Painting Tip: Cleaner Lines with Tape

While professional painters often forgo using tape to create clean lines, DIYers have found that this painting tip is the quickest and easiest way to achieve professional-looking results without “cutting-in”. Keep in mind that even if you have your tape laid out just right, you still should apply the paint carefully. Liberally slapping on paint will result in messier lines, especially on textured surfaces, where paint may seep through lower points in the texture. Here’s a tip for painting with tape that is especially useful when dealing with textured surfaces:

Paint along the lines of the tape using the original color of the wall. Make sure to let this layer of paint dry! This way if any paint bleeds through, it should not be noticeable, and this will create a seal for the top coat of paint in your desired color.

As experienced painters, we at Sound Painting Solutions tend to skip the tape. However, it is sometimes necessary to achieve a certain effect.

Painting stripes is the best example, and can really add some charm to an otherwise plain room! (We love this kitchen design by Shoshana Gosselin). So, when we want to paint a design like stripes, we first apply a new coat of paint in the base color, lay tape where we want the stripes, and use a layer of the base paint as a “seal”, as described above. We then paint the stripe color, let that dry, and carefully remove the tape. We also make sure to use a good tape product (our favorite is Frog Tape).

When planning a project, it’s always a good idea to weigh your options. Schedule a free quote here.