We may earn a commission from links on this page.Paint is among the cheapest of home renovationsit freshens things, covers old chips and scratches, and it can make your whole house feel brand new in just a few days. Even if you hire someone to paint a room, the cost isnt entirely prohibitivebetween $350 and $850, on average, per room. Thats pretty cheap compared to other renovation projects, but its still a chunk of change. Since painting is generally within most peoples DIY skill set, a lot of folks decide to set aside a weekend, buy some painters tape, and tackle the job themselves. If thats you, here are some tips to make the job a little easier.Liquid masking tapeIf youre painting a room with windows or any other glass features, you know the pure tedium of applying traditional painter's tape around the edges of the glass (plus the tedium of having to scrape paint off the glass anyway because you got sloppy). Thats where liquid masking tape comes into play: You slather this stuff on your windows (you dont need to worry about getting it on the trim, because it will act as a primer coating on anything thats not glass), let it dry, then slather your paint on, let that dry, then just peel the masking tape off like a plastic film. As you can see here, it works like a charm and will save you a lot of time.Catch dripsPainting a ceiling? Sorry to hear thatbe prepared to emerge absolutely drenched in paint as it drips down on you, and youd better have a sturdy drop cloth over everything in the room.That is, unless you use an inverted umbrella. This might sound silly, but it actually workspoke a hole in an umbrella, push your paint roller handle through, seal it up with tape, and proceed to paint the ceiling. The umbrella will catch all the paint drips, and you can safely paint the whole ceiling without worrying about spending the next day scraping tiny drops of paint off of every surface. Pro tip: Buy a cheap clear plastic umbrella so you can actually see what youre doing. Alternatively, a clear plastic paint tray liner can do the same job with less bulk to maneuver.A dirty paint trayYou may have been advised at some point to line your paint tray, either with a cheap plastic liner or any plastic bag you have lying around (or even aluminum foil). Yes, that spares you a lot of cleanupbut the real hack is to just not clean your paint tray at all. Drain excess paint back into the can, then just let your tray dry out. A layer of old paint wont affect the trays usefulness.The cardboard methodPainting floor trim can be a real challenge. You can either spend a lot of time applying painters tape all around the edge of the room to protect the floor, or you can try to spread a drop cloth near the trimbut drop cloths will always get in the way of your brush or roller, and have a tendency to shift away from the wall just when you need it to protect everything.Instead, use a piece of cardboard (or other thin, impermeable material, like a plastic sheet). Insert the sheet into the gap between the wall or trim and the floor, paint that section with wild abandon, then slide the sheet forward and paint the next section. The sheet protects the floor, you get paint all the way to the edge, and you didnt spend the last hour putting down and endlessly adjusting tape.Petroleum jellyWhen it comes to painting around fixtures and hardware like doorknobs, its best to either remove them completely or mask them well with tape. But if you want to avoid that or you have small areas you want to avoid paintingscrews, for examplewhere dabbing a tiny square of painters tape is both annoying and ineffective, you have an alternative: Use some petroleum jelly. Dab a bit onto the spot you want to skip painting and any paint that accidentally gets on it will just wipe away when everythings dried.Paint pensWhether touching up a spot you missed or correcting a mistake, any spot in your room that requires a very fine paint line (like around a wall plate or fixture you cant or simply dont want to remove) can be incredibly challenging for even the smallest brush. Thats where a paint pen comes in. These refillable devices make it super easy to get into tight spaces and do quick touch-ups without having to tape the whole area off and try to awkwardly angle a brush. Inspect your work the next day and fill in any thin spots right away, with zero extra prep.Gloves and socksIf youve ever painted stair balusters or furniture legs, you know its a pain to get good coverage all around with a brush. So, skip the brush: Put on a nitrite glove, pull an old sock over that, dip into your paint can, and just grab whatever it is youre trying to paint with your hand. This technique is a lot faster when painting any kind of oddly-shaped element, because your hand is a lot more flexible and dexterous than a paintbrush or roller.Radiator brushes and paint padsTrying to paint behind something youd really rather not remove, like a radiator or toilet? You can get in as close as you can and hope the blank spot behind it isnt noticeable, or you could buy a specific tool like a radiator brush or a paint pad that allows you to easily and quickly paint the area behind these fixturesno removal necessary.CaulkGetting crisp, clean lines with painters tape sometimes seems like an impossible task. Theres always some element of bleed-through that needs to be cleaned up when the tape is peeled away. But you can avoid this and guarantee sharp lines with something called Back Caulking:Leave a thin space between the edge of your tape and the wallabout the thickness of a dime.Fill that space with a thin bead of caulk.Smooth the bead with your finger and/or a damp cloth as you would with any caulking job.Let paint dry, remove painters tape.Ta-da! Perfect lines.