A Clean Paint Edge

I'm going to put this out there in the blog world because before our recent home painting projects, I was absolutely clueless on how to get a clean paint line where a wall meets the ceiling. In fact, I have unsuccessfully tried to accomplish this in the past. I've used different kinds of brushes and a steady hand. But even as detail oriented as I am about painting, it just never looked right. And I've even tried taping the ceiling off, but with the textured walls and ceilings that we have around here, that just does not produce a clean line no matter how careful you are.

So, in the past, we have either put up crown moulding or called in professionals to achieve the best result in a room that did not already have crown moulding. Neither one of those were options this time, so I worried about how we would make our paint job look right...because if you have a lousy paint line at the ceiling, the whole job looks sloppy.

The solution may be obvious to those of you that are pros at painting, but I just discovered it myself this time around. We used Shur-Line edger that I bought for $2.50 a piece at Lowes. These things worked like a charm. They are square-shaped and designed to cut in around trim and at the ceiling joint just like we needed. They have two rollers that run along the ceiling and keep your line straight for you. You can reuse them because they sell replacement pads.

The only thing you have to be careful of is that you don't have too much paint on the pad. And be patient when using this tool. You will get a really clean, professional-looking line if you do two thinner coats as opposed to one thick coat. And I just happened upon these at the store when picking up a few supplies and thought we might as well give them a try. So, I know the chances are slim, but if you were needing a solution to this problem like I was, now you know one that worked for us.