Painting Pointers

Painting is the fastest, cheapest, most dramatic way to update your home. Well, I have some tips to for you.

1. If you wear contact lenses, opt for your glasses instead; the fumes in paint can cause your contacts to irritate your eyes.

2. Whether you're cutting in or painting trim, brushwork is part of the job. To get the best results, dip your brush into the paint no more than two inches and then tap the brush against the sides of your bucket. This allows for the extra paint and drips to fall off the brush without making the paint on the brush uneven, which allows for better coverage.

3. If you're painting stripes or any other two color treatment that requires taping off some areas after the base coat, try this: paint a thin coat of the base color over the tape inside the lines. It will seal the tape and if any seeps underneath the tape it will have been the base color leaving a clean line.

4. If you're painting a window frame, overlap the paint onto the glass slightly, this ensures that you seal the seam between the glass and the wood.

5. Clean-up time? Wrap a rag around your painter's tool and run it around the rim of your paint can. This will ensure a tight seal when you close the can.