Last year, I had my 3rd baby. The thing about having a baby is that you sit a lot! I never understood how to stand and breastfeed at the same time, so I could choose to sit in the rocking chair or on the couch. While I was sitting, my house started to drive me crazy. We bought a house that was built in the 1970’s and was remodeled in the late 1990’s. Someone decided that it was a good idea to bring in a paint sprayer and spray everything the same shade of brown-yellow-orange. EVERYTHING! The ceiling, the walls, the trim, the vent covers, the light switches, the light switch covers. They were all the same horrible color.
The day my baby started taking longer naps, I went to the store and got all the supplies to paint! I needed to paint the ceiling and trim white and the walls a light grey. Since I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a newborn, I had to be fast and I had to keep the paint out of the reach of my kids. Here are 3 of the most important things I learned in the process.
Buy the best paint!
I started painting with cheaper paint. It was still really nice paint, but it took 2 coats to cover well. In the past, I had no problem doing 2 coats of paint. With 2 kids trying to play in the paint and a baby, I needed to be done after just one coat! Once I switched to the more expensive paint, things moved quickly! A few dollars is worth that! Obviously, keep that expensive paint up off the floor while your painting so no baby makes a mess!
Use a brush to “cut in” the edges
I got a nice angled brush and used it to make a clean edge without taping. I hate taping because I could spend all the sweet nap time minutes taping and not even get to painting. Plus, sometimes painting tape doesn’t even give a clean enough edge!
The technique that made the cleanest lines for me is to go from the left to the right (I’m right handed) and hold the angled brush so the bristles are even with the ceiling line. I try to only get paint on the under side of the brush and only use a little at a time. You don’t want any drips or paint smudges where they aren’t supposed to be. Also, keep a wet rag around just in case you get some paint where it shouldn’t be.
It takes some practice, but is 100% worth learning!
Storing paint
Since I only had short times where I could paint, storing the paint and the brushes/rollers was really important! I had one paint tray, roller, and brush for each color. One set for the white and one for the grey color paint. When I had to put the paint away, I wrapped the paint tray in old plastic shopping bags and put it in the fridge. I took the roller off and put it in a gallon size plastic zip top bag with the paint brush and put those in the fridge. It keeps the paint from drying out and I also didn’t have to keep washing the roller and brushes. If I had even a few minutes where my kids were busy with a project, I could easily pull out the paint and get a little more done.
I was able to finish my entire living area in a week and I am still slowly working on the rest of my house. I can’t decide if I want to paint my kid’s rooms a fun color, or paint the whole house grey.
What are your painting tricks? I’d love to have some more ways to make painting fast and easy!
