We recommend you start your decorating project at the top and work your way down. Taking this approach will allow you to avoid dripping any paint onto freshly painted areas. Before you start painting, clean your ceiling, fill any holes or cracks and sand it.
Start painting at the top and cut in around the edges of the wall and your fixtures with a paintbrush. It's easiest to work with small sections of wall at a time, so aim for about three feet each when it's time to load up your roller. Then, paint in a vertical direction using a zig-zag pattern.
What is the correct order to paint a room? When painting a room, I recommend starting with the ceiling, followed by baseboard and window trim, and finishing with the walls. This sequence allows for less precision with ceiling and trim paint, as any imperfections can be covered when cutting in with the wall paint.
Pro tip: wash from the bottom to the top. It's counterintuitive, but necessary if they're really dirty. It's kind of like brushing long, tangled hair...if you start at the top, you'll create a painful mess on your way down.
Whether you paint in sections from top to bottom or from side to side across the room is up to you. But if you're using an extension handle on your roller, you may find it more convenient to start at one high corner and go all the way across the room with a series of completed zigzag patterns.
Work from top to bottom so gravity is on your side. Extra tip. Vacuum all floors first before you mop. to make sure any bigger pieces of dirt don't get stuck in your mop.
Paint the Trim and Baseboards
In most cases, we recommend painting your trim before your walls. Let the paint dry, then tape off the trim and move on to the walls. Using high-quality semi-gloss paint will protect the wood as well as leave a pleasing shine to your trim and baseboards.
The cost to paint a 1,500 square-foot double-story home will average between $6,000 to $21,000 depending on the size of all floors. The price may vary if your 2nd floor is smaller than the ground floor.
Always cut in first then continue painting with a roller. Cut in and paint with a roller one wall at a time. If you cut in all areas first and then roll the entire room, the paint that was applied when cutting in will have dried quicker and you will be left with a patchy, uneven finish.
In most cases, it's recommended to caulk before painting.
Paint the Walls
When you're done with the ceiling, move onto the walls. Dip you roller in paint and move your roller in a vertical motion, going from the top of your walls to the bottom.
With this in mind, painting a wall goes much quicker when two people work together: one using a brush to cut in the corners in sections, and the other following with a roller and filling in. Tandem painters can eliminate any lap marks caused by applying rolled paint to an edge that's already dried.
Start with the ceiling
We recommend you start your decorating project at the top and work your way down. Taking this approach will allow you to avoid dripping any paint onto freshly painted areas. Before you start painting, clean your ceiling, fill any holes or cracks and sand it.
One question everyone asks: Should you paint the walls or ceiling first? If you're planning to paint the entire room, start with the ceiling. That way, you won't have to worry about splatters from the roller getting onto the walls—it will all get touched up once the walls are painted.
Key Takeaways: Cut-in and painting on the same day are recommended for the best results. Wait for the trim to dry completely before painting to avoid an uneven finish. Paint all the trim throughout the main areas of the house the same color to create a unified effect.
Start with Cleaning the Bathroom First
Because it's the room that gets the dirtiest and requires more attention to remove harmful bacteria.
As we clean, dirt and dust is likely to fall, by cleaning from top to bottom we remove as much dirt and dust as we can and avoid moving dirt into clean areas. By saving the dirtiest areas to last we avoid moving dirt and dust into cleaner areas.