Painting Tips according to my Mama

So, as I said in my last post- my Mom painted for me. This past week I had to work in the afternoons, and while I helped a tad in the morning before I had to go pick up my client- Mom continued after I left. She painted the whole front entrance/ livingroom/ stairwell/ upstairs hallway all by herself- TWICE. I can't thank her enough- the colour the previous owners had on the walls was giving me hives I swear. You've seen it in the pictures of the stairs pre-reno- a peachy beige that set my teeth on edge- probably because it clashed so horribly with the dark walnut floors downstairs and the oak stairs upstairs.

Old colour on the right- peachy gross. New colour on the left in the entrance- Classic Silver by Behr.

I did manage to get some awesome painting tips from my Mama before rushing off to work though- so I'll share those with you here, cause my Mom is the painting wizard extraordinare and extremely picky about her paint jobs- if my Mom tells you how to do something- you can take it to bank.

1) Don't bother taping off your trim while doing the wall colour. Just get a really good 1 inch thin-edged paintbrush (she likes the Purdy brushes sold at Home Depot) and cut in. Cutting in is a lot easier than I expected- just don't put to much paint on your brush, and slowly follow the edge of your trim. Keep a damp rag with you (I bought a big box of rags before we started the renos and they are getting used!) and wipe it off if you get a lot on the trim. Once your wall colour has two coats and is dry- THEN tape off the trim and paint it. We've been using FrogTape (just the 1 inch multi-surface one) and it's been working really well.

2) Use eggshell or satin finish on your walls. Flat paint scruffs like crazy- and it'll stop looking new almost instantly. I'm using eggshell on my walls because I like the look of flat but not how easy it is to mess up- that tiny bit of sheen makes it all that much more forgiving.

3) Use untinted Kilz Pro-X for your trim. It blocks stains, and if you don't get it tinted you'll have crisp beautiful white no matter what. Get it in semi-gloss to make it easy to clean. And even though you aren't having it tinted, have it shaken at the paint counter.

4) Remove all the light switch/ outlet covers first! This seems obvious but I was about to cut in around one when she stopped me. TAKE EM OFF!

5) Invest in good equipment. Chances are you aren't just going to ever paint one room in your life. Get a good roller cage (the pro ones at Home Depot with black and yellow handles work awesome), get good rollers (again, she likes Purdy White Dove) and brushes. It really does affect the finish of your walls. And you'll use them over and over and over.

6) Get a contractor pack of rollers- once you clean them they never have quite the same finish to them again- and they're pretty cheap. Use one, and toss.

7) Against popcorn ceilings- don't even attempt to tape. You'll make a huge mess. Just get out that thin edged brush you bought and cut in- kind of in a stippling motion. You'll be surprised by how easy it is. Then pull the paint out a good two to three inches from the ceiling so you don't have to go anywhere near the popcorn with your roller- which is the kiss of death.

For this room I chose Behr's paint and primer in one- and it worked incredibly well. After two coats the walls looked flawless. It's also a lot cheaper than Benjamin Moore or Dulux. We used just under two gallons for the entire front entrance/ livingroom/ double height stairwell/ upstairs hallway area- it went really far!! And we only needed one gallon of the Kilz Pro-X for the trim.

I don't have any other pictures of the room yet because it's still a disaster zone- today we cut new baseboards!! But I'll write about that next time.  This entire area is really coming together- I can't believe it's the same house! I can't thank my Mom enough for painting for me- now when I wake up in the morning I don't immediately feel all upset- my new colour is so much more calming! Thank you Mommy!!