1. As much as you can, choose eggshell for walls – it looks great and most sample pints are made in that sheen so if you need a small touch up you only have to buy the sample version instead of a quart.
2. When choosing paint you’re going to be buying a bunch of sample paint pints. When you finally land on your favorite color, box it in with the gallon (or two or three) of the same paint you just purchased. Then after well mixed, pour some back into the sample pint container – now you have touch up paint in a perfectly matched shade.
3. To make perfectly crisp lines every freaking time, take masking tape (or painters tape I’m just cheap) place it on the line you’ve created (either with a level or freehand or whatever method you choose), run your hand over it to seal it initially, then use 30 minute dry all purpose caulk and wipe a bead along the seam of the tape. A little goes a long way – don’t leave a visible excess of caulk. It doesn’t matter how long it sits like that, once you paint over it you can let the paint dry or pull it off immediately but you will have a flawless line.
4. When painting multiple rooms cut in first and let it dry, you can go cut in the next room then come back and roll the first room, let that dry while you roll the next room, then go back and re-roll both rooms for two coats. Also, roll along the baseboards and ceiling first running your roller 90 degrees, then roll the corners, then roll in between. That really helps save time and get more paint on the wall faster.
5. Use good quality paint. I use Ben Moore and I rarely need to cut in more than one coat or roll more than two.
6. I only tape off the baseboards because rolling will splatter on it no matter how great your cutting in skills are.
7. I don’t care what anyone else says. Painting the door trim and ceilings before the walls is always easier. Baseboards can be painted at any time but I still prefer to paint them before the walls.
8. Don’t go the extra step and paint your trim before installing. You will still need to touch them up after installing and because semi-gloss will always flash a touch up you’ll end up painting the entire board. Plus, It’s rare that someone would have enough room to spray all the boards and allow them to dry flat. Then, if you have left overs you can’t return them because they are painted.
9. If you’re painting board and batten or wood trim over an entire wall, eggshell looks amazing. I only use semigloss when I need to be able to really wash it (I’m looking at you board and batten behind Jack’s toilet) or I’m too lazy to go buy some more paint because I’m always fully stocked with semi gloss in my favorite trim color.
10. Eggshell ceilings are my favorite sheen. (Unless you’re painting with Dunn Edwards then Velvet is my favorite). Don’t let a professional painter talk you out of putting a sheen on a ceiling. It will reflect a beautiful amount of light and make the room feel cozy and lived in and loved. And remember that the true sheen doesn’t show until the paint has completely cured – often over two weeks. By then the painter is long gone and the matte finish you chose will be looking pretty cheap and dingy.
