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Ever since we moved into this house I have despised not just the color on the walls, but the fact that the ceilings and walls were all painted this awful color. In pictures it might not seem so bad, but that is usually because I spend HOURS waiting on the sun to hit the room the perfect way because the color reflected off the walls is horrid! It's just a tan, I know there are worse things out there... trust me, we once bought a house that somebody tried to sponge paint red... it looked well, bloody. So I know there is worse out there, but as a blogger who photographs all the time it just makes it extremely difficult. In certain lights the tan on the walls would have this peachy/pink type color that just doesn't work, and to make matters worse the ceiling was the same color so you couldn't even bounce light off of a clean white ceiling... you got that awful hue that was screaming 1980's!
I knew I needed to find out How to paint ceilings without making a huge mess. Being that I have to paint every ceiling in the house and all! Well guys, I have found it! Something that I could literally paint with while my kids were awake. Cause I'm crazy and decided I would paint with my 2 youngest awake and running around the house. Just a little side note, you can totally paint with your kids awake, but if you are tired and do it the wrong way.... it's a bad bad idea (more on this later in the post)! Let's gather up some supplies and get to work!
Supplies:
-Ceiling Paint
-EZ-Twist PaintStick
-Paint Brush for cutting in
How to Paint Ceilings:
First let's talk about this EZ-Twist paint stick. This bad boy is what makes this process so easy! It allows you to suck the paint up into your paint handle completely eliminating your need for paint tray's, thus mess free! After assembling your Paint Stick and attaching the lid onto your paint can, you insert your paint stick into the lid attachment, and suck the paint straight out of the can!
I always start off by cutting in. Once that's done you can move on to rolling where you literally just twist the handle and the paint is fed out onto your roller, allowing you to keep painting and painting without having to get more paint on your roller! You do have to use a special roller cover with this paint stick. The inside is perforated, allowing the paint to seep through and saturate your roller cover. It takes quite a bit of paint to get your roller cover complete saturated at first, but once that's done - Game ON!
With just a little bit of work and twisting my ceilings are now a beautiful white, no more ugly tan!! With the little paint shield that attaches to the paintstick, I didn't even use a drop cloth. I know... it was a little scary. I started out with one, but I didn't get a single drop anywhere so as I moved, the drop cloth stayed put. Now... I'm not saying it won't splatter ANY paint, so if you are uneasy, please use a drop cloth!!
Now that my ceilings are white, I do still struggle with lighting in our house since we are covered by a blanket of tress, but this is such a HUGE improvement.
I did paint my walls too just in case you think... wow, it even changed the color of the walls. While I wish that were true, I in fact was forced into it. Funny story actually. I was planning on leaving them this tan color for a little while until I decided on a color for the walls.... but I was painting late at night (exhausted) and I started cutting in around my trim with ceiling paint.... soooooo, since the previous owners didn't leave any extra paint, I was out of luck! I was forced to make a decision and painted them with Sherwin Williams Worldly Gray. I LOVE IT! If you are looking for a good greige color... this one rocks!!
Before when they ceilings were the same color as the walls, it was like it intensified it the color to even MORE of the tan it already was.
See what I mean! Big improvement!! Let's look one more time, side by side!
EEEKK! I love looking at the difference!
One important tip:
DO NOT use a regular roller cover with this paintstick. Remember how I said you shouldn't paint with your kids when you are tired... well I did. I grabbed the wrong roller cover from my basement and stuck it on there and was all ready to get to work. Yeah. As I attempted to push the paint into the roller it had no where to go... so the end popped off and paint exploded all over my carpet! Thank goodness for glycerin and fingernail polish! My carpet did make a full recovery, but I highly suggest avoiding this situation!
Total User Error! But at least now I will always double check ; )
S.Lynn
Thank you thank you thank you for this tip. Bought a house and the ceiling has a creamy white color while the walls are blue the living room, maroon in the kitchen and lavender in the bathroom. If I painted the walls a light gray (like yours) the ceiling would glare at me. What a great winter project made easier.
Ashley
You're very welcome! I have lots more ceiling to paint this winter too!! We can have sore arms together ; )
Nev
I have a popcorn ceiling, how do it paint it
S.Lynn
Thank you thank you thank you for this tip. Bought a house and the ceiling has a creamy white color while the walls are blue the living room, maroon in the kitchen and lavender in the bathroom. If I painted the walls a light gray (like yours) the ceiling would glare at me. What a great winter project made easier.
Ashley
You're very welcome! I have lots more ceiling to paint this winter too!! We can have sore arms together ; )
Nev
I have a popcorn ceiling, how do it paint it
Rod
How much work is it to clean this.
Ashley
There are a few extra parts compared to a regular roller. I'd say it takes me about 15 minutes to clean it out? Both times I've used it my kids have interrupted me while I was cleaning so that's an approximation... but it's not terrible. For me it totally outweighs the amount of mess a paint try makes.... my husband says he still likes a regular ole roller.... but he's not the one who cleans up or does all the prep work, lol.
Mercedes
Thank you for sharing these great tips! I wanted to know where you bought your white curtains? Love the white curtains with the grey walls... 🙂 thanks!
Ashley
You're very welcome : ) hehe... my curtains are actually twin flat sheets from Walmart. I just folded over the top before I cliped them on to get the length I wanted. $5 a panel! : )
Susan
Can you tell me about glycerin and nail polish remover for removing paint from carpet?
Rod
How much work is it to clean this.
Ashley
There are a few extra parts compared to a regular roller. I'd say it takes me about 15 minutes to clean it out? Both times I've used it my kids have interrupted me while I was cleaning so that's an approximation... but it's not terrible. For me it totally outweighs the amount of mess a paint try makes.... my husband says he still likes a regular ole roller.... but he's not the one who cleans up or does all the prep work, lol.
Mercedes
Thank you for sharing these great tips! I wanted to know where you bought your white curtains? Love the white curtains with the grey walls... 🙂 thanks!
Ashley
You're very welcome : ) hehe... my curtains are actually twin flat sheets from Walmart. I just folded over the top before I cliped them on to get the length I wanted. $5 a panel! : )
Susan
Can you tell me about glycerin and nail polish remover for removing paint from carpet?
Jenny
How do you clean the Paint Handle itself once finished? I just bought one but am hesitant to keep it. Looks like it might be a nightmare to clean to be able to ever re-use...
Ashley
Hi Jenny, the cleaning does take a bit longer once you are done with everything, but for me it outweighs all the other stuff when you paint the traditional way. I just followed the instructions for cleaning and it probably took me 10-15 minutes. You just need to put some water in that tub and cover the opening with your finger and shake it up a bit, do that a few times and you should be good to go. The most important thing is that you can't let it sit and have the paint dry... that would be no fun! ; )
Jenny
How do you clean the Paint Handle itself once finished? I just bought one but am hesitant to keep it. Looks like it might be a nightmare to clean to be able to ever re-use...
Ashley
Hi Jenny, the cleaning does take a bit longer once you are done with everything, but for me it outweighs all the other stuff when you paint the traditional way. I just followed the instructions for cleaning and it probably took me 10-15 minutes. You just need to put some water in that tub and cover the opening with your finger and shake it up a bit, do that a few times and you should be good to go. The most important thing is that you can't let it sit and have the paint dry... that would be no fun! ; )
Elisha
Can you twist too much? And tok much paint come out at a time? Have 2000sq ft of ceiling to paint! Thank you!
Ashley
Hi Elisha, you can twist too much and cause the paint to drip, but I was able to get the hang of how much to twist pretty quickly. Bless you're heart, 2000 sq ft of ceiling!
Elisha
Can you twist too much? And tok much paint come out at a time? Have 2000sq ft of ceiling to paint! Thank you!
Ashley
Hi Elisha, you can twist too much and cause the paint to drip, but I was able to get the hang of how much to twist pretty quickly. Bless you're heart, 2000 sq ft of ceiling!
judy Cummings
My husband and I just finished painting our 5,000 square foot home and we did all the ceilings, doors and trim! The walls are 10 feet high so the ceilings were challenging! It took us about 8 weeks, with small breaks for dinner dates, appointments and what not. We also used the HomeRight Easy Twist roller, plus the hand held trimmer. They were life savers! We ended up going through a couple of each just due to the amount and wear and tear! They saved us so much time and energy reloading the brush/roller! The clean up is a bit more than traditional, and you do waste more paint, but the ease and time saving it gave us was worth it!
judy Cummings
My husband and I just finished painting our 5,000 square foot home and we did all the ceilings, doors and trim! The walls are 10 feet high so the ceilings were challenging! It took us about 8 weeks, with small breaks for dinner dates, appointments and what not. We also used the HomeRight Easy Twist roller, plus the hand held trimmer. They were life savers! We ended up going through a couple of each just due to the amount and wear and tear! They saved us so much time and energy reloading the brush/roller! The clean up is a bit more than traditional, and you do waste more paint, but the ease and time saving it gave us was worth it!
Steph Lynn
Oh my gosh, I have the SAME problem! Every surface in my house including doors and doorway trim and ceilings are this awful yellowish tan. It makes me crazy. (My husband doesn't seem to care, typical ). Thank you for this. I want to start one room at a time. Hopefully it will be done before resale. Haha
Ashley
Ugh! All that painting can get so frustrating right?! Hope this helps you a little bit! Good luck! We always finish our projects just in time to sell, lol!
Steph Lynn
Oh my gosh, I have the SAME problem! Every surface in my house including doors and doorway trim and ceilings are this awful yellowish tan. It makes me crazy. (My husband doesn't seem to care, typical ). Thank you for this. I want to start one room at a time. Hopefully it will be done before resale. Haha
Ashley
Ugh! All that painting can get so frustrating right?! Hope this helps you a little bit! Good luck! We always finish our projects just in time to sell, lol!
Gabby
What brand ceiling paint did you use?
Ashley
I use different ones. Typically I use Behr, but Sherwin Williams is always a favorite : ) But I don't remember the specific brand I used on those ceilings.
Gabby
What brand ceiling paint did you use?
Ashley
I use different ones. Typically I use Behr, but Sherwin Williams is always a favorite : ) But I don't remember the specific brand I used on those ceilings.
Katie
Can you tell me the paint color that you chose for your farmhouse bathroom? We loved it!
Katie
Can you tell me the paint color that you chose for your farmhouse bathroom? We loved it!
Beth
How many coats did it take to cover the tan? I'm about to attempt to paint all of our ceilings. Same problem--tan walls and tan ceilings.
Beth
How many coats did it take to cover the tan? I'm about to attempt to paint all of our ceilings. Same problem--tan walls and tan ceilings.
Jena B
What is your new wall color pictured!? I love it!
Ashley
Thanks!! It was called Worldy Gray. : )
Jena B
What is your new wall color pictured!? I love it!
Ashley
Thanks!! It was called Worldy Gray. : )
Lou
where can you buy the replacement perforated rollers and inserts for the Paint Stick?
Ashley
Hi Lou, you can find them at Home Depot usually. If your local store doesn't carry them you can order them online though. Here's the direct affiliate link: https://fave.co/2Gvmze1
Lou
where can you buy the replacement perforated rollers and inserts for the Paint Stick?
Ashley
Hi Lou, you can find them at Home Depot usually. If your local store doesn't carry them you can order them online though. Here's the direct affiliate link: https://fave.co/2Gvmze1
Elaine
can you use this on walls as well or is it just for ceilings? I am thinking you could but I have never used such a roller so I don't know the 'reality' of it. Thank you
Elaine
can you use this on walls as well or is it just for ceilings? I am thinking you could but I have never used such a roller so I don't know the 'reality' of it. Thank you
AN777 APP
Great tips! I love the idea of using a roller with an extension pole to reach those high spots without making a mess. Can't wait to try the painter's tape trick you mentioned to keep the edges clean. Thanks for sharing!
AN777 APP
Great tips! I love the idea of using a roller with an extension pole to reach those high spots without making a mess. Can't wait to try the painter's tape trick you mentioned to keep the edges clean. Thanks for sharing!