Struggling with getting neat paint edges...
Hi folks,
I'm in the midst of painting our home office. We have Little Greene Satinwood (in Etruria) for the shelving/desk, and Little Greene Matt Emulsion (Portland Stone) for the walls. We've decided on painting the inside of the cupboards and the bookshelf in Portland Stone. Quite pleased, so far.
I'm now at the tidying up stage, and am having trouble with edging, specifically how to get the edges of shelves neat, without one of the colours straying on 'around' the edge. I've tried masking tape everything on one unit (see picture 1 and 4 below), which did ok but there was some bleed through, and it took forever.
Note, in the example in the last picture, that the underside of the shelf is in Portland Stone.
I've had better success along straighter edges e.g. like the inner edge in the first photo, using a decent quality edging brush. But trying this on the outer edges (picture 2) worked only sporadically - with either a bit of paint creeping round the edge or where the paint built up and formed a rim (which was then difficult to remove without making a bigger mess).
Do i just need better masking tape? Or am i missing something simple?
To note, the plan now that all the Portland Stone is finished is to give a final coat of the Etruria satinwood, probably with a roller. I would plan to go over the edge in picture 4 with a roller, pressing only gentle so it doesnt creep around the corner. Its worth noting that most edges (the top 3 pictures) wont be visible once the doors are installed, whereas the bottom one will be (the doors have glass).
Grateful for any hints and tips.
Comments (12)
8 months agolast modified: 8 months agoFor context, here's the wider room (excuse the mess...)
8 months agolast modified: 8 months agoYou need Frog Tape from Tesco or a decorating centre. Also, when it comes to doing skirting boards where they meet the floor, try using a long strip of acetate to slide between the painted surface and the floor, it works a treat.
The scaper blade below is one of the most useful things I have ever bought. It glides over painted surfaces removing any nibs and bits of dust in between coats.
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