When you’re done, take off the tape while the paint is still wet; if you wait until it’s dry you’ll take paint off with it. For touch-ups, use a foam brush to blend the paint in—a roller will look blotchy.

I want to do more than just paint my wall a solid color. Any tips?
There are many techniques to give your walls some texture.

Striping mimics the look of wallpaper and can be done using blue painter’s tape, a long level and patience. Hiller says to first measure the wall to figure out where you want your stripes to go. (This should be well thought out!) Then tape where you want the stripes, paint the blank spaces and remove the tape while the paint is still damp. She recommends using paint in the same color family (like beige and cream stripes) to make the look more subtle.

Fox has also come up with a “ragging” technique that looks like crushed fabric. To do it, take shamy cloths and cut them into 3-inch squares. Staple them, in the center of the square, to a paint roller at random intervals, covering most, but not all, of the roller. Then, after the base coat is dry, roll glaze and then the moistened shamy roller over the glaze.