Remodeling Revelations Vol. 1 - Paint

I am learning a lot of great things throughout this process and decided to list them for future reference because my memory is as holey as swiss cheese. Now, these things may be no brainers for you DIY veterans out there but they were revelations for me.

1. Start by prioritizing your projects by $ as well as how much they bug you. In hindsight, there is a large ticket project that really bugged me butI wish we had considered other options and spent the extra $ on some other projects.
2. If your paint doesn't need a color change, try washing the walls first. It's amazing how it will brighten the room. Magic Erasers can be very useful but try to use them sparingly as they will dull your paint sheen. If washing the wall doesn't make enough difference, consider paint matching and touching up as another option.
3. Remember, color matching isn't perfect or fail safe! The difference of "just slightly off" can be as big as the wall you are painting. Old paint is hard to match and needs to be washed (see #2).
4. Paint sheen is more important than you may realize. Don't let anyone, even the Home Depot guy tell you that your ceiling paint is a semi-gloss. It isn't! Instead of painting one section of the ceiling stained by Cherry 7-up, we ended up painting the entire ceiling. Uggg!
5. Contrasting paint colors adds interest and drama. We are very happy we chose a bright white for doors and trim rather than a more mute eggshell or cream color.
6. There are lots of uses for paint that make big changes for little $. We are excited about our new blue front door and the "hammered" metallic paint we used to update the light fixtures in the bathrooms.
7. Buy expensive paint tape and remove it while the paint is still wet to prevent bleeding and flaking. I just learned this yesterday from a professional painter! Wish I had known this long ago! No more DollarTree tape for this house!
8. Removing hardware, switchplates, etc is worth the time and effort. No matter how hard you try, you will get paint on them. It is more difficult to clean the paint off of them later.
9. A higher grade brush can make all the difference when cutting in those edges!