for testing different colors, for painting smaller areas and trim (so you don't have to paint straight out of the bucket which can let contaminants into the paint and leave it exposed to the air for too long), and for doing touch ups.
Following Tinka777's suggestion, cheap, semi-disposable containers are very handy.
For example-- http://www.target.com/p/Ziploc-Container-Medium-Bowl/-/A-12972027
Oh YES...A damp rag is a must!!! Also, I like to have a small art brush on hand for those extra-tricky tiny spaces.
I'd like to add that since I tried Frog Tape, I can't imagine going back to any other brand. Much cleaner lines, better adhesion, and yet it seems to release just as well. It costs more but works so much better!
We've been painting our entire house over the past couple months. We've done four rooms so far and have learned a lot.
After taping the first room and the paint still getting all over the place we decided not to tape anymore. Instead we chose lightish colors, painted the trim before the walls, and used a GOOD tapered brush (purdy) to cut in.
That way I can paint the trim first and not worry about it getting on the walls. It is much easier for me to cut in the walls than the trim. If I get a little paint on the trim, I can wipe it off with the damp rag easier than wiping messy trim paint off the walls. If you use lightish colors sometimes the wall paint that gets on the sides of the trim doesn't even really show.
I might not be explaining this very well. But do the trim first yourself and you'll see what I mean!
And great paint!! I just painted my entire apartment using Benjamin Moore's Aura paints. Aura is INCREDIBLE paint! It made the entire job so easy and it looks amazingly professional.
This is really good advice, but I disagree on one point: painting is *always* a messy job. Even for the pros (look at the guy in the cutting in video, all full of paint splatter.) That is why I hate painting, even though the actual painting can be quite relaxing and the end result really fulfilling. But the mess, the cleanup, UGH!
And a wet rag's great, but what about dark colors? I just painted a navy wall, and getting little misshaps off with a rag was a color dragging nightmare. Speaking of which, is there specific advice for painting with dark colors?
When painting a room a dark color, make sure you have bright lights to make sure you're getting full coverage. Look at the wall from multiple angles as you're going along.
For all colors, if you're repainting the baseboards too, remove the caulk above the board (if applicable) and paint the wall first. Then tape a horizontal line slightly (1/4") above the baseboard and use paintable caulk to fill the gap. Run a wet finger over the caulk like normal. Paint the baseboards, then remove the tape. You will have a razor sharp line.
Tape is a waste of time if you're dealing with old walls and old moulding; you're not going to have a remotely sharp angle anywhere in the place, and even the best tape and tape techniques are going to result in a lot of paint seeping under.
eeka thus, the caulking. You're actually taking away the sharp corner edge and allowing it to visually blend directly into your sharp tape line. If you're still seeing seepage make sure you're prepping the wall: sand and wash as necessary.
Lathe & plaster may need some spackle and priming, but it can be done.