Rollers, Brushes, and What Not to Buy
Okay. So you've tested your color on the back of a drawer, you've picked eggshell for the walls, and now you're standing in the paint aisle looking at forty different rollers wondering why any of this needs to be this complicated.
It doesn't. But I'm going to save you some money here, because this is the part where people way overspend.
What you actually need
For a normal bedroom or living room wall, here's the full list:
- One good angled brush, 2 to 2.5 inch. Spend the ten or twelve dollars. A cheap brush sheds bristles into your wet paint and then you're picking them out with your fingernail at 9pm.
- A roller frame (this you can buy once and keep forever)
- Roller covers with a 3/8 inch nap for smooth walls, a little thicker if your walls are textured, which a lot of them are out here
- A roller tray, or honestly a gallon-size ziplock bag over a paper plate works fine too
- Painter's tape, the blue kind
- A drop cloth. An old sheet works. I use towels from the free pile at DI half the time.
That's it. That's the list.
What you don't need
You do not need the foam rollers. I say this every single class and someone always has one already at home — throw it out, or use it for something else. Foam rollers leave tiny bubbles in the paint that dry into a texture you didn't ask for. Use the mini rollers instead, the little dense ones with actual nap, not foam. I know that's confusing because they're both small and in the same aisle. Just read the label.
You also don't need the paint-and-primer-in-one unless you're actually covering something dark or stained. It costs more and for a simple color-on-color refresh it's not doing anything special for you.
And you don't need an edging tool, the little pad-on-a-stick thing that promises perfect lines without tape. I've tried three different kinds over the years and every single one bled paint under the edge at least once. Tape and a steady hand, cut in slow, that's it.
How to actually paint the wall
- Tape your edges — ceiling line, trim, outlets. Press the tape down hard with your fingernail so paint can't creep under it.
- Cut in first. That means using your brush to paint a strip along all the edges, about two or three inches wide, before you ever touch the roller. This is the slow part. Don't rush it.
- Load your roller and roll in a big W shape, then fill it in without lifting the roller off the wall until you're done with that section. Overlap into your wet edges.
- Work in sections about three feet wide so you're always blending into wet paint, not dry. That's actually the whole trick to not getting roller marks.
- Let it dry the full time on the can before a second coat. Up here with our dry air paint dries fast on the surface, but give it the real time anyway or you'll drag the first coat.
One real caution: if you're painting a closet or a small bathroom with the door shut, crack a window or turn on the fan. The fumes build up fast in a small space and it'll give you a headache before you notice.
The opinion part
I'll say it again because it matters here: sheen matters more than the roller you buy. You can use the fanciest brush in the store and still get a bad result if you bought flat paint for a hallway that gets touched fifty times a day. Eggshell for walls, satin for trim, every time, no matter what roller's in your hand.
The thing I actually want you to hear
My very first class, years ago, a woman raised her hand partway through and said she couldn't afford new anything — not paint, not furniture, nothing extra. And I remember standing there thinking, okay, then this whole class has to work for her too, not just for the people who can drop eighty bucks on a shopping trip without blinking.
That's why I keep harping on the cheap list. You genuinely do not need the expensive version of any of this. One good brush, some tape, a couple rollers, and you're set for years. The paint itself is where your money should go, not the tools.
Before next time
Go buy your actual supplies this week — the real list, not the extras — and bring your leftover test board back with you. We're going to talk about how to actually load a roller without flinging paint on your ceiling, which I promise is a skill and not just luck 🙌
Thanks, Stephanie.