Little Britches rolled the entire first coat of paint for me while I cut in all along the edges. Knowing that I was going to be painting all the woodwork as soon as we were done with the walls, I opted for cutting in with a foam brush instead of the good angle brush I knew I'd need for the trim. This was my first mistake. I would recommend skipping the foam brushes for cutting in your paint job. Although, they're great for other projects - this isn't one of them. It gave me thin coverage that you could see through and I went through several of them because they kept ripping.
Go ahead and invest in one of these babies. An angle brush is just the ticket you need to get great coverage right up into the corners. I don't even have to tape off anymore now that I use this brush. A two inch brush seems to be a good size.
This is what it looks like without the cover. You can tell it's been used a lot. We made sure we didn't buy the cheapest angle brush out there, either. I choked a just a little bit when I saw the price - but, believe me, it was well worth the investment. I've have had this for years now and it is still in great shape. I'll never buy an el cheapo brush again (unless it's the foam babies for craft projects). Some things are worth the investment. My experience with cheap brushes has proven that the bristles want to come out in your paint job and get all crazy going off the sides and stuff like that. I really, really like this Wooster 2" angle brush. The next time you need to paint, buy one. Seriously. OK. Moving on...
I don't remember where I heard this next tip, but it's worked out really great for me. Whenever I paint, instead of just pouring the remainder of it back into the can, I save some of it in a glass jar. I put some Scotch tape on the jar and then label it, so I know what's in there and where I used it. This makes it really easy when I need to do a quick touch-up. It's also a great way to repurpose glass food jars. One of these was a pickle jar. One used to hold Cheez Whiz. Do this the next time you break open a can of paint. You'll be glad you did.
OK. This next tip doesn't have a picture. But, you're smart. You'll figure it out. :0) When you first open a new can of paint, take a nail and puncture the rim of the can (not the lid) a few times all around it. You want to make the holes in the lowest ridge of the can. As you load your brush and wipe the excess off of it, the paint will drip back down into the can through the holes instead of pooling up in the ridge. This is also helpful when it's time to close up shop. Have you ever went to put the lid back on the paint can, only to find that all of the paint sitting in that well spatters all over you, the floor and anything else that is in close enough proximity to it? This eliminates that problem because the paint isn't pooling there anymore. It dripped back into the can, remember? Aaahhh, very good, Grasshopper. Remember this one.
This next tip is something that I have just started doing since we moved into our current house last year. OK. Well, most of it anyway. The part I'm getting ready to tell you about, I actually started before we moved in. But, who's counting? All righty, then. I have a 3 ring binder filled with those clear, plastic sheet protector thingies. I took a few file folders, cut them in half, hit the bottoms with a 3 hole punch and added those to the binder. This became my Inspiration Book. Whenever I see something that I really like in a magazine, on the computer, in the paper, etc. - I rip it out and add it to my Inspiration Book. I have sections for general decorating, Holidays, landscaping and organizing. I also added a section at the front of the book (this is the new part) for our current house. I just took a sheet of lined paper and wrote down every room in the house, what brand of paint, color of paint, finish and chip number that we used. You could be fancy and type it out. I didn't feel like it.
This is a little closer shot. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that I have done this. I have already needed to reference it on more than one occasion. 
On the back side of my paint chart, I slipped all of my paint chips in the pocket. I also stuck a binder clip on the top to make sure that they don't fall out.
I also have a pocket for the landscaping that we have started. I keep the tags of the trees, shrubs and plants that we have added so far. This is great, not only so I'll remember what they are, but, so we also have care instructions for each plant, should we ever need it.
Well, that's all the tips I have today. I hope you found something useful that you didn't know before. And, if you have a tip that I didn't mention that works really well for you - please, leave me a comment with it. I'm all for finding ways to make my life easier and more efficient.
Have a great day!
