Rolling. Dip your roller in the paint tray and then roll it back and forth on the ridged part of the tray. This squeezes out excess paint and evenly spreads the paint all the way around the roller.

When painting, start with diagonal or zigzag strokes to get the paint on the surface.

Paint each surface in blocks of roughly 4 feet by 4 feet. Paint adjacent blocks before each previous block dries. This will blend the edges together and help prevent lap lines. When using glossier paints, paint smaller areas at a time. Glossier paints have a greater tendency to show lap lines.

Brushing tips. When painting molding and woodwork with a brush, you can mask off adjacent areas that you do not want to paint (for instance window panes). Use wide masking tape along the edge you want to maintain.

With a little practice you can learn to "cut" in your paint edge and avoid the hassle of masking things off. With a steady hand, guide the brush along the surface you are painting, allowing a few bristles to overlap the adjacent surface by about 1/16". Strive for a smooth, even line. Paint with the grain of the wood. Use short strokes to coat the surface with paint, the go back over the area with longer, smoother strokes for an even, finished surface.

Paint a room! The order in which to paint a room is essentially top to bottom. That means start with the ceiling, then do the walls and finally paint all the woodwork. To paint a ceiling, begin by painting the edge of the ceiling along the walls with a brush. Paint out about 2" to 3" onto the ceiling. This will provide an area to overlap with the roller.

The easiest way to paint a ceiling is with a roller and an extension handle. This allows you to stand on the floor while you paint. If need be, you can use a stepladder, but it is much slower going and awkward. Start in the corner of the room and work your way across the narrowest dimension of the room with a band about 4 feet wide. Continue back and forth across the room until you are finished.

When the ceiling is dry, you can start painting the walls. Start by using a brush to paint corners, ceiling lines and areas adjacent to woodwork. Paint one entire wall or area at a time.

Use the roller and work your way across the room, from the ceiling down to the baseboards.

When the walls are dry, you can start to paint the woodwork. This will probably be the most time consuming part of the project and requires a fair amount of patience. Use a good sash brush. They are worth the extra cost. Paint with the grain of the wood. When painting windows, paint the sashes first. Then work your way down the window casing to the sill. Don't paint moving parts, like sash cords and pulleys, or the sash channels.

On raised panel doors, paint the panels first. Then work your way from the top to the bottom of the door.

If you desire, flat panel doors can be painted with a roller for quick application.