Painting A Room For The First Time? You Need More Than Just Paint And A Roller
Taking on the task of painting a room in your house for the first time is quite a DIY feat. Most people think you just need paint, a paint tray, and a roller brush. Not so. Painting is a little more complicated than that. Here are some additional paint supplies you will definitely need when you head to the hardware store.
Painter's Tape
Painter's tape goes around window frames, door frames, and closet doors. Some people take short-cuts and put it around/on outlets and light switches too so that they do not have to remove the face plates and turn off the electricity to that room while painting. If you are taking another short-cut, you could also put it along the tops of the baseboards at the bottom of every wall and underneath the bottom edges of crown moulding at the tops of every wall.
Edgers
Edgers are special mini-rollers attached to a perfectly square pad with a plastic grip handle. You roll this through a little paint, and then move it across the edges of the walls for clean cut lines and no paint smudges on the ceiling, on the baseboards, or on the adjacent walls (unless you want paint there). They are not entirely drip-proof, so be sure to scrape excess paint off the bottom of an edger before you lift it up to apply to a vertical surface. Still, they deliver perfect lines and a very professional look.
Tarps or Drop Cloths
Without a doubt you will need tarps and drop cloths. Most places that sell paint and paint supplies sell tarps, but they may also sell clear, reusable, disposable plastic drop cloths. These are especially nice because they are usually very long and wide, quite affordable, and offer good value for the price. Whatever you buy, make sure the items cover the length and width of the floor space in the room, as well as any furniture you have opted to not remove prior to painting.
Speed Rollers
Speed rollers are several steps above the traditional painter's roller brush and drip pan. These rollers are battery-operated, use vacuum pressure to fill their long paint tubes, and release paint through a special roller head that has its own drip tray. It is the fastest way to paint any room and not worry about any sort of mess (besides cleaning up, of course). They are a little more expensive than a couple brushes and a drip tray, but if you want to get your painting project done in one day, this is the way to do it.
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