Favorite 5: Painting Tools
Favorite Five
Did you just move into a new house and swore the first thing you would do is change the paint colors? Yeah, I hear that a lot from buyers. Thankfully, paint is a fairly simple change. While some hate the time investment of painting, using the right tools can make for a much quicker job. I've painted several rooms in our home since we moved in and have learned a few things along the way (plus a little DIY-er stalking lead to some great hacks too!) I shared my best tools and painting hacks below to help you avoid the mistakes (Disclosure: None of the following products listed were provided to me by the manufacturer or the store suppliers listed. I am not being paid for my review of any of the following products. You can find shop-able links at the bottom through Amazon for certain products on my affiliate page.)
My Favorite 5 Painting Tools
Valspar Signature Paint
I don't mind painting but I don't want to have to do 3 or 4 coats to make sure I get full coverage on a wall. The Valspar Signature paint requires only a 1 to 2 coat maximum to get full coverage. We had some brighter colored walls in our house (think key lime and bright sky blue) and we opted for the cheaper paint lines the first time we went to paint. Once you've painted a 12x12 room floor to ceiling three times you start to regret "cheaping out" on the paint. Since then we've used the Valspar Signature paint to go over our bright walls. Even the bathroom, which used to be a darker baby blue color, only took two quick coats to turn white.You can select to have any finish with this paint. We used an eggshell for our half bathroom because there is no moisture in there. If you are using in a regular bathroom where you'll get steam from the shower ask your paint specialist which is best. I suggest a gloss - otherwise you get streaky, steam walls a few months in and will have to paint all over again.
Where to Buy: Lowe's Home Improvement
Edging Brush
One of the things I dislike the most about painting a room is having to tape off the edges. It takes the most amount of time and sometimes still doesn't save me from the dreaded smudge on the ceiling or the doorframe. I watched Jenny Komenda's (a blogger and designer I LOVE) tips on painting a room before one of my room refreshes and took her tip on getting an edging brush instead of painters tape. GENIUS! Now, I paint the walls as close as I can to the edges and then go back and cut in with the edging brush. The Wooster 2" Angle Sash is the brush I picked up at Lowe's and I really like it. It has the perfect angled bristles, the short handle makes it easy to manipulate and the handle is slightly flexible so it's pretty comfortable to paint with for an extended time.
Where to Buy: Lowe's Home Improvement or Amazon
Purchase Link: Wooster Brush Q3211-2 Shortcut Angle Sash Paintbrush, 2-Inch, 2 Inch, White
Frog Tape
If you are feeling a little intimidated by the edging brush I swear by FROGTAPE . On our first few projects we tried to go with the 3M Tape; it was cheaper and seemed like it would get the job done. Well, not to know 3M, but the paint job eded up with whispy edges and a good amount of "bleeding." Not exactly the look I was going for. Not to mention, if you put the tape down and aren't exactly on point (like most people) and need to adjust the tape's placement it immediately looses all of its adhesive. On our next project we spring for the better tape that even came with it's own case (so the edges don't dry out) and let me tell you the finished product was 10 times better. The edges were crisp, the tape help up great (even after adjusting it's placement) and it was easy to remove in solid pieces (no tearing halfway through.)
Where to Buy: Lowe's Home Improvement, Amazon, or most home improvement stores
Purchase Link: 1" FROGTAPE
Paint Roller
The type of paint roller you'll need is going to depend on the texture of your walls. I watch a lot of stories from Holly with @OurFauxFarmhouse in Texas and Angela with @AngelaRoseHome in Arizona and they have some serious textured walls. For their projects they are usually using a roller with a larger nap, meaning the roller is fluffier to get into the nooks and crannies of the texture. If you're a east coaster like me you likely have pretty smooth walls so I use a lower nap roller when painting our walls. This last time I used a Purdy 3/8 " Nap 9 " Roll and it was perfect. The 9" roller covers a lot of ground (wall) quickly and is still manageable for getting close to the ceiling without touching it or leaving a 5" gap to cut in.
Where to Buy: Lowe's Home Improvement, Amazon, or most home improvement stores
Purchase Link: Purdy White Dove Roller Cover 3/8 " Nap 9 "
Microfiber Cloths
Microfiber cloths are were a time saver in my half bath makeover. To be honest, I didn't want to take down the mirror, the light fixture, remove the toilet or any of that. Really, I wanted to quickly paint and be done. Having a damp microfiber cloth (another trick I learned from Jenny Komenda) on hand made it easy for me to wipe up any drips or accidental brush marks I got on any of the fixtures, toilet, or door frames. If you're doing the lazy girl way of painting (or maybe some would say professional?) you'll want to have a few of these on hand. We have some around the house but here's a similar product.
Where to Buy: Lowe's Home Improvement, Amazon, or most home improvement stores
Purchase Link: AmazonBasics Blue and Yellow Microfiber Cleaning Cloth, 24-Pack
You might not need all of these tools but I have found they are the most handy to have around. A few others would be a paint key (or 3), stir sticks, a fine grit sanding block, wall putty (for those pesky nail holes), and some white caulk. I have all of these items in our paint container so when I get ready to paint a room everything I need is ready to go. If you're looking for some tips and project inspiration I love following these accounts for DIY home projects, home products, and general entertainment.
Holly + Brad - @OurFauxFarmhouse
Jenny Komenda - @JennyKomenda and @JuniperPrintShop for her curated and affordable art
Angela - @AngelaRoseHome
Talk Soon,
Jess