Today I got to wipe another thing off the dry erase board..."paint trim"

One way to keep your house fresh is to keep the paint fresh! You don't have to paint an entire room just to freshen up the room. Sometimes it is just a matter of doing a little touchup on the walls and trim.

First thing I would suggest is to give the walls, doors and trim a good scrubbing...but if that doesn't work, touchup the paint!

But here is the problem. Most people don't keep their leftover paint or they store it in the garage or storage building. And that is a mistake!

When you paint a room you should always keep the leftover paint stored somewhere in the house. Storing paint in the garage is a mistake because the heat and cold affects the paint and basically renders it worthless!

If the cans are a mess after you have painted, get an empty quart or gallon can from the paint or hardware store and put the leftover paint in it, label the can so you know which room it goes to, then store it in the back of a closet or in a climate controlled room!

When the walls or trim need a little touch up, just shake and stir your paint and you are good to go! Paint will last for YEARS if it is stored properly...and keeping leftover paint can save you a ton of money and time in the future if your walls just need a little touchup!

Here you can see how "chipped" my base trim is in the living room...it's been a few years since I painted the trim.

Always give your trim a good cleaning and then mask off your flooring. Even carpet can be easily masked....just take the tape and push down on the nap of the carpet and "stuff" it under the trim!

Rule of thumb...if it is a hard, unpainted surface like wood or tile, I use the cheaper masking tape. For painted walls or trim, I use the blue painters tape...a little more expensive, but worth it! I always use a good quality brush specifically for the type of paint I am using. As I have mentioned, I always use oil base paint on my trim...so I use a natural bristle brush specifically for oil base paints. And I ALWAYS make sure I clean and store my brushes properly....mineral spirits for oil and soap and water for latex.

Make sure you pull your tape BEFORE the paint dries...once the paint starts to dry on the tape, you risk "peeling" the paint off your painted surface.

As you can see from the first picture, sometimes the trim can get pretty dinged up. If the trim is showing bare wood, I would suggest taking a sponge brush and dabbing the bare spots with a primer (Kilz works great) before painting. Same with the walls...if your kids have taken markers to them or there are bad scuff marks that won't clean off, just touch it up with Kilz before you paint!

For the walls, I use a 4" sponge roller and "spot" roll the walls that need touchup! Easy to clean up and takes no time!

Touching up your walls, trim and doors can instantly freshen up an entire room! And if you are selling your house, it is a MUST!