I love a good tip, the kind where you think “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”. That has been one of my favorite things about Pinterest, all sorts of tips like that. I have pinned all kinds of painting tips that I wished I had found years ago; I have logged quite a few hours, days, okay weeks of painting in the last ten years, and these tips and tricks would have come in handy. I will share the ones I have found, and then a few of my favorites too. Also, if you would like an invite to Pinterest, just let me know and I will pull your email from the comments!
Great Painting Tips ~ from Made pinned by Melissa Carpenter
Place a rubber band over the Paint can to wipe the excess paint off ~ from In My Own Style pinned by Deb Scott
Line Paint Tray With Tin Foil ~ from Martha Stewart pinned by Amy Slabbert
Clean Paint Brushes With Hot Vinegar (this works, I tried it!) ~ from This Old House pinned by Johanne Marcil
Paint Swatch Sticks (again, wish I had known this) ~ from Martha Stewart pinned by Sarah Davidson
Leftover Paint Storage (wished I had seen this idea years ago!) ~ from Martha Stewart pinned by Rowena Murillo
If you are interested, you can find all my pins here.
Okay, now here are a few of my own:
- Learn to cut in ~ I found this video and it is pretty close to how I do it. It takes a little practice, but so worth it! It saves a bunch of time not having to tape off everything. Now that I am good at it, it looks so much better than when I tape.
- If you just can’t cut in ~ Take the tape off while the paint is still wet. Tape, paint around tape, then pull off. There is nothing more annoying than when the paint tears!
- Get crisp lines on stripes ~ If you are painting stripes in a room or one wall a different color, a lot of times the paint will bleed through the tape, leaving a jagged edge. So just tape, then paint the color that is already down, and let dry. That is the paint that will bleed through, and it’s the same color, no biggie! Then paint the contrasting color, and take off tape ~ works every time!
- Use painters calk to clean up your edges ~ I take the calk and a wet wash cloth, run a thin strip of caulk then get a finger tip wet with the cloth, and drag my finger over the caulk to smooth it. I love to do this around window frames, ceilings, and base boards after I paint. It gives everything a nice crisp look. I use white, and make sure then paint is dry.
- Just wrap it up ~ If I am not finished painting a room, but am finished for the night, I just wrap everything in tin foil to use the next day rather than washing it all out.
Now it’s your turn, what’s your best painting tip? Links welcome!
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
great tips! I’m in the process of painting our mantel so this is all great info!
Oh I so want to paint my mantle, but it scares me to death! Good luck…okay, no, I should say “you can do it!”
These are awesome tips. I’ll be gearing up to paint a new house this spring, and I think the elastic is absolutely genius. I’ve used Martha’s tupperware+label trick, it rocks.
Chris, the tupperware trick is my favorite out of the bunch, I kid you not, I have about 25 paint cans that I have hung onto for touch ups. Going to buy me some little ones tomorrow
And I used the rubber band one today, painting trim outside on my house, worked great. I was worried I might fling myself with paint but all was well.
I’m with you on cutting in. I worked on a paint crew in college and learning that one skill there has saved me so much time and trouble!
Yes! It even made painting fun again, the worst part was always taping off!
Thanks for the paint tips! Would you invite me to Pinterest? Looks like something I could make good use of.
Thanks for sharing!
I would LOVE an invite to Pinterest! We just finished painting our entry way and stairway and the whole “cutting in” with a paintbrush was by far the hardest. Thank goodness for painters tape.
Great article, would love a pinterest invite
I want to strip all the ugly 1970′s wallpaper off my bedroom and paint it. The thought of taking a project like this is intimdiating if not terrifying! I will file these tips if I decide to do it! I am not a “home decor” person and some of that is due to the face I have lived in parsonages almost my entire life (i.e. church owns the house) and the church usually did everything. But now things have changed drastically and we have a lot of control of what we do and don’t want to do with this house.
And I would love an invite to Pinterest!
Thank you for your awesome article!! I am starting to paint my craft/reading room. I wanted to do something a bit different so I am painting verticle stripes on the bottom part of the walls then painting the top part one solid color and dividing the top and bottom sections with a chair rail. It will not be an easy project but your tips have sure helped me! Thanks!!
Also, may I please have an invite to Pinterest! : )
love love love your tips, I would also like an invite to pinterest!!!
Oh dear, I am just seeing this! Sent!
Great tips! I am going to be painting my studio soon, so these will come in handy. Found your blog today and have spent the afternoon reading it! Love it – especially all the DIY and sewing stuff. Inspirational!
Pinterest sounds great – would love an invite.
Well with compliments like that, how can I deny you?! Thank you so much
Off to send you an invite!
I’d LOVE if you would link up to Mommy Club Tuesday Linky! (It shows up both on MilkandCuddles.com & Crystalandcomp.com!)
You can link up here: http://tinyurl.com/3h45jwb
Shannon
MilkandCuddles.com
PS. I’m your newest follower!
I have re-discovered your blog and I can’t imagine how I lived without it! You all have the best tips on here…and now I can really save myself some time and frustration with all the painting that I do. Thanks for the tips!
I would love an invite to pintrest as well..thanks so much keep up the great work!!
So glad you found us again too! Sent the invite!
Please add mento p interest please:)
Not sure where I heard this, but I tried it today and it totally worked. Before pouring paint out of the can, use a hammer and nail to poke a hole in the groove where the paint always gets stuck. After pouring out the paint into your container, the excess paint will drip right through the hole, leaving the groove nice and empty.
That is genius! Thank you so much for sharing!
Saran Wrap Press N’ Seal is every painter’s best friend! You can wrap a wet paint brush in it and it will stay ready to use for over a week, I’ve also just press n’ sealed my roller right into my paint tray for several days and it was like I had just poured fresh paint… I never ever use painter’s tape, total waste of time and money, you get a much cleaner look just free handing the cutting-in, before you start cutting in figure out which direction is easier for you to paint in and start at the opposite side of the wall so you are always brushing into wet paint with a steadier hand… Poking holes in your paint can groove is a must do!! It makes pouring so much easier.
Awesome tips! I too just wrap my brushes, but never thought to use the press an seal, would work great on the paint tray too. Thanks so much for sharing!
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