As the owner of JDavis Painting in Toronto, people are constantly asking how we achieve such a fantastic finish on our interior paint jobs. A lot of our clients are deciding whether to hire a pro (us!) for their interior painting needs, or do it themselves… and I’m always happy to share some of my wisdom.

I started in the painting industry back in 2003, and since then, I’ve picked-up a lot of tips and tricks along the way. In the following series, I’m going to share how to paint the interior of a house: from start to finish. Along the way, I’ll do my best to stick to the fundamentals… but please excuse me if I get carried away from time to time. I have a real passion for this stuff!

So for all you DIYers thinking of painting the interior of your home, this one’s for you!

8 Steps to Painting Your Home

When choosing to paint the inside of your house, there’s a lot to consider, along with several necessary steps to do the job right. (And believe it or not, that doesn’t even include the monumental task of choosing colours.) So I’m going to break it down for you, one step at a time, along with  pro tips on how to achieve a professional finish every time.

Consider this your Complete Guide on How to Paint the Interior of your Home. 

Here’s what we’ll cover:
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Step 1:

What should I paint?

Although this sounds easy, this part can be sneaky and tough. Sometimes you might think you only need a small section painted, but when you start looking around for where a section ends, it’s tough to find where exactly to ‘cut it off.’

Let me give you an example I see all the time. A client of mine recently painted her home office. In the last few years, the room had changed from an office, to a storage space, back to an office… and now it’s going to become a nursery. So she and her partner wanted to get the walls redone professionally in preparation for the baby. Unfortunately, their ceiling had been previously over-painted… and although the ceiling was in good shape, when painting the walls, we cut some tight lines into the corners where the wall met the ceiling, and their old (shall we say sloppy?) paint job stuck out like an untucked shirt. So even though they really only wanted their walls done, they needed to repaint the ceiling as well.

Another challenge I see all the time is when one bad piece of trim spoils the bunch. I have countless clients who have one door that gets a lot of greasy hand traffic and needs to be degreased, sanded, stain blocked, and repainted. The problem, though, is a repainted door sitting inside an old door frame can make the frame look tired. So if you paint the door, you have to paint the frame. And if you paint the frame, you may have to paint the adjacent baseboards as well.

You see where this is going, and why determining what to paint is a critical step in the process.

Here are a few more common ‘I’m not sure where to stop’ offenders for interior painting: 

  • Entranceways/hallways/stairwells where one wall seems to connect into other spaces/rooms
  • Ceilings that connect different rooms
  • Different rooms that have matching colours (eg ‘if we get rid of the green in the kitchen, do we have to get rid of the green in the dining room as well?’)
  • The magical unraveling sweater that is trim (eg ‘if we do the windows, we have to do the door frames…and if we do the door frames, we have to do the baseboards…and if we do the baseboards, we have to get new flooring. New floors equals new drapes, new drape means furniture…never mind, let’s just move!’).

It’s not uncommon for someone to know for certain what MUST be painted (eg ‘that wall is hideous, it has to go’), but not be sure where to draw the line. So that’s step number one: figure out what needs to be painted. 

Here’s a handy checklist you can use. Stand in the area you want painted, and check off the box for each of these items.

  • windows
  • door frames
  • doors
  • baseboards
  • walls
  • ceilings
  • shutters
  • crown moulding
  • chair rail
  • wainscoting
  • pillars/beams
  • inside of closet walls
  • inside of closet ceiling
  • inside of closet door
  • inside of closet door frame
  • inside of closet baseboards
  • vents
  • bulkheads

Pro tip: if you decide to hire a professional, you can put a checkmark next to the areas you know you want painted, and a question mark next to the items you want as an option. When a salesperson visits for an estimate, show them this list. It will be very helpful for them to make sure they know exactly what options to provide. If an estimator who’s trying to earn your business gives you a hard time for requesting a quote with specific options, consider it a red flag.

This is the first big hurdle.

If you’ve gotten this far, you’re already ahead of the game. Well done.

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Step 2:

How to pick paint colours?

This is the part that people agonize over the most. And for good reason: if you don’t like the colours you’ve selected, you could be stuck living with them for a long time. 

There’s a tonne of colour blogs out there, but my best recommendation is Pinterest. For example: if you’re picking colours for your living room, try searching “modern living room colours”, “living room trends”, or simply “interior painting colours.” Or, if you’re like me, search for “the perfect Toronto Raptors themed livingroom”. Once you do that, dozens of buttons will pop up under your search terms to help you refine the selections. Words like ideas, schemes, palettes, paint colours, Boho, mid century, Scandinavian, green, clean, and so on. Just play around until you’ve found examples that speak to you.

In the design world, this is called “Mood Boarding”. Any time you see something that catches your eye, save that pin. You don’t have to like the entire picture, but if there’s even a small detail you like, pin it. Once you’ve done a bunch of these, you’ll have enough to start noticing a trend in your choices. That’s what you want. You’ll need to select a maximum of three trends to refine.

To refine a trend, start by adding more and more pins showing the concept or element you like. Start a fresh board for this, and try to get at least 20 pins. Then cut that 20 down to 5. This should give you a clear idea of what you’re going for.

From there, I recommend the Benjamin Moore website. They’ve figured out how to present colours to homeowners better than anyone else. So start there. Your goal is to get your selection down to just 3 colours (2 is even better). Anything more is usually too much.

Once you choose your three colours, create test patches. Test patches are areas where you paint a small amount of a particular colour onto the wall you’re looking to paint. 

A few hot tips:

  • Choose 2-3 locations for your test patches. Try to select areas with different light sources, because light makes a huge impact on how colours actually look. 
  • Make your test patches big: at a minimum, 6 inches x 6 inches. 2 feet x 2 feet is even better. Test any comparison colours side by side. 
  • If you’re choosing more than one colour (eg. one for the walls and one for the trim) set up your test patch so you can see them up against one another. 
  • Label your test patches with numbers (not names) on top of the paint can, with the corresponding number on masking or painter’s tape on the wall next to the sample. Try not to know which colour matches which number. Believe it or not, even the name of a colour, or the fact that it was recommended by a designer (vs recommended by your mom) can bias your opinion.
  • Keep them up for a few days, and see how they look in different styles of light (sunny vs overcast days, natural vs lamp light, etc).
  • Pick a decision date, and stick to it. No need to drag things out. Pick a date (ideally no more than 5 days after the patches go up), and make your decision. Once you’ve made up your mind, you’ll probably feel fabulous. Pour yourself a glass of wine. You’ve earned it.

Okay, you’ve made it through two of the toughest phases. 

Now for an easy one…

Step 3:

Which paint sheen is best?

This is basically the easiest phase. There are established industry standards worthy of consideration, and if you mess them up, the consequences are pretty low. 

So here’s what you need to know: paint is made up of three main elements: pigment (aka colour), solvent (what it’s floating in: usually either latex/water based, or alkyd/oil based) and resin (the stuff that determines how hard it dries, and how shiny it remains). 

One common misconception I want to point out right off the bat is that in the painting world, ‘eggshell’ is not a colour…it’s a sheen, or level of shininess. It’s also the most commonly selected sheen. The problem is that the most selected colour is off-white, which could also be described as ‘eggshell’. This coincidence is a source of frustration for all painters/interior designers/paint store employees/general contractors, as they’re left to explain this to people all the time. 

Do I have a solution? Not really. Maybe call it ‘candle wax’? That probably won’t work, as it’s susceptible to the same confusion. So know that when you’re talking paint, ‘eggshell’ means a medium level of sheen.

When we talk about paint sheen, we’re talking about how much resin is in the paint. Generally speaking, the more resin you have, the tougher and shinier your paint. The less resin you have, the more it hides imperfections.

So paints with low sheen are at the flat side of the scale, and paints with lots of resin are at the shiny side of the scale. Most paint companies will follow this widely accepted scale:

Flat -> Eggshell -> Semi-Gloss -> Gloss.

But because everyone has to be difficult, you might also run into some of these common sheen names: matte, silk, suede, satin, pearl, melamine, velvet, platinum, low luster, low sheen, eggshell, high gloss, super gloss. So if you see one of these sheens at your local paint store, just ask the kind attendant behind the counter to tell you where it fits on the standard 4-part scale I’ve described above. 

Then use this helpful table to make your selection:

Area > Tradition sheen (and why) > Alternative sheen (and why)
Hallways/kids bedrooms/common rooms Eggshell – it’s not too shiny, so it won’t emphasize imperfections. It’s also pretty scrubbable. If it’s a high traffic area, or there’s little hands on the walls, stick with eggshell.- If it’s a low traffic area, or you really want to hide imperfections, use flat.
Adults bedroom Eggshell – Tried and true Flat – I think flat is a nicer finish. If you don’t think you need the scrubbability, I’d urge you to consider this option.
Ceilings Flat – You don’t want imperfections flashing off the ceiling. This gives the light that reflects from above a nice, even dispersal. I don’t recommend you sway from a Flat sheen. For real.
Kitchen/Bathroom walls and ceilings Eggshell – Usually, you do the ceiling the same as the walls, because you want protection from moisture and the ability to easily clean the surface Semi-gloss – If you want EXTRA protection and think you may be wiping-up mold and mildew in the future, then yes. But this may be a little overkill. Unless you’re a landlord, in which case, you might choose this option.
Trim Semigloss – Easy to clean, and will stand up to bumps and knocks pretty well. Gloss – This will do all that the semigloss will do, but better. But the cost is you have some super shiny trim throughout your house. (You may notice I’m not that into shiny painted things, save lacquered cabinets or something similar. Otherwise, I think it’s gross).
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Step 3.5 (bonus step!): 

What supplies will I need when painting the interior of my home?

Now it’s time to buy the tools and materials you’ll need to get the job done. First, whenever making a big purchase from a paint store, ALWAYS tell them you’re a contractor. Most paint stores will ask little or no follow up questions, and immediately give you a 10-25% discount.

If you’re doing this job yourself, here’s a list of items you’ll definitely need:

  • 2.5” Angled (sash) poly nylon brush (if you get a square brush, you won’t be able to ‘cut’ straight lines).
  • A roller cage. Pretty much any one will do, but you’ll want one with a spot in the handle for attaching an extension. 
  • A roller tray. Don’t get the small ones here. Otherwise, you’ll be refilling your tray every 5 minutes. Get something big and sturdy. We use SIMMS trays.
  • A drop sheet. In a pinch, an old sheet can do…but I don’t recommend plastic. If any paint lands on it, the plastic absorbs nothing. So it’ll sit wet until your unsuspecting foot steps on it, then tracks the paint all through the house. Next thing you know, you’re yelling “Who got paint on the floor!?” as you lay down fresh tracks with every step. If you use plastic, I hope you like humble pie.
  • A good 5-in-1 tool. The essential painter’s handy companion.

These are the five tools you need to be able to call yourself a painter (not that you’d want to, as my friends often remind me). But seriously, with these five simple tools, you’ll have everything you need to paint.

That said, here are some sundries you’ll need. (Side note: I Googled the definition of ‘sundries,’ and it basically said it’s like ‘toiletries,’ but for construction.) 

  • Roller sleeves. The ‘nap’ of the sleeve is how thick/fluffy it is. They range from 5mm-25mm. The rougher the surface, the thicker the nap you need. Metal door? Use 5-10mm. Popcorn ceiling? 15-20mm. Walls are usually 13-15mm, and ceilings usually 15mm. Another good guide is this little rhyme: When it’s matte you want fat, when it’s shiny you want tiny. Which is to say: the less the sheen, the fatter the roller…and the higher the sheen, the skinnier the roller.
  • Spackle. There are certain ones for special situations, but 85% of the time, DryDex is perfect. It goes on pink, and when it’s dry enough to sand, it turns white. Foolproof. Important for a guy like me.
  • Caulking and a caulking gun. Make sure you get the silicone stuff that’s paintable. I recommend the quick dry version. The Alex brand has some you can paint in 15 minutes.
  • Sandpaper. 120 grit should be fine for nearly all interior painting. But if you’re dealing with bare wood, get some 100 grit. If you’re painting metal/plastic, grab 220 grit as well.
  • Drywall primer. This is only if you’re painting any unpainted drywall, or if you’re using spackle to fill anything larger than a dime after you’ve sanded it.
  • You may also need primer for bare wood, smooth surfaces (like metal or plastic), or to cover stains/bright colours. More detail on this below.
  • Rags. Don’t underestimate this one. Painting is a very forgiving trade IF you catch your mistakes right away. 
  • Cut cans. When cutting (using a brush to paint areas a roller can’t reach), you’ll keep a small amount of paint in the can you’re holding. So grab an empty can or two from the paint store. You’ll sound like a pro if you tell them you need a ‘cut can’ instead of ‘an empty can.’
  • Some plastic to cover the furniture.

Other handy tools that’ll make your life easier:

  • 2-inch putty knife
  • Step stool (or ladder) depending on what you’re painting
  • Sanding block or sponge
  • Painter’s tape
  • An extension pole that you can thread into your roller cage

There are other goodies and tools that you’ll see at a real jobsite, but for the amateur, this is more than enough. 

Lastly, when purchasing your paint, you should know the square footage of what you’re painting beforehand… this will enable you to  purchase the right amount of paint. Determine the square footage by multiplying the height by width (or in the case of a ceiling, length by width). Since I’m not much of a math whisperer, so I’ll let you figure out how to best do that calculation. 

On a smooth, previously painted surface (like most walls), you can expect to get 350-450 square feet per gallon on the first coat, and about 25% more on the second coat. So, let’s say I have a 12x’10’ room with 9’ ceilings. That’s 396 square feet. If your calculations didn’t yield the same answer, go back and check your work.

So, you can expect it’ll take close to a gallon on the first coat, and about ¾ of a gallon on the second coat. BUT…and this is really important…make sure you account for the fact that there are doors and windows and vents in your room. In the end, you might end-up with too much paint. And if it’s already tinted, then you can’t return it to the store. 

My rule is always purchase about half as much paint as you think you’re gonna need at the start of a project.

There are a couple of exceptions to this rule:

  • If it’s just a 1-day job, and you don’t want to make multiple trips to the paint store, you can choose to get ‘more than enough’ and just swallow it if ‘more than enough’ was really ‘a little too much.’ 
  • The colour is a pre-mixed colour, meaning they stock the colour on hand at all times (like white, but there are also some other pre-mixed colours like safety yellow, safety red, boring grey for floors, etc). If it’s premixed, you can take it back to the store unopened, in which case I recommend you buy more than you think you’ll need. Going back to the paint store to get a refund after the job is done is a happy feeling. Stopping painting to go to the store because you ran out of paint is a sad feeling. Balance accordingly.

Hot tip: As soon as the paint store employee hands you your paint, ask to borrow a Sharpie. Every paint store has one. Label the top of each can for each specific room, right there and then. Trust me on this one.

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Step 4:

What to do before interior painting?

This step is another easy one.

To begin, get as many items out of the room as possible. Remove expensive/fragile possessions including TVs, art, mirrors, anything made of glass, and other electronics. Then clear the shelves and table tops. Move knick-knacks, candles, picture frames, and plants to a room that’s not being painted. Then move out as much small furniture as possible. Small tables, chairs, stools, whatever can go, should go. And finally, if possible, move any larger items. The main idea is to make sure everything is out of the way so you can freely move around. Use the old ‘pool table’ rule for this, and try to have at least four feet from every wall.

The next step is to put drop sheets down on the floor along the walls where you’ll be painting. This is particularly important if you’re working over rugs or carpet. Small drops of paint are easy to clean off of most wood/vinyl floors. You can either wipe them right away with a rag (if you’re having trouble, try a wet rag followed by a dry rag), or you can let the paint spot dry and peel it off like a sticker off an apple. But paint doesn’t come out of soft, fuzzy surfaces quite so easily. So avoid paint drops and spills on carpets and rugs at all costs!

Anything that can’t easily be covered by a drop sheet should be covered with poly plastic (super thin plastic, which you can get from any paint store or hardware store for cheap). I highly recommend the ‘better safe than sorry’ approach here (aka the ‘go overboard’ method). It only takes a minute to cover things, but it can save you a major headache down the line…not to mention a lot of time.

Finally, you’ll want to remove any fixtures on the walls. For the best look (and the easiest way to achieve it), remove cover plates from light switches, power outlets, and vents on the walls. If you have handles, towel racks or shelves, I recommend removing them as well. Doing this will allow you to paint behind where those items would have been with ease. This is a double win, as it’s much easier to roll flat walls than have to cut around it with a brush… and if you ever decide to change or move a fixture in the future, the wall behind will be fully painted.

Veteran’s tip for you: make a strategy for your screws. Some people like to screw them back into the hole after the plate/vent is off. I prefer to put them into a ziplock bag. One idea I’ve heard (which I think is great) is using a small tackle box. But whatever you do, don’t just leave them on the counter. That’s just asking for them to accidentally roll into the sink and go down the drain!

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Step 5:

How to prep surfaces for interior painting?

You thought you were ready to start painting? HA! Nope, not quite yet…

Now it’s time to get the surface ready. Step one is to inspect the walls. You want to get a sense of which areas need attention. If the area is not well-lit, it can be hard to spot imperfections, so get an extra lamp or two and light-up the room!

You’ll want to give particular attention to areas about three feet from the floor to about two feet above your head. This is where your eyes spend most of their time looking. You also want to favour any other space with ‘high eye traffic’. A scratch near the ceiling is much less important than a dinger at a door handle.

How to patch drywall before painting?

Most wall prep doesn’t include big holes, but let me offer a few words anyway. Excuse me if we get into the weeds a bit here. This section is going to be a bit technical.

Let’s say you’ve got a big hole. Can this still be patched? The answer is almost always yes. For holes the size of a fist or smaller, you can usually clean the edges (cut off any dangly stuff and use a razor to remove torn edges), and apply a mesh patch (available from any paint store or hardware store). For slightly smaller holes, you’ll just use mesh tape. Using mesh patches or mesh tape is vital for all holes, as opposed to gouges. I consider a gouge anything that still has some type of backing. If there’s no backing, then the mesh will have to do the job. It’ll need to be applied, and built up with compound (eg spackle).

We usually use Dyna Patch as the base layer, as it tends to dry very fast, and is super hard. It’s difficult to sand (as it dries so hard), so it’s good for using as a base when you need to build something up. Then on the top we use DryDex. That’s the stuff that goes on pink and dries white, as mentioned before. I know it sounds like a gimmick, but it’s true… even the pros use it! Just be advised that it takes much longer to dry…so much so that we often use a heat gun to expedite the process. If you don’t have a tool like that in your box, I suggest doing multiple thin layers (as opposed to one thick layer).

The trick is to use the Dyna Patch for the backing. Imagine your hole/gauge as an iceberg, and everything that will be flush with the wall as the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and everything that’s ‘inside the wall’ as the submerged part. The submerged part should be Dyna Patch, and anything that will be close to the surface should be the DryDex.

I’ll provide a detailed overview of DIY wall patching in a future post. For now, just know that small layers are the way to go. Less is more. Use about 120-180 grit sandpaper for a smooth surface. A small hole requires a small putty knife (1-2 inches), and a big hole requires a big tool (6-10 inch putty knife).

When to prime when painting?

There are three common reasons why you might prime something indoors:

  1. To cover bare drywall/compound, or bare wood.
  2. To improve adhesion. This is common if you’re painting latex paint over oil/alkyd paint, onto metal or plastic surfaces, or if you have to go over some unknown surface (eg after removing wallpaper, there may be some mystery adhesive residue left on the wall).
  3. To cover/hide offensive colours or stains.

Generally speaking, you can’t paint directly onto surfaces that haven’t been primed before.

How to prime drywall?

If you’re painting onto new drywall, it’s vital that the wall is primed with drywall primer beforehand. And since priming drywall can often raise imperfections, I recommend following this step with a quick scuff sand. Take your 120 grit sandpaper and do a really quick once over (for those of you who’ve worked restaurant jobs, when I say ‘real quick once over’ I mean the same type of ‘once over’ you do when you’re wiping down menus before the end of your shift). 

I’ll get into the how-tos of applying primer on the wall when I talk about applying paint. For now, just know that you need to do it.

You may hear people talk about ‘spot priming’ as well. This is when you prime a small area as opposed to a whole wall. This comes into play after you’ve patched and sanded something. Take a look to see if you have any patches where the spackle is any larger than the size of a pinky finger nail: for anything that size or larger, you’re going to need to spot prime the area. If you don’t, you’ll end-up with what we call ‘flashing’. 

Flashing is when the spackle absorbs the paint at a different rate than the painted areas around it. The result is that when you look at the wall from the side, so you can see light reflecting off of it, the spackled area will usually look shinier (or in some cases duller) than the rest of the wall. It draws attention in a bad way. You don’t want this. So you can avoid this with spot priming. 

The same concept for priming drywall applies to bare wood (or particle board, MDF, paneling, etc.): you want to sand it smooth, apply the primer, then sand the imperfections before top coating. But you’ll be using different sandpaper and a different primer. For the sandpaper, you’ll probably use 100-120 grit, unless the wood is really rough. If this is the case, start with 80 grit, then use 100 grit, then 120. Then prime, but this time with wood primer, and follow with a light 120-grit sanding. 

How to prime metal, plastic, and other weird stuff?

For this, you’re going to take a slightly different approach. 

Start by cleaning the surface. I recommend Varsol or a lacquer thinner on a rag, as it dries right away and can be recoated within about 20 minutes. If it needs more than just a wipe down, and if you have the time, use some type of degreaser or even TSP (tri-sodium phosphate, a non-sudsing soap) to clean the surface. Just know that you’ll need to let the surface fully dry, probably at least a couple of hours, before you can recoat. Next, you want to rough up the surface (by now you’re a scuff sanding pro!). For super smooth surfaces like this, your best bet is a scouring pad, or some 220 grit sandpaper. You’re trying to add a little ‘bite’ to the surface to improve adhesion… so instead of a quick once over, try a quick twice over. Then wipe down with a dry rag.

The primer you use here can sometimes be called a gripper primer, and is usually a bit more expensive. Its job is to basically act like double sided sticky tape. But because it’s going on a super smooth surface, you may need to do a light sanding afterwards and remove brush strokes or gloopiness from the roller. (We call this fingering, but I understand that some people find that a bit off-colour. Shame on you!). 

How to prime over stains and bright colours?

If there’s something on your wall that you think will be difficult to hide, then you’re going to need a stain blocking primer. Although there are some exceptions and work-arounds, I’m going to share a few general guidelines. 

The best way to stop what’s underneath from bleeding through is to prime with an oil based primer. Try to find one with shellac. The most common brand for this is Zinsser (sometimes referred to as Bulls Eye 1-2-3, or BIN). The good people at your local paint store will point you in the right direction. Now beware, these primers tend to be heavy on the odor, which means not good on the ol’ brain cells. So make sure you’re using the proper PPE, and use as much ventilation as possible. If possible, keep the windows open and fans on!

As an added tip, do what we here at JDavis Painting by ‘juicing’ the primer. This is adding pigment to the primer to match the topcoat colour. So if we’re preparing a ceiling, we add white pigment to the primer. If we’re working on a beige wall, we add beige to the primer. Most paint stores will do this for you for free. And it makes a BIG difference to the final look.

Step 6:

How to paint like a pro?

Dear golly, we’ve been at it for a while, and we’re just now getting to the ‘how to paint’ section! Let this be a lesson to you: most people think that painting is all about painting, but really most of what makes a nice finish is all the stuff you have to do before you crack open the paint can!

There are two broad applications you’ll be using: Cutting and Rolling.

How to cut when painting? (doing brush work)

Cutting generally means using a brush to paint. Some amateurs like to use tape to achieve straight lines. There are some significant downsides to this:

  • Most walls/ceilings/trim are not actually straight, so this will end up looking a bit funny/off.
  • Even high quality painter’s tape (eg Frog tape) often lets paint bleed beneath the tape, leaving fuzzy lines. 
  • It takes a long time to tape and paint something.

Most professional painters will use tape for specific areas, but will usually just paint free hand to achieve the straightest lines. This is a skill that takes a long time to build. But if you go slow, even beginners can do a pretty good job.

Here are my top cutting tips:

  • Hold the brush like a pencil. The easiest way to do this for total beginners is to make a circle with your thumb tip and your index finger, then thread the handle of the brush into the circle. Spread your thumb and finger a little bit to grip the brush. Bingo, now you’re holding the brush like a pro.
  • The closer you hold the brush to the bristles, the more control you’ll have. The further away, the faster you’ll go. As your skill level improves you can adjust accordingly.
  • When cutting, use a ‘cut can’. This is an empty can (you can get this from the paint store, or use a can that you’ve already finished) with no more than two inches of paint inside. We do this for a few reasons. It keeps your brush cleaner. It’s easier to carry. It’s more difficult to tip over. And if it does tip over, it’s easier to clean… and you’ve wasted only a small amount of paint.
  • Putting paint on your brush is called ‘loading your brush’. Here are two good methods:
    • Compass load: dip your brush in the paint, then rub your brush on all four sides against the opening of the can to take off the excess paint. We call it the compass load because you dip your brush, then go north-south-east-west on the can ridge so you have the right amount of paint on the brush. This is most common for beginners.
    • Bang load: dip your brush in the paint then bang it off the walls of the inside of the can like you’re ringing a bell. This tends to give you a lot of paint on your brush, which can be hard to handle. Once you master this, it’s much faster. This is a common method for experienced painters.
  • When you put your brush into the paint for the first time, take time to really work the paint into the middle of the brush. You do this by stirring it to ‘lather up the brush’. Use the Compass load and Bang load methods repeatedly to get paint into the brush.
  • There are two types of cutting. You can cut to reach the areas that a roller can’t get to (like the corners of a room), and you can cut to draw a perfect straight line (like where the wall meets the ceiling). 
  • When cutting into corners, start by loading the brush. You’ll probably use a Bang load here, as you’ll want a lot of paint… and precision isn’t that important. Start at the top and just get about an inch of paint on either side of the wall/surface you’re covering. You’ll want enough so that when you come back to roll the area, it’s easy to overlap with a roller without bumping the wall or corner. 
  • When cutting for straight lines, start by loading the brush. This time, you’ll probably use a Compass load to better control the amount of paint on the brush. I like to start by getting some paint on the wall, but not super close to what I’m cutting. For example, let’s say we’re cutting a wall against a ceiling. I’ll do a strip of paint about half and inch away from the ceiling, about two feet long. Then I’ll go back and do a tight, straight cut right against the ceiling. 

How to roll when painting?

Rolling, of course, is much quicker than cutting. One of the most common rookie mistakes is to put it on too thin, which happens when you try to cover too much wall space with just one load of the roller. You’ll know you’re doing this if the roller starts to get dry.

Here are my top rolling tips:

  • Use a tray liner, which will allow you to easily switch colours.
  • Fill the tray with paint so it fills the entire ‘trough’. This is the bottom part of the tray. You don’t want to have to refill your tray every 5 mins, so load as much paint as possible.
  • Add an extension to your roller cage. For regular walls, a 2-3 foot extension (like the handle of a windshield squeegee) works well, and for really tall walls and ceilings, consider a 4-6 foot extension (like a broom handle). This will save your back.
  • Just like your brush, you’ll want to lather up the roller. Put the sleeve on the cage and use the roller to pull some paint out of the trough and onto the ribs of the roller tray. Roll the roller across it, and repeat until all sides of the sleeve have paint on them evenly and the roller feels heavy with paint.
  • Whenever you put a fully loaded roller on the wall, don’t start by putting it against an edge. Think of this like buttering your bread. If you put all of the butter right against one edge, it’ll be really tough to distribute an even amount. But if you put the butter in the middle of the bread, and spread it out from there, you’ll get a pretty even coating throughout. So when painting a wall, start by putting your roller about 2 feet from the edge. 
  • Think of your roller as a gigantic highlighter. When you highlight something, you make long, sweeping strips, and you do NOT scribble. So put the roller on the wall, and go up and down slightly to the right, then back to the left. For each load of the roller, you should be covering only about two roller widths on the wall. A common mistake for beginners is to want to roll until the roller is dry. This is a big no-no.
  • Paint as much as possible with the roller, and as little as possible with the brush. It’s significantly faster, and gives you a more even finish.
  • Whenever possible, roll on to a wet edge. This means that you’ll overlap your rolling with a still-wet area that you just rolled, or a still-wet area that you just cut.

There’s obviously a lot more to cutting and rolling, but start by mastering the points above and you’ll be 85% of the way there!

The general rule for painting is to go from top to bottom, and from left to right. So always start with your ceilings, then your walls, then your trim. As always, there are exceptions to these guidelines, but this is a good way to start. 

We have a rule at JDavis Painting: every painter needs three things with them at all times. A drop sheet, a rag, and a 5-in-1 tool. You should do the same.

How to paint ceilings?

For ceilings, you may remember that we’re probably using a flat paint… which means using a fluffy roller. If your ceiling is popcorn/stipple style, you may want an extra fluffy roller. Also consider whether it’s been painted before. I’ll address this in more detail in another post, but for now, follow this rule: if your stipple ceiling hasn’t been painted before, use alkyd paint, if it has been painted before, use latex paint. If you break this rule, you’re likely to have a stipple ceiling melting off and landing all over your furniture and floor.

In all cases, you’ll  start with the cutting. Usually when you’re painting a ceiling, you’re planning to paint the walls as well. So when you go to paint the corners where the walls meet the ceiling, you don’t have to worry about cutting a straight line between them. Feel free to get paint on the wall as well. Not in a big goopy way, because that’ll show up when it dries. You’ll also need to cut around pot lights or other fixtures in the ceiling.

Next is the rolling part. For ceilings, you’ll roll in the direction of the short side. As an example, for hallways, you’ll roll side-to-side (and not down the length of the ceiling). Apply this same logic in other rooms. If you’re applying multiple coats, complete your ceiling painting before moving on to the walls.

How to paint interior walls?

When the ceilings are done, it’s time to paint the walls. There will probably be a whole heck of a lot more cutting to do on your walls than your ceilings (because of windows, closets, outlets, doors, etc). If you’re painting alone, you should plan to cut a wall, then roll that wall, before moving on to the next wall.

But if you have a partner, then try to get in front of them with the cutting, and hopefully you can keep your lead as they follow behind you with the rolling. If you’re losing your lead, DO NOT RUSH. That’s how you make mistakes. Take your time and make straight cuts. If you have to go back and fix something, it’ll take you more than twice as much time as slowing down and doing it right the first time.

Follow the same procedure as above for the ceilings.

How to paint interior trim?

Not all paint jobs include painting the trim. But if yours is one of them, then you’ll probably want to save the trim for the end.

Trim can be tricky. 99% of all trim is painted with a brush, and the small edge of a window frame or baseboard doesn’t give you much space to apply your brush. If this becomes a problem, I recommend downsizing your brush. A one inch brush doesn’t hold as much paint (and you’ll have to reload more often), but can give you a lot more control on thin strips of trim.

When painting windows or door frames, take a systematic approach. Do the top line, then the right side, then the left side. Start by ‘dusting a corner’, or getting paint in the corner. Then feather out the paint from the corner. Then dust the other corner, and feather it out until you’ve connected the entire top line. And finally cut the line on the top ridge of the frame.

Next, paint the inside of the left side of the frame from top down. When you get about 10 inches from the bottom… stop. Go to the bottom, and paint from the bottom up to meet where you left off. Once the inside of the left is done, do the outside edge of the left. Then repeat the process on the right side (and potentially on the bottom for windows and certain door frames).

When you’re painting baseboards, there’s no avoiding it: you’re gonna have to get down on the floor (and if someone has tips on how to avoid this, please let me know!). Again, start in one corner, and paint your way out. You’ll have to cut a line on the top where it meets the wall, and another line on the bottom where it meets the floor. Sometimes I see people tape the floor for this. You can do that if you want, but my experience is that it takes a long time to tape it nicely, and the results aren’t as good.

One exception: if you have carpet below the baseboards, taping is ESSENTIAL. Place the tape so it’s 3/4th on the carpet, and only 1/4th on the baseboard. Then use all eight fingers to tuck the tape under the baseboard like you were tucking a shirt into a waistband. This will give you perfect protection, and once you get good, you’ll move real fast.

How to paint doors?

There are many different types of doors. I’ll focus on the two most common for interiors:  the totally flat door, and the four panel door.

For the totally flat door, it’s a super easy process: roll the damn thing!

Okay, it’s not quite that simple, but it’s pretty close. Put some cardboard under the door, and cut that bottom line with a brush. Then you can either cut around the door handle or disassemble and remove it. Then roll the damn thing!

For the four panel door, think of each panel as a tiny window. Follow the instructions above for how to paint a window frame. Complete all panels, then roll the rest.

Always plan to paint doors early in the day. They take time to dry, and if they’re closed before they fully dry, you’ll be forced to sand them down and repaint. So paint them at a time when they can remain open until fully dry.

You should also know about a tool called a whiz roller. It’s a small, four inch roller with a much smaller diameter than a normal roller. It’s a life saver. There’s a lot of amateur painters out there who cursed their projects and swore to never paint again because they hadn’t heard about the glory of the whiz roller. Think of it as half roller, half brush. It can fit into a lot of spaces a roller can’t, and cover a lot more ground than a brush. It’s ideal for deep window sills, many types of doors, all sorts of spindles and railings, and so much more.

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Step 7: 

How to clean-up when interior painting?

There are three types of clean up to consider:

  1. Switching between colours
  2. Clean up for the day
  3. Clean up at the end of a job

How to clean a paint brush?

Nearly all residential painting involves latex paint. Cleaning latex paint from a brush is pretty easy. You’ll need a water source and a place to put dirty paint water. A laundry room sink can act as both. You can also use a bathroom/kitchen sink if you’re careful to clean up afterwards. In a pinch, you can just use water in a bucket, but it’s not ideal. 

  • Run warm water over your brush, and bounce your bristles against the base of the sink like your brush was a tiny pogo stick for your hands. Get as much paint out as possible.
  • Flip your brush upside down and run water directly into the centre of the brush like you’re trying to fill up a brush-shaped ice cream cone with warm water.
  • After the paint stops rinsing out of the brush, tap your brush on the edge of the sink like you just finished brushing your teeth. 
  • Bonus: put the brush handle between your palms and spin it like you’re trying to start a friction fire, caveman-style. This will send the water in the middle of the bristles flying, so make sure you’re either outside or spinning the brush into a high-rimmed bucket.
  • Finally: if you’re outside, you can rigorously tap the brush against the toes of your shoe. This will dispel the last bits of moisture in the brush. But, be careful: if the brush is still holding paint, the paint will fall onto the patio or sidewalk.

How to clean a paint roller?

Cleaning your roller sleeve is only necessary when you’re changing colours. Because roller sleeves cost about $3, most people choose not to clean them, as the time it takes to clean outweighs the cost savings. Here at JDavis Painting, we find that sleeves that have been cleaned once or twice tend to be a bit nicer to work with, but it’s up to you. Regardless, here’s how to clean your sleeves:

  • The first thing you’ll need to do is grab your handy dandy 5-in-1 tool. There’s a concave edge that’s shaped like a roller sleeve. Use this to scrape paint from the sleeve back into the paint can. You’ll be shocked at how much paint is held within a roller sleeve.
  • Now, run the roller sleeve under a warm tap until all the paint is out and the water hitting the sleeve runs clear.
  • Finally (as an option), go outside. With the sleeve on the roller cage, slap the side of the cage to spin the roller fast enough that all of the moisture is released.

How to clean up after painting? (end of day clean up)

At the end of each day, we recommend a thorough clean up. This will help you organize your tools, keep them well maintained, and keep you organized. But an end-of-day clean-up doesn’t mean you have to wash all the brushes and rollers. If you wrap them tight in plastic, they’ll last just fine overnight. That said, you should empty the contents of your cut can and roller trays back into the paint cans from whence they came. Otherwise, your paint will get gloppy. We call this ‘licking them out’ (so you get a sense of how clean we like to leave our tools). This will allow the cut cans and trays to dry overnight, allowing us to use them the next day.

In addition to cleaning those painting implements, we suggest you put all of your tools back in their places, fold up your ladders, and tuck everything into one place. Keeping your space clean and organized is the right way to get the job done.

How to clean up after painting? (end of the job)

When you’re finished painting, you’ll want to perform one final clean up. Start by licking out any leftover paint. Reinstall faceplates and vents. Put all the trash in a bin, but don’t pack it up until the very end. Once the painting implements are in their places, return all the tools to their homes, but don’t clean your brushes yet (you may spot a last-second touch-up). Fold-up drop sheets. Cut cans can go directly in the recycle bin in Toronto. If you live outside of Toronto, check your local municipal services for guidance. 

Put any leftover paint in a cool place, and keep it away from direct sunlight. Make sure it’s clearly labeled, so if you need to do touch ups, you can easily find the proper can. Once everything is packed up, and you’ve collected the trash, close up the garbage bag and take it to the bin.

The absolutely last thing you’ll do is clean your brush. At this point, you may feel like, ‘screw this, I don’t feel like cleaning my brush. I’m DONE painting, adios stupid brush’. Don’t listen to that voice. It’s a trick. A test. If you just toss out your dirty brush, or half-heartedly clean it, you’ll inevitably (and immediately) find a spot that needs touching-up. Then you’ll be forced to go buy another $13 brush for a 30-second job. And if you do the same thing to that brush, it’ll happen again. Believe me. Just clean the brush right.

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Step 8:

How to care for your walls after painting?

It takes a long time for paint to fully cure. I’m sure every product has their own specific guidelines, but generally you can say that about 50% of the curing will happen in the first 48 hours. Then another 25% by the end of the week. But the last 25% won’t come until the end of day 28!

So, at the very least, give it a couple of days before you push furniture up against the walls. Once you hit the one week mark, you’re 3/4th of the way there, and you can probably relax and get back to business-as-usual. 

After 28 days, feel free to wash your walls. If you get scuffs or stains on your wall, use a magic eraser. This works like a charm for getting stuff off the walls. If it doesn’t work, try a little warm water and dish soap… and a very gentle scrub.

Also, avoid letting moisture sit on the surface of your paint job. If it’s a kitchen or bathroom area, turn on your ventilation, or crack a window to let steam escape. If you notice discoloured water sitting on the surface, wipe it away as soon as you get the chance.

Follow these simple guidelines for how to prep, paint and care for your paint job, and you should have a beautiful space that lasts for years.

Wishing you all the best, in very broad strokes!