Tired of bad smells? Struggling to reach areas in your home? As professional painters and decorators we have learnt a few things over the years. Here are some of the most interesting ways to enhance and improve your painting experience if you are a beginner, or on a budget.

Use Extracts for Better Paint Smells

There’s nothing better than working hard and finishing with a freshly painted room that is ready to dry. What is less appealing is the overpowering smell of paint, which takes days to waft away. Don’t bother lighting up candles and air fresheners when you’re finished, there’s an even better way.

Reduce the pungent smell of your paints by adding extract into your paint cans. The best extract to use is imitation vanilla extract. Just a few drops into the paint will mask or seriously reduce any smells when your day is finished.

Wrap a Band Around Your Paint Pots

Painting is a messy job. How many times have you splashed and splattered paint onto the floor, or something else you wasn’t supposed to. If you are painting straight out of the paint pot, then wrap an elastic band around the paint pot.

Firstly the elastic band will help you wipe off any excess paint on your brush. This ensures you don’t apply too much paint to the surface you’re working on. Secondly, the elastic band also gives you a handy place to rest your brush when you’re having a tea or admiring your handiwork!

Cover Your Paint Trays

Anything with paint on can be a real hassle to clean up. This includes paint trays. When you have a paint tray don’t pour your paint onto it – cover it with aluminium foil or Saran wrap. When you’ve finished painting you can simply pour any excess back into the point.

Carefully wrap up the foil and throw away and voila! Your painting tray looks brand new once again! You don’t even have to do any cleaning.

Use a Broom for Those Hard to Reach Areas

If you’re painting your home on a a budget, then you probably don’t have access to much of the equipment that professional painters use. This can be a problem if you’re painting the ceiling and the upper wall surfaces. Don’t buy an extension pole, use a broom!

Most paint rollers will fit onto a broom and will give you all the height that you need. You’ll save yourself a handy 50 pounds in the process!

Use a Lint Roller on Your Old Rollers

Re-using your old rollers means getting them out of the cupboard or garage where they have collected dirt, dust and grime. Get rid of all that pesky material by using a lint roller. The lint roller has just enough stickiness to eliminate anything that will ruin your painting. Just a quick once over and your rollers will look as good as new.