How to paint a room well

Painting a room and making it look clean and professional is not a hard task. It just takes a little patience, a little planning, and the desire to save some serious money by doing it yourself!

Your first step is to make sure you have enough paint to do the job. The best way to do this is often to get general room measurements, including number of windows and doors, and get advice from the paint experts at your hardware store. If the walls your painting are a darker color already, or if you're applying a darker color, you might require a few extra coats of paint to get even color. The good news is that nearly all paint stores use machines to program in specific color formulas, so if you need to run out and get more paint to finish your job, you can usually get an exact match.

Before you start, make sure you have all the tools you need. Here's the bare essentials:

• A wooden paint stirrer (usually free with paint)

• Wide masking tape

• Plastic tarp/large garbage bags that cover any carpet/floor areas you want to protect

• An angled sash brush (usually a mid-sized brush is a safe choice)

• A roller base and rollers designed for the texture of your wall (smooth, slightly textured, coarse texture, etc.)

• A pan to hold paint that you'll put on the roller

• A small dish to carry paint in while you're using the brush

• Newspaper to rest materials on to protect floor

Once you have your paint and supplies, you're ready to go. Make sure everything in the room is moved away from the walls and that you have enough room to work on all the areas you're going to paint. Next, use the masking tape to carefully cover baseboards, ceiling edges, window and door trim, and other places that you want to keep paint off of. Use the masking tape to tape down plastic tarp over the floor or carpet to protect your flooring.

Open your paint and stir it for a few minutes to mix any color that has settled to the bottom. Next, start with the edging. Put a little but of paint on the edge of your angled sash brush, and follow the straight edge of your wall by letting the shorter edge of the brush guide your stroke. This technique might take a minute to master, but you'll end up being able to create a nice straight line with the sash brush. Make sure you paint out from the corners or edges far enough to cover all areas where the roller won't reach. Once you've finished all the edges that you can't reach with the roller, pour your paint in the roller pan and roll it on. Let this coat dry, according to the drying time on your paint can, and then repeat the process until your color is even and perfect. Remove all the masking tape and plastic tarp, and enjoy your new room!