Do you paint walls or trim first?

1- Door & Window frames first (and the ceilings if applicable)

2- Next the Walls.

3- Then you finish off with the baseboards.

The reason why it's important to paint the frames before the walls is that it is much easier to cut a strait line with your brush comfortably resting on a wall (compared to the tiny edge of of frame).

Now the reason why you don't paint the baseboards first is in 2 part.

1- Even if you do a great job cutting in with the brush and not put any paint on the baseboards, you're still going to have tiny drops from when you roll out the wall paint.

2- The most important reason for DIY's however is to create the illusion of a straighter line.

The logic is simple... unless you are lying down on the floor... you will be admiring the beauty of your new paint job from a higher point than your baseboards. This means that if there should be any of the trim paint touching the wall it won't be as noticeable than having some wall paint touching the top of the baseboards.

Test it... and see for yourself :)

Happy Painting Everyone!