- 1). Wash the walls with a mixture of 1/4 cup ammonia and one gallon of warm water to ensure that they are clean. Let the walls dry completely before you continue.
- 2). Apply one coat of a water-based primer to the walls, baseboards and chair rail with a paint roller or paintbrush. If the chair rail and baseboards will not be painted, cover the top and bottom edges of the chair rail and the top edge of the baseboards with painter's tape to protect them and disregard step five and six.
- 3). Paint the top half of the wall first with the interior paint of your choice. If paint splatters onto the bottom of the wall, you do not need to worry about cleanup since you will be painting the lower half later.
- 4). Paint the lower half of the wall with interior paint. Allow both halves of the wall to dry completely before you continue.
- 5). Press painter's tape onto the dry painted wall just above the baseboards and above and below the chair rail.
- 6). Paint the baseboards and chair rail in your desired color. Carefully peel away the tape after the paint has dried for one to two hours.
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