Help With Painting: How to Transition Hallways

Paint the entire hallway and adjoining room with primer, using your paintbrush and roller. One coat should suffice.

Use a paintbrush and roller to apply the first paint color to the hallway walls, starting at one end and working your way to the transition area between the two rooms. Stop a few inches past the doorway which leads from your hallway to the adjoining room, or at another inconspicuous point on the wall, where you would like your color transition to take place.

Fasten a plumb bob to the ceiling directly above your transition location. Hang the line and use a pencil to mark its position at the top, center and bottom of the wall. Snap a chalk line along the three pencil marks. If you are making your paint transition at a corner or doorway, use the edge of the wall or door jamb to delineate your transition location. The plumb bob technique will not be necessary in this case.

Apply masking tape to the wall along the chalk line. Run your fingernail or a putty knife up and down the edge of the tape that faces away from the painted portion of the wall. The idea is to create as tight a seal as possible so paint does not penetrate the tape line when applied.

Use a paintbrush, loaded with very little paint, to apply the second color to the wall of the adjoining room on the opposite side of the masking tape. Start each brush stroke at the center of your masking tape strip, and pull the brush away as you apply the paint. The idea is to prevent paint from leaking or being pressed beneath the tape so that a sharp dividing line is formed. Allow the paint to dry, and repeat the process if a second coat is necessary for proper coverage.

Use a paintbrush and roller to apply paint to the rest of the adjoining room walls until all surfaces have been covered.