Sharp & Crisp (Awesome Painting Tip)

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful fall weekend.  It's been a fun and busy one for me here at the Bluebird hacienda, but I just had to make time to finally show you the long ago promised "sharp line" painting trick that I have grown to love!

Any of you DIY room painters know the problem well:  Sloppy, uneven paint lines where one color meets another.  This is especially troublesome when you are using a dark color and a light color.  Few things make your paint job look  amateurish more than the paint bleed and uneven lines you can get.  Some of you may have that steady hand to get a sharp line, but I never mastered that!

My latest painting project was our workout room and I used Gibraltar Gray on the ceiling and Milk Paint on the walls.  As you can see, there is a huge contrast between the two!

How do I get a sharp, crisp line EVERY TIME?  Here it comes, short and sweet and super easy:

First, paint your ceiling.  Don't worry about cutting in, you will take care of that in another step.  Next, paint your walls.  You will cut in the wall color and you will extend just a bit (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch) onto the ceiling.  Allow to dry thoroughly.

Almost done!

Now, take your painters tape and run it all around the ceiling line.  Taking your wall color, paint over the edge of the tape where the wall and ceiling meet.  Why, you ask?  This will act as a seal to prevent any of the ceiling paint bleeding through any of the gaps in your tape. (This is where the magic happens!)  Allow to dry.

Finally, using your ceiling paint, paint around the ceiling and finish any cutting in you need to do.  I usually do at least two coats.  (With my dark ceiling, I think I ended with four (maybe five)!  I've found with dark colors, the more coats the richer the color becomes .  Don't skimp on the coats!)

And now, drum roll please,,,,,,

Start peeling off the painters tape and voila! A sharp, crisp paint line every. stinkin'. time.

A sight to behold, isn't it?

Isn't it beautiful? And so easy to do!

I can't take credit for this idea, but I am surprised at how many people don't know about it.  I first found it about four years ago and it has really taken my interior painting to a whole new level.  I still have one more room with raggedy ceiling lines and it is on my 2016 "to do" radar.

So, all of you painters out there - give this a try. It is worth the extra step!

Thanks for stopping by,
Jane

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