How to Paint a Room Professionally

Prepare the room. Clear as much furniture out as possible, and move everything else to the center of the room. Remove drapes, switch plate covers and artwork. If you think the door and window hardware will impede trim painting progress, remove that as well. Unless you are hanging artwork back up in the same spot, remove the nails. Wipe down the trim. If you are painting latex over latex, there is no need to sand it unless it's rough. Vacuum the room, particularly around the edge so you are not getting fuzz and carpet fibers in the paint when doing baseboards. Wipe dust from along the baseboards. Wipe or sweep dust and cobwebs from the walls and ceiling. Drape plastic sheeting over the furniture.

Assess the condition of all surfaces. Chances are you will need to at least do some minor wall repair like filling nail holes and dings. Use a flexible putty knife and spackle neatly, without leaving big blobs that will take ages to dry. With a damp rag and your caulking gun, go around the room and caulk everywhere there is the tiniest gap. Along the tops of baseboards, around trim and in the corners of walls and along the ceiling. Paint will not fill in even hairline cracks. Allow everything to dry.

Paint the baseboards. By painting them first, they'll be dry enough to use painter's blue tape along the top by the time you get around to the walls. Alternately many professional painters will paint the baseboards last, without tape, relying on a good brush and a steady hand to get a clean, straight line.

Get your ceiling paint ready. A gallon is more than enough for an average room. Pour it into your five-gallon bucket - professional painters don't use roller trays. There is no need to wet the roller first, that just makes a drippy mess and wastes time. The first rollerful of paint wets it just fine. If there is a light fixture in the center, cut that in with a brush first to avoid brush marks. Paint the ceiling. It's OK to bump and slide the roller along the wall. If you're quick like a professional, the edges will still be wet when you're done. Cut in around the edges of the ceiling, being sure to smooth out roller marks and drips.

Paint the rest of the trim while you're waiting for the ceiling to dry. It is OK to get paint on the walls as long as you remember to smooth it out with your brush. The reason you paint trim first is because it is almost impossible to get a straight line along the returns (edges) by painting those after the walls are done, whether or not you use tape for straight lines. At the very least, paint all the edges first.

Tape the baseboards. If you don't have a steady enough hand to paint a straight line around the rest of the trim, tape that, too, along with the ceiling if you have to. Use blue quick-release masking tape to avoid pulling off fresh paint and press it down firmly with your fingers as you do.

Cut in first, then roll the walls. This virtually eliminates brush marks around the edges. Use the five-gallon bucket to roll from, making sure all the paint is well mixed. In between coats check again for any imperfections on the walls. Do a quick repair and spot-prime with the wall paint before doing a second coat. Wait until the paint is dry before pulling the tape off and putting the room back together.