Prevent drips when painting a drawer front by removing the drawer and painting it face up. Keep paint off window panes by masking pane edges with tape. If you have no tape, use strips of newspaper dampened so that they will stick to the glass. Peel off the paper as you finish each frame. To avoid smearing when painting cabinets, paint the inside of the cabinets first. Then paint the tops, bottoms, and sides of doors before painting the door fronts. If you proceed in this sequence, you won't have to reach over already painted areas.
Protect doorknobs when painting them by wrapping them with aluminum foil or by slipping plastic sandwich bags over them. Glue paper plates to paint can bottoms to serve as drip catchers. The plates move along with the cans and are more convenient than newspapers. When painting stairs, paint alternate steps so that you'll have a way out. When those dry, paint the others. Or, paint one side of each step at a time. Use the other side for foot traffic until the painted side dries, then reverse the process.
Where appearance isn't important, steps will be safer if you mix in a little sand when painting them (so that they'll be less slippery) and edge them with luminous paint (so that they'll be more visible). If your wall-switch cover plate was painted over along with the wall and you now need to remove it, avoid flaking or chipping any paint by cutting carefully around the plate's edge with a single-edge razor blade. Remove the screws and lift off the plate. If you don't want to or can't remove hard-ware when painting adjacent areas, coat the hardware with petroleum jelly before painting. You'll be able to wipe off any paint that gets on the metal by accident.
You'll be able to reach to paint the ceiling if you stand on a scaffold made by laying a wide plank across two sturdy chairs. Before painting a ceiling turn off the light fixture, loosen it, and let it hang down. Then wrap it in a plastic bag for protection against paint splatters. If the smell of fresh paint bothers you, you can eliminate it from a room in one day by leaving either a dish of ammonia or vinegar in the room, or onion slices in a bowl of water. To cut the smell when you're decorating with oil-based paint, stir a spoonful of vanilla extract into each can of paint.
Color can saturate your eyes. When mixing paint, look away at a white surface for several minutes to allow your eyes to adjust so that you can judge the color accurately. To get the correct feel for spray painting and to determine the correct spray distance from the object to be painted, first experiment with a sheet of cardboard as the target area. Don't wipe your paintbrush against the lip of the paint can. The lip will soon fill up with paint which will run down the side and drip off. Use a coffee can to hold the paint instead. Wrinkling occurs when too much paint is applied or when the paint is too thick. You can correct wrinkling easily by sanding the surface and brushing on paint of a lighter consistency.
If you want to be able to use a previous coat of exterior paint as a base for a new coat, the old paint should be no more than 5 years old. If you wait longer than that you'll have a major job of scraping sanding and spackling. Artificial light darkens color, so your paint will look lighter in the daylight. If in doubt when at the paint store, take the container outside to examine the color.
All paint dries to a lighter shade than the one you see when it's first applied to the surface you're painting.
Make a paint holder from a coat hanger to keep your hands free when painting. Open the hanger and bend it in half; then bend it into an "S" to hook over the ladder and hold your paint can. To avoid painting a window shut, gently slide the sash up and down as the paint hardens but before it forms a seal. If you are working on a ladder in front of a closed door, lock the door so that no one can inadvertently swing the door open and send you sprawling.
Record how much paint is required to cover each room by writing the amount on the back of a light-switch plate. When you remove the switch plate before repainting, you'll be reminded ofhow much fresh paint you need. Do tiny spots need a paint touch-up? If you use cotton swabs instead of a brush, you won't waste paint and you won't have to clean a brush.
Protect doorknobs when painting them by wrapping them with aluminum foil or by slipping plastic sandwich bags over them. Glue paper plates to paint can bottoms to serve as drip catchers. The plates move along with the cans and are more convenient than newspapers. When painting stairs, paint alternate steps so that you'll have a way out. When those dry, paint the others. Or, paint one side of each step at a time. Use the other side for foot traffic until the painted side dries, then reverse the process.
Where appearance isn't important, steps will be safer if you mix in a little sand when painting them (so that they'll be less slippery) and edge them with luminous paint (so that they'll be more visible). If your wall-switch cover plate was painted over along with the wall and you now need to remove it, avoid flaking or chipping any paint by cutting carefully around the plate's edge with a single-edge razor blade. Remove the screws and lift off the plate. If you don't want to or can't remove hard-ware when painting adjacent areas, coat the hardware with petroleum jelly before painting. You'll be able to wipe off any paint that gets on the metal by accident.
You'll be able to reach to paint the ceiling if you stand on a scaffold made by laying a wide plank across two sturdy chairs. Before painting a ceiling turn off the light fixture, loosen it, and let it hang down. Then wrap it in a plastic bag for protection against paint splatters. If the smell of fresh paint bothers you, you can eliminate it from a room in one day by leaving either a dish of ammonia or vinegar in the room, or onion slices in a bowl of water. To cut the smell when you're decorating with oil-based paint, stir a spoonful of vanilla extract into each can of paint.
Color can saturate your eyes. When mixing paint, look away at a white surface for several minutes to allow your eyes to adjust so that you can judge the color accurately. To get the correct feel for spray painting and to determine the correct spray distance from the object to be painted, first experiment with a sheet of cardboard as the target area. Don't wipe your paintbrush against the lip of the paint can. The lip will soon fill up with paint which will run down the side and drip off. Use a coffee can to hold the paint instead. Wrinkling occurs when too much paint is applied or when the paint is too thick. You can correct wrinkling easily by sanding the surface and brushing on paint of a lighter consistency.
If you want to be able to use a previous coat of exterior paint as a base for a new coat, the old paint should be no more than 5 years old. If you wait longer than that you'll have a major job of scraping sanding and spackling. Artificial light darkens color, so your paint will look lighter in the daylight. If in doubt when at the paint store, take the container outside to examine the color.
All paint dries to a lighter shade than the one you see when it's first applied to the surface you're painting.
Make a paint holder from a coat hanger to keep your hands free when painting. Open the hanger and bend it in half; then bend it into an "S" to hook over the ladder and hold your paint can. To avoid painting a window shut, gently slide the sash up and down as the paint hardens but before it forms a seal. If you are working on a ladder in front of a closed door, lock the door so that no one can inadvertently swing the door open and send you sprawling.
Record how much paint is required to cover each room by writing the amount on the back of a light-switch plate. When you remove the switch plate before repainting, you'll be reminded ofhow much fresh paint you need. Do tiny spots need a paint touch-up? If you use cotton swabs instead of a brush, you won't waste paint and you won't have to clean a brush.
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