How to Paint a Perfectly Crisp Line on the Wall Using Painter's Tape

Have you ever tried to paint a line using painter's tape only to find that the paint has seeped under the edge and made a mess??? This has happened to me way too many times, so I was about to give up. Then I read somewhere on the interwebs a TRICK! I'm going to show you because I tried it and it worked! Okay, it only took me 40 years to learn this trick and I'm so glad I now know it.

Start like this.... Paint one of the colors on your wall. I started with light blue. I painted a little further down than I needed to go. Next, let the paint dry.

Next, on top of the paint you just painted, place your masking (painter's) tape.

Now here's the trick!!! Using your same color, paint over the tape. In other words, I started with light blue tape, so I painted over the tape edge that will line up with the new color with the light blue paint. This allows the original color to bleed rather than the next color.

Now paint over the bottom part of your wall with your 2nd color. Also cover the bottom of the tape line with the 2nd color.

Remove your tape and TA DA! You've got a perfectly crisp line. AWESOME. A picture of my actual wall is below....

And here is my ACTUAL wall! AWESOME!!!

Happy Painting!!!

Tami