How to Paint Interior Trim
Small paint jobs such as those involving interior door or window trim are a great way to improve your home or business in Cincinnati. But rather than pay for a contractor to come and paint for you; with the right knowledge and tools, a small paint job can be an easy
DIY project that saves you money.
In this short video:
- How to prepare for painting by protecting surfaces
- How to paint effectively with the right tools
- How to clean up afterwards while protecting the work you’ve just done.
Watch Video – How to Paint Interior Trim
Save Money with DIY Painting
In order to get set up, you should take these steps:
- Set out a drop cloth
- Collect your necessary tools
- Wear clothes that you can get paint on
DIY Painting – Use a Thick Drop Cloth
One thing any expert painter will need is a drop cloth which is used to cover the floors and lower walls to protect them from paint that may splash or run during your DIY paint project. We suggest a thick cloth which will soak up the paint as opposed to a thinner cloth that paint may bleed through or a plastic that will hold the paint on the surface and allow for it to get on your shoes (or cats) and spread around. If you do accidentally get paint on something then you should wipe it off as quickly as you can, scrape it off once it’s dried, or paint over it later.
Paint Interior Trim – Get the Right Tools
You should determine what you like, but here are our suggestions for painting tools and how to paint with them. We suggest:
DIY Painting – Use the Right Tools
- A clean 2.5” angled paintbrush
- A paint bucket with a handle
- A roll of painter’s tape (of any size)
- A plastic putty knife
Here’s why. A 2.5” angled brush allows for both speed (good size) and flexibility (the angle); a paint bucket with a handle allows for you to easily access paint as you move around; the painter’s tape will protect nearby surfaces from getting paint on them and the putty knife is used to press down the painter’s tape (more later). You also may want a smaller paint brush or painting tool to be able to better access smaller areas as well. If you’re in Cincinnati then you can likely get these supplies at your local Cincinnati hardware store.
Again, even as you learn more and get practice with how to paint, mistakes happen. Wear something that you can get paint on without worry.
How to Paint – Painting Techniques
To begin with, we must tape off the areas around where we are painting to protect them from errant paint. To tape off the surface:
DIY Painting – Painter’s Tape
- Rip off long strips of painter’s tape
- Grab both ends of the strip of tape
- Line up the tape on surface that you don’t want paint on and as close as possible to the surfaces to be painted
- Start at one end and press down along the tape with your fingers.
A little trick here is to use the plastic putty knife to press down on the tape more firmly to ensure a clean paint line while not abusing your fingers.
Once you have all of your painter’s tape up and protecting the surfaces around the area to be painted: it’s time to start painting! We suggest just dabbing about a third of the paintbrush in the actual paint and using nice light even strokes to spread it around and create smooth paint lines. Pressing down the brush roughly will smudge the paint and create uneven lines.
Final Step in Painting – Cleanup
Cleanup is important here as we want to make sure that we don’t ruin what we’ve just done and so that we prepare our tools for future projects. The first thing you want to do in removing the tape is peel it away at a 45 degree angle away from the painted area and close to the wall to make sure that paint is not smudged or removed.
We then suggest that you clean your brushes and other tools (safely disposing of paint) as built up paint can be tough to deal with for future projects. One final suggestion (and something many Cincinnati painters don’t even think of) is that you may want to label your paint buckets as to where (and when) you used them so that if you want to touch up areas in the future, you will be able to easily find the correct color (our client here had 2 different shades of pink in the same room – could be confusing down the road).
For help with any project, give us a call at (513)-724-0593, contact us online, or join the fight against home disrepair on Facebook.
Do you have any recent experiences with a Cincinnati painter? Have you seen the light and started painting for yourself? Let us know in the comments.
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