Secret to painting crisp edges

ant to know the biggest problem with painting tape? I recently decided to update my living room with a lick of fresh paint. I opted for a crisp white on two walls and a rich modern green on the other two.

I’m new to the world of renovating, so I dutifully watched a YouTube tutorial first. It looked so easy, all I had to do was use tape.

As it turns out, that was a big mistake.

I picked a beautiful weekend to paint – the weather just over 30C – and the white went on flawlessly. I added the tape, started the green, and realised I had a problem. It was so warm the glue was actively failing as I began cutting in the green edges.

The results were sub-par, to say the least. My lacklustre technique caused muddied mixes of green and white in some places and uneven gap-filled messes in others.

Seasoned painters, including a number of my family members, will say I should’ve skipped the tape and just done the edges carefully with an angled paint brush.

Considering how flawlessly their homes are painted, I’m inclined to agree. Is it tedious? Yes. Laborious? Absolutely. Risky? Definitely. But do they get results?

Their edges speak for themselves.

But if you’re new to this renovation caper, or looking for a relatively cheap and easy way to update your home, here are some lessons I learnt during my living room fiasco.

First, paint the light colour before the dark colour. It’s much easier to cover errors with darker paint than the other way around.

Second, practise fine brushstrokes somewhere safe, like the middle of a wall you’re going to paint, before tackling tricky edges.

Third, if you do use tape, apply it to your edges, paint over it with the lighter colour, then paint over it with the darker colour. This is a critical step that will ensure you get full coverage in the corners while preventing the darker colour from bleeding underneath.

On the upside, I was able to fix it, and I’m really pleased with the finished product.

But next time, I’m definitely going to go freehand.

WAdding colour is an affordable way to transform your home, writes Kirrily Schwarz Kitchen