Painting tips for a cleaner look

Are you a DIYer? When it comes to painting yourself it can be very daunting to make it look professional. I have come up with a few ideas to make the job look as though a pro did it. I learned how to paint using my own house as my canvas, and let me say painting is the cheapest way to make the biggest impact on your decor. Painting for many years now I have learned through trial and error and I am going to share some of those tricks and techniques with you.

If you have stucco ceilings with a 3 inch smooth band around the perimeter it can be hard to get a crisp, clean paint line where the wall meets the ceiling so I have come up with this solution. Using a 2 1/2 to 3 inch angled paint brush, paint the wall colour up and around the corners and right up to the stipple stuff. Its easy to follow that line then the corner line and it makes the wall appear higher as it also gives a cleaner and more professional look. Two coats will do the job and no need to use tape.

If you have tiny builder grade baseboards and your not ready to replace them yet why not paint them out using the same colour as the wall. This will make them blend in and give the illusion that the wall has more length as well as it detracts you from noticing how miniscule they are. I do suggest though that the trim around doors and windows is a white or different colour to avoid the room being too monotone.

These techniques are great for homes that are being staged for resale because you only want to hightlight great features to potential buyers, so whatever you don't want noticed you'll want to blend out. Paint is a very inexpensive way to make the most impact. Also great for getting you buy until your ready to invest on higher end moldings and trim, these tips will make your rooms look better and have more appeal.

Here are some after pics using light and dark colours which both work well.