Painting a room in your house might seem like a no-brainer-dip, swipe, dip again-but it's going to take more effort than that to achieve a flawless wall and durable color. And it all starts with proper preparation. We spoke to Ed Waller, cofounder of CertaPro, a national chain of painting companies, to learn the best way to get your walls and furniture ready for a fresh coat. Waller, who has trained a lot of aspiring painters, offered these tips.

• The first step in your paint prep is sanding. Any existing paint will trap brush hairs and other small particles in the wall. Sanding the walls or furniture before painting gets rid of ridges that were created the last time the wall was coated-you don't want to double up on those bumps.

• Waller says that, for health reasons, it's best to avoid dry sanding because it creates a lot of silica dust. (He says all paint has silica in it, which is safe until it becomes a dust that can be inhaled and damage the lungs.) Moisture makes the process safer. You can purchase an inexpensive sanding sponge from the paint store and wet it before you sand, but Waller says to leave the hard-core dry sanding to the pros, especially if the paint is old and you're worried that it might contain lead: "Go easy on the dry-sand, or just wet-sand instead. We still dry-sand, but we know where there's lead and where there isn't. Our painters wear masks, and they wipe up as soon as they're done."

• While Waller says you don't really need to wear a mask when painting with today's low- and no-VOC paints, be sure to wear one when sanding.

Filling seams and holes

• Before you paint, use painter's caulk to fill the seams between the trim and the walls, and any gaps in the woodwork. It's an easy, inexpensive way to make the paint job look tighter and more professional. You don't want to paint your room having left a black line between the walls and trim, to which Waller says your eye will be inevitably drawn. And don't use excess filler-the less caulk, the better. He says to cover your finger with a damp cloth and push along the caulk to smooth it out.

• The less-is-more rule applies to filler for holes in the wall, too. Waller says one or two thin coats are better than a big splotch of filler, because thin coats will dry faster. Keep the edges between the wall and the filling compound thin and smooth so you don't have to sand it later.

Washing

• Waller says you cannot clean the walls and trim enough before painting, especially when using modern latex paints. (Just think of the wear and tear accumulated on your home's walls over the years!) "With the old oil-based paints, you could just put it right on the walls, because it worked its way into the film, since they really had oil in them. But latex paints today are oil- and grease-intolerant." Be sure to clean extra diligently in areas that receive a lot of human or animal contact: around doorknobs, kitchen cabinets, door frames, and hallways where pets walk against the walls.

• He cautions that removing some substances that might be on the walls, such as furniture wax, requires extra elbow grease and a scrub with ammonia.

• Professionals often don't bother with primer, Waller says, instead preferring to apply two coats of paint. He says many homeowners will be satisfied with the results of a DIY primer-and-one-coat job, but the professional eye will notice the uneven spots. The majority of interior walls are done with flat or satin-finish paint; Waller recommends satin so that you can wipe the walls clean.

• On the trim, where people most often use semi-gloss, you will want to use a spot primer, so that the coat stands up to wear and tear.

• Waller says you never win with cheap paint, which just doesn't coat as nicely, though it's OK to use the stuff for the ceiling, since it's white and never gets touched.

Dampening the brush or roller

• Always get your tools damp-not wet, or you'll thin out the paint-before you start coating the walls. Paintbrushes and rollers should never go into the can dry, because the brush hairs and roller fibers will stick to themselves.

Planning for after you've finished

• Think about whether your framed pictures will go back to the same places on the wall after the paint job is completed. Waller says homeowners often forget that they'll have to remeasure and rehang frames once the walls are painted. If the pictures aren't going back, fill up the holes and move on. But if they will go back to the same spot, Waller says, you have two options: You'll have to decide whether to take the hardware out of the wall, or leave it in and paint over it. "Generally speaking, if there's a risk of causing damage to the wall-plaster walls, for example-leave the hardware in, because you could pull the nail out and pull out a good chunk of plaster with it. If you paint over it, and decide to move the photos later, then you just have a discreet nail head that's the same color as the

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