DIY Painting a White Ceiling

Choose flat latex paint for this project to make future touch–up easier. Using the best paint a brand offers will make painting a white ceiling much easier. It can take as many as four or more coats of some low grade paints to cover completely, while quality paint will cover most surfaces with just one coat. Most paint manufacturers offer a professional quality paint in their line of products.

If the walls are already painted skip this step. Paint the walls of your room first. When brushing the wall color next to the ceiling, avoid getting the paint on the ceiling as much as possible. Use two thin coats of paint rather than one thick coat, to limit build–up on the ceiling. This will minimize the color that must be covered with the white ceiling paint.

Let the wall paint dry for two days or more before attempting to mask them. When you're ready, use painter's masking tape at least 1 ½ inches wide. Apply short strips of tape to enable better control of the line and keep the tape as straight as possible. Overlap the ends of each piece of tape by an inch or so.

Use a clean putty knife to press the tape against the wall. Push down lightly on the blade and pull it along the tape to ensure a good bond. Use lighter pressure on freshly painted walls to avoid pulling the paint off when removing the tape later. When you reach a corner continue the tape around to the next wall a little and cut it off.

Start taping the new wall overlapping the end of the tape by an inch or so. Press the tape lightly into the corner where it makes the turn to be sure there are no gaps. Continue around the ceiling in this manner.

Use good quality white paint and begin brushing a thin coat, three inches wide, around the perimeter of the ceiling. Use two thin coats of paint rather than one thick coat that will bleed under the tape. More coats may be required for deeper wall colors. See Paint Brushing Techniques for more. Give each coat about an hour to dry before applying the next. When the brush work is done, roll one or two coat onto the rest of the ceiling. See Paint Rolling Techniques for more.

With flat latex paint, give the ceiling about an hour to dry before pulling the tape off. If the paint is semi–gloss or eggshell, pull the tape before it dries to avoid peeling the new paint. Pull the tape slowly. If necessary run the point of a putty knife along the edge to break the paint film.

Using flat latex paint for this job will minimize the chances of peeling the new paint with the tape and greatly improve the results. In addition, flat latex is easy to touch–up and repeated coats will not "flash" when the paint has dried. Shiny paints such as eggshell or semi–gloss will show roller and brush marks, especially with repeated applications.