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You have carefully selected your products and you have taken the time to properly prepare your room for painting. Now comes the moment of truth, applying the paint. As with any other home improvement project, there is a right way and a wrong way to do the job. Let us start with the ceiling and work our way down.

First, be sure to select paints specially designed for ceilings. It has a flat sheen so the ceiling will have an even look. It will also help diffuse light and it is formulated to spatter less than wall paint. And ceilings do not always need to be painted white. Try tinting the ceiling paint to tie in with the colors you have planned for the walls. As you can see, this particular ceiling has what is called the pop corn texture. Many of these textures are water soluble so it may dissolve and come down if you apply a water based latex paint. To avoid this, seal the surface with a white pigment as you like before you apply the paint.

Alright, let us start by cutting the edges of the ceiling with the brush. Now before you start any painting job, you should apply a thinner to your brush. Water for latex or mineral spirits for oil based paints and remove any excess. Dip your brush about 1/3 of the way up the bristles so paint does not accumulate all the way up to the ferrule. Gently tap the brush to both sides of the bucket but do not drag or press the brush against the rim, it will remove too much paint. Start your first brush stroke, 1 way from the edge and then return to the starting point and brush toward the edge. Then smooth the paint with a light touch. Tweedle the brush and start the next stroke on the wet edge and apply toward the dry. Then back paint toward the wet and lightly feather the two areas together with light strokes.

Now, only cut the edge for an area that you can roll off while maintaining the wet edge, say, a three by three foot section. Before you apply paint with a roller, prime the roller pad with a thinner and remove any excess. Dip the roller into a tray and saturate it with paint. Then remove the excess by gently rolling it back and forth across the graded portion of the tray. Begin rolling on paint along the still wet cut in edge to prevent overlap marks. Reload the roller often and roll slowly and lightly, then back roll to blend the paint. As you can see, we are using a roller with a long nap due to the rough textured surface. Continue working at small sections by first cutting along the wall then applying with the roller, rolling out the paint, then blend in. Also, be sure to vary the roller directions slightly because perfectly straight lines are more likely to show overlap marks. Repeat this process until the ceiling is done and immediately wipe up any drip marks on your walls as you go.

Now, make sure you apply blue paint to any ceiling molding before applying paint to the wall. The process is similar to painting a ceiling. You want to wok in small sections and cut in as much as you can roll off before it dries. Begin by rolling along the vertical wet edge in one corner of the room and then paint a three foot high W pattern and fill the pattern in. Once you have completed enough W patterns to fill the floor to ceiling section, fill your roller with a light load and blend the sections. And if you need to stop before completing your room, stop in either an inside or outside corner. This will help hide some of the subtle color or sheen differences you may have when you continue painting later. Continue the process of cutting and rolling until all the walls in the room are completed. Allow this coat to dry for at least 12 hours before applying a second coat and allow the finish walls to cure for at least 24 hours before you mask off the walls to paint trim. This way paint will not come off with the tape when it is removed. If you buy premium products, prep the surface and use a proper technique, you will get professional results every time.

You have carefully selected your products and you have taken the time to properly prepare your room for painting. Now comes the moment of truth, applying the paint. As with any other home improvement project, there is a right way and a wrong way to do the job. Let us... click to read more