To date, I (and a little Mike) have painted:

8,232 square feet of walls
1,594 square feet of ceilings
1,586 linear feet of trim

and used:

7 gallons of primer
13 gallons of paint

I feel tired and poor just writing about it. Fortunately I loved the painting, even with the late nights, sore hands and arms, and going to work with spots of paint I didn't catch the night before. And I know I would not have been able to use so many different colors, or use Sherwin Williams higher quality paint if it wasn't for my employee contractor account. With all the work we've put into the painting, it's an amazing feeling when I walk in the door and see my crisp white trim with the colors I painstakingly picked.

Now that I'm pretty much an expert at painting, there are some products that were a must-have I picked up along the way.

I would not have survived, (or had neat edges), without the Premium XL Tight Spots 2″ Angle Short Handle Brush from Sherwin Williams. This brush saved my life and sanity. The short handle made it easy to get into the tight corners and was easier to handle. Only found at Sherwin Williams, I tried to get away with a cheap knockoff after a late night trip to Ace Hardware. I didn't make it 8" before I tossed it and waited until the next day to go back to SW when they opened.

The ZIBRA AIR GLIDE Quick Eject 9" Paint Frame saved me from cursing like a sailor everytime I needed to change rollers. With the touch of a button the frame opens and releases the wet roller without touching it.

The Craftsman 36" Creeper. Something not intended for painting, but thanks to Mike's thinking outside the box, helped me expedite my trim and baseboards. If not for this little guy, I would have bruises all over my legs and hips from scooting along the hard floors.

The last painting tool was the 12" pole extender. Not that inventive or even expensive, but attaching this to the end of my roller helped me reach to the ceiling and the floor with out jumping or squatting, and also was small enough to allow full motion to paint everything in between.


A picture of my painting pot of gold: