Finished the living room a few weeks ago - the last stripe paint job. Yeah! Just needs furniture.



Some painting lessons learned thusfar:

-Keep 'Magic Eraser' nearby; it easily removes paint on unwanted surfaces (like ceilings, floors, trim, etc.) and is easier to use than rags. Scrub lightly or you may start removing the under-coat of paint.
-Don't paint at 3am in the morning. You think you have the energy but your work suffers and you wont notice until tomorrow, after you've cleaned up and decided it's good enough.
-Get a small paintbrush for touch ups; dont try to use the edge of a 1, 2 or 3" brush.
-Don't leave tape on for more than a day; it either gets too sticky and removes paint or it falls off. I guess this also depends on the type/quality of tape but I've had mixed results even with the expensive painter's "blue" tape.
-Err on the safe side and over-cover the floor & furniture; spend the extra time upfront and avoid the hastle later.
-Removing tape quickly after painting can either help or hurt. In most cases, it seems to be better to remove sooner than later (even if still slightly wet) unless you need to apply another coat.
-For flat paints, you dont have to roll perfect vertical lines each time. You can paint chunks of wall space at a time (within your arm span), just go over lightly to blend in any extra paint drips and smooth out the area.
-Turn the paint can upside down for 30+ minutes to ease the mixing process.