The Easiest Way To Paint Tall Walls

With the right tools, you too can learn the easiest way to paint tall walls.  

Our living room has always been top on my list to paint. The colors from the previous owners never jived with me — yellow mustard and the dirt brown had to go. As much as I wanted to make this rather simple DIY change to our home, the vaulted ceilings always made me hesitate. How in the heck was I ever going to reach the tip top of our 20 ft walls?! But thanks to Wagner, who supplied me with the right tools and sponsored this post, my living room now has beautiful walls that I love! If you’ve been looking for a great tutorial, this is the easiest way to paint tall walls.

So before I talk about the tools and tips I used to paint those tall walls, let’s look back at the living room before I started painting.

This picture right here is a great example of the four different colors that were combined in this one room. Number 2, the mustard yellow, was the color I hated the most. No thank you!

The wall off the entry way was the most intimidating space. Just look at how high that peak is — it’s way up there!

And here’s a look at the other two walls in the room…

As you can see, that mustard color even made it’s way into my kitchen, off the hall. I’ve never been so excited to paint in my life!

Lucky for me, I snagged all of my paint at Sherwin Williams on sale for 30% off. I purchased 5 gallons of Repose Gray, which may seem like a lot. But I only had half a gallon leftover when I finished. So I think that was just about the perfect amount of paint. 

Next I gathered my painting tools. I promise you, this is exactly what you need for the easiest way to paint tall walls! This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

The four main tools you need to tackle those super high walls are:

• one SMART Roller
• one SMART Edge Roller
• one ceiling paint edger 
• one extension pole

Then you will need your standard paint supplies:

• paint tray
• several paint brushes of varying sizes (for cutting and hard to reach areas)
• paint drop cloths (to protect furniture and floors)
• an extra high and sturdy ladder — mine extends to 25 ft (I bought a new one just for this job, but it will totally be used around the home in the future I’m sure!)
• paint 

I thought it would be best to start with the hardest to reach walls first. So I began this big project on the wall along the door and the stairs.

I began by cutting in the inner corners and around all the trim and baseboards. For the corners and around the stairs, I used a small paint brush. But did you notice something I didn’t use? That’s right…there’s no tape! For this whole step, I used the SMART edge roller. Normally, I would had to tape all those areas, but instead I saved a ton of time by skipping that step. 

The edger roller is so easy to use. I simply attached the fill adapter and inserted it into the paint. Then I just pulled back on the handle until the paint tube was full. Then I reattached the paint roller and I was ready to paint. It does an amazing job! I was able to paint right next to the trim without any paint getting on the actual trim. 

Cutting in along the ceiling edge is where it gets a little tricky. This is where I used the square paint edger and the extension pole.

This tool has two wheels that roll along and guide you as it moves on the wall. 

I just added some paint on the tool with a small roller.

Then placed it on the wall and painted a smooth clean edge…even without being close to the wall. I used this on all my hard to reach wall peaks. 

After the cutting in was done, it was time to paint. With all those tall walls, I was not looking forward to going up and down the ladder with a traditional roller. But that’s where the SMART roller saved the day!

The SMART roller works very similar to the edge roller. A fill adapter is clipped to the inside of the paint can.

Once attached, the SMART roller inserts on top of the filler. With a simple pull back on the handle, the tube fills with paint. It took me a couple tries to get the right angle for the filling process. But once I figured that out…it worked great!

It worked so well for painting all the walls, but especially the tall ones. All I had to do was climb the ladder one time and paint with ease. When I needed more paint on the roller, a quick squeeze of the trigger was all I had to do.  Just look at how much painting I was able to complete in a few hours one afternoon…

It took me about a week of painting a few hours at a time to complete the whole room. That may seem like a long time, but I also painted all the trim and baseboards in this space as well. 

Here’s a few more shots of the finished room…

And just because I love a nice side by side before and after picture…

Of course my DIY list for this room still has some projects. I need to change the fireplace, replace the banister with a dark wood/iron look and update the entry tile. I would also love to update the lighting and get new furniture.

So yea…lots more too do. But the paint alone has already made a super drastic change to the space! The room is brighter, lighter and more my style.

So is there a room that has been intimidating you too? Get your Wagner tools and with a little time, you too can achieve the painted walls of your dreams! 

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And if you are looking for other painting tutorials, how to easily paint your kitchen cabinets is one of my most popular posts!