Title: How to Paint Walls & Ceilings | HomeTips
Headings: How to Paint Walls & Ceilings
How to Paint Walls & Ceilings
How to Cut-In With a Paintbrush
How to Use a Paintbrush
How to Use a Roller
How to Paint a Ceiling With a Roller
How to Paint a Wall With a Roller

Content: How to Cut-In With a Paintbrush
Although a roller is easiest for applying paint to the broad surfaces of walls and ceilings, a roller will not apply paint all of the way into corners or to the edges of trim. You’ll need to “cut-in” the corners and areas around trim with a paintbrush. Cut in the corners before you roll paint on the main surfaces. This means painting both sides of each corner starting about two brush lengths away and painting in to the corner. Use a 2- or 3-inch brush for paints. You can cut-in around the trim either before or after rolling. Because the drying time of flat and eggshell latex paint is so short, you can cut-in an entire room before filling in the walls. Semigloss or gloss latex and alkyd paints take much longer to dry but will leave a demarcation line if the walls are not filled in while the paint is still wet. For this reason, if you are using any of these paints, you should cut-in one corner and fill in the wall before cutting-in the next corner. After applying paint with a roller, establish a straight edge between colors and cut-in around trim using a brush.