Painting your home can be fun and rewarding: Top Painting Tips You Can Use Today!

Painting your home can be fun and rewarding.  Here are some tips to help you with your project.

1. Move furniture out of room or cover it with a drop cloth.

2. Remove wall hangings, switch plates, ceiling fixtgures (if possible), window latches, doorknobs, etc.

3. Use painter's tape and plastic sheets to cover objects and surfaces taht will not be painted and cannot be moved. Cover the floor with drop cloths.

4. Wash the walls from the bottom up to prevent streatking. Rinse with water and a sponge.

5.  Use drywall compound to fill holes and smooth out rough areas in walls.  Once the compound is dry, lightly sand it with a sanding block.

6.  Vacuum up the dust  after sanding.

7.  Using painter's tape, tape baseboards and trim.

8.  Paint top to bottom.  Start with the ceiling, then the walls and woodwork.

9.  Paint the ceiling edges with a brush, creating a border about 2" to 3" wide. 

10. The easiest way to paint a ceiling is with a roller and extension handle.

11. Dip your roller in the paint tray and roll it back and forth on the ridged part of the tray.

12.  Use diagonal or zigzag strokes to get the paint on the surface.  Go back over the area with longer, up and down strokes to even out the surface.

13. When the ceiling is dry, start painting the walls.  Use a brush to paint corners, ceiling edges and areas adjacent to woodwork.

14. Use roller to paint in blocks of roughly 4x4 feet.  paint adjacent blocks before each previous block dries to help blend the edges.

15. Work from the ceiling down to the baseboards.  Do one entire wall or area at a time.

16. Paint molding and woodwork with a brush. Use masking tape to mask off adjacent areas (e.g., window panes, doors, etc.

17. Paint with the grain of the wood.  Use short strokes to coat the surface with paint, then use longer, smoother strokes for an even, finished surface.