Painting Tips (So You Can Paint Like Better Than a Pro!)

Yesterday I had to go to Gwen’s house to address a little paint issue we had. Now I know this won’t be an incredibly exciting post (hey, I can’t go dumpster diving every day!), but I thought this info might help at least a handful of you, so I wanted to pass it along.

Here is the problem:


This is right next to the shower. Now I don’t know if there’s a special type of caulk that’s used with cultured marble, but what I do know is that it won’t take latex paint. When I painted this room, of course I painted right up to the cultured marble, but within a minute or two after painting, the caulk had repelled the paint. You probably can’t tell from the picture, but the paint literally “crawled” about 1/2 inch from the marble, and left a very uneven, feathered edge (which is obvious in the picture).

Here’s another area:


The paint did that literally all the way around the shower, and in some places around the tub.

But there is a way to fix this problem…


Use a bit of oil-based primer, let it dry, follow up with latex paint, and the problem is fixed. Here you can see that the oil-based primer actually stays in place, in a nice straight edge.

Now I want to give you one more painting tip. This is an important one, and all of you with crown molding will benefit (well, if you decide to paint your room, that is).

I don’t use painters tape when I paint a room, and people always seem amazed at my “steady hand” and the perfectly straight edges I get when I paint. Well, here’s my secret…I cheat. Take a look at this wall and crown molding.


Now that really is some pretty perfect painting, right? Gosh, I mean, I’m sooooo good, right?

Well, I like for people to think that. 🙂 But let’s take a look up close.


Can you see my trick? Yep, I paint onto the crown molding.

The fact is, no matter how steady your hand is, or how well you tape off a wall, the texture on the wall is going to affect the straight line. There will be bumps, uneven places…just enough to make a perfectionist go a little nutty.

So rather than try to create a perfectly straight line where it’s impossible to do so, I use the perfectly straight line that’s conveniently provided by the crown molding. I paint that tiny little 1/8″ to 1/4″ edge of the crown molding that meets the wall.

And the best thing in the world is this…the process goes incredibly fast if your crown molding is already painted with semi-gloss paint. That way all you have to do is paint the wall color on, not worrying about getting paint onto the crown molding, and then wipe away the excess paint with a wet rag, and you’re left with a perfectly straight edge. And most people will never, ever know the difference.

So there you have it…my secret to a perfect edge. But please, let’s just keep this between us. I’d hate for this information to get out and ruin the illusion of “Kristi, the Perfect Painter”, okay? I do have an image to uphold. 🙂

 

 

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12 Comments

  1. WOW that little tip may have just saved me a million hours of touch up work! I am so tempted to get the ladder our RIGHT NOW and get going!

  2. That is a great tip. I also learned from a painter years ago (when I was part of a model home design team) that another secret is a GOOD quality brush. NOT the little cheap ones we all try to use to save a few $$$.

  3. Kim, you're sooo right!! I always, ALWAYS use a 2 1/2 inch Purdy sash brush. They're fantastic.

  4. Thanks for the tip. We just moved in our new house and had some good paint on our wall. I'll do this next time.

  5. Something we did in our old house was we painted the mouldings before we put them up and then when we put them up we just put filler over the holes, and once it dried, we touched up ever so easily with the paintbrush.

  6. Recently I was on facebook and found this site. I must say, your site is awesome. I will share this straight away. The pictures are too good..very attractive!

  7. Interesting painting idea. By learning trade secrets and easy steps to painting, being a pro is easily attainable.

  8. Recently I was on facebook and found this site. I must say, your site is awesome. I will share this straight away. The pictures are too good..very attractive!

  9. Thanks for the tip. We just moved in our new house and had some good paint on our wall. I'll do this next time.