Get into a REAL cover like Purdy White-Doves or Wooster Pro-Dooz's. B4 1st roll on the wall- Let the roller get saturated (2 minutes!). Roll-off excess, load again. Let sit ANOTHER 2 minutes. Roll-off any "sheeting" paint. You should be able to walk around the room with a properly saturated roller, and not have a molecule drip off....well....this applies to GOOD paints anyway!! >>> NOW, you're "Ready-to-Roll"!! Don't push a loaded roller ANY further than 2'x3'....3'x3' at the MAX. * Work in 3' wide columns on the wall. * Apply FOUR loads (~2'x3') in this column, starting @ the top. * Here's the KEY movement...after filling lowest rectangle (roller-load #4), bring the roller immediately to the top, and do a >>> LIGHT * Read that step AGAIN... * This evens-out the thin-spots and roller-turns that you can't see...because they're WET. * PLUS- all paint is now "leaning" the same direction! You won't get the "Mowed Baseball-field" look!! Faron

Paintguy, Thank you so much for your in-depth response - which of course triggered more questions:) hee hee Trim - After your post and speaking with the SW and BM sales guys I think I'm set on doing a latex trim. It just makes more sense. My trim is very dark. So the SW guy told me to use the All Surface enamel because he said the waterborne Pro Classic cannot be done in dark colors. He recommended using a Preprite Holds Gloss Primer on it and then the All Surface enamel gloss. Do you think that is a low quality paint? I looked up Graham paint - none in Charlotte, NC. So I looked up Muralo. They have it listed at a hardware store here. Could that really be superior to a SW or BM bought from a paint store? Oh and the SW guy also told me no dark trim can be made in a waterborne - he said only light to medium trim colors in waterborne. He also said the painter could put in a float or slow trowl product to allow the spread of the brush marks to spread smoother. Wall color - I totally agree about the chalkiness of flat. Plus I am doing dark rich colors that may mar easily. I used BM Regal washable matte in the last house and liked it. But the SW sales rep told me Duration Home is much superior. He said the finish isn't quite as "creamy" as the Cashmere, but it holds up much better. Also, Cashmere and Duration Home in matte cannot be done in dark colors, only in light to medium tones. He said I had to use Color Accents for dark colors like crabby apple red. He said the dark could be done in Duration Home only if I did it in satin or semi. I don't know if the Color Accents is very durable and it will be in a semi-busy area. And I don't know if it goes on nicely. You mentioned the Duration Home looks "gritty" Does that mean you like the BM Regal Matte better, or do you have another washable choice brand you like best? SW guy says it's not quite as nice as Cashmere, but close. If I go satin won't both look nice? If I use satin in both will the Duration still be more durable? Lastly, we went to see a painters work today. He had a lot of flashing on the medium tone painted ceiling. He said it was a normal issue. It was very obvious around the recessed lights, which they said where dropped down and painted around and it was very obvious at the ceiling to wall cut-in line. SW guy told me that it was because he didn't keep a wet edge and that with a dark color on the ceiling the painter should have the cut in guy go first, followed immediately by the roller. YOUR Opinion? The thing that turned me off mostly about this man's work was the fact that he caulks last in the attempt to make the cut-in line sharper. He says he paints over the caulk, but we saw a finished home and there was no doubt the white caulk could be seen between the cream trim and the light green wall. I thought it looked like a odd way to get a straight line. What concerns me more though is my trim is dark chocolate, so obviously caulking last wouldn't work. This was a HIGH end custom painter, doing million dollar homes! I have never, in all my homes, seen it done this way...is it a new practice? Sorry so long. Thank you again SO very much for the responses!!! Squirt

I always love blue but I also really love the canvas color in your kitchen because it looks so nice with your counters and cabinets. Like HIWE said “you can add blue accents on the counters.”

Your neighbor's front yard looks terrible. I would divorce myself from any concern about them. Frankly, I can't believe your HOA even allowed this. I would install a row of clusia rosea bushes just inside your property line and let it grow into a large hedge. These plants grow very quickly once they root and have no issues with pests and are drought resistant once established. Their leaves look similar to a Jade Plant and are a bit rubbery. Here is a local front yard in the subdivision down the street.