4 Simple Painting Tips

The past week has been a flurry of projects as I'm trying to wrap up the major decor items in the girls' bedroom.  Thankfully, the painting is finished! {well, I should say it's almost finished.  There are about 24 inches of the highest part of the vaulted walls yet to be painted, but we're going to wait to get a taller ladder and do that at the same time as the nursery}.  My part is done, though!  I even had enough paint to paint the upstairs bathroom the same color!  Woohoo!!  Bye-bye builder's grade paint :)

Since I've had paint on the brain this week, I thought I would give you a few tips for painting.  I am by no means an expert painter, but I have learned a couple things that have been extremely helpful in my painting endeavors.

1. Use a handled cup with a magnetic bar for cutting in trim.  The first time I painted a room I think I used a plastic cup when I painted around the trim.  This proved to be quite messy, and definitely not professional.  When we moved into this house and started painting, we discovered these handy little paint 'mugs'.  There is a magnetic piece on the inside that your trim brush will stick to {the metal part} so that your brush and paint are all in one small and secure place.

2. Purchase a teflon lined paint tray.  This has proven to be a wonderful investment for us!  Once the paint has dried in the pan, it pulls off so easily.  See image below for proof.

I don't know what brand we have, but here is one that I found on Lowes.com, in case you're looking to buy one.

via

3. Store paint laden rollers and brushes in ziploc bags in the fridge.  If you're painting a room and don't have time to do it all at one time, instead of washing out the rollers/brushes every time, simply put them in a bag, refrigerate, and they'll be ready to use when you have another spare moment.  I even used several plastic grocery bags for my roller this time, and it worked just fine.

4. Keep baby wipes handy for cleaning spills.  A wet rag or paper towel will work fine too, but I have found that baby wipes are perfect for wiping paint drips off of trim.

Just a few quick tips for you that will hopefully help save you some time when painting.

{For those who may be wondering, this is NOT the paint color that I used in the girls' bedroom!  This was a Glidden paint I received free last year and used it to paint the laundry room.  I haven't gotten any further than that in my laundry room, which is why you haven't seen any pictures of it on this little blog.  Maybe some day...}

What painting tips do you have?