Painting High Ceilings

I decided to fill the picture holes in the walls with the paint that the previous owner of the house left behind. The paint container for the kitchen walls looked very old and rusty all around the lid. I expected the paint not to be useful but when I stirred it up, the paint came back to life. The touch-ups came out really well.

Next — the olive color in the living and dining rooms. This paint can also looked old and the label showed it was from 2004. Still — the touch-ups came out great.

The last touch-up was in the family room. The paint can looked fine although when I mixed the paint it didn’t “feel” right. I had expected the result to be the same as the previous two cans of paint. I was wrong.

I touched-up the walls but it was blotchy and showed an entirely different tint of color. My only option was to paint the whole wall. Normally that’s not a problem but the family room has 2 walls and a hallway that’s also painted with the same color.

Blotchy Touch-up Paint

The ceiling in the family room must be about 12 feet high so the long ladder had to be used. I enjoy painting but the height of the ceiling seemed daunting. I have visual and balance problems. In spite of that, I decided to challenge myself.

Everything was going well until the 2nd day. I made it almost all the way up the ladder – one step left — and then I froze. I couldn’t go up and I couldn’t go down. I must’ve stood there for about 10 minutes trying to figure out what to do. Eventually, I went up, continued my ceiling “edging” and went back down.

I’m using a Benjamin Moore paint — pricey but it rolls on nice and smooth.

The ceiling wasn’t as hard as I expected. I didn’t tape the ceiling but rather used a small brush and painted downwards with the tip of the paint brush. Then I painted side to side with the edge of the same brush. This requires more time but the effect is usually better. Patience is key.

My hardest challenge was taping the corner as I couldn’t lean the tall ladder on the “orange” wall since the window was in the way. So, I had to tape while I was standing sideways on the ladder.

I’m almost all finished with this one wall except for the two cubby holes. Since the new paint is much lighter than the one on the wall, I had to use 2 coats of paint.

Next — the hallway that also has the same blotchy touch-up this wall had.

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