Caulking Tutorial

I love moulding.

Seriously, obsessed.

It does so much for a room-adds elegance and depth, makes me feel rich (I don't think that's important in life, but I like the feeling moulding gives me, okay?!)

We are in the process of putting up moulding and wainscoting in our hallways and entry ways and it is going great!  This afternoon, we caulked the top of the chair rail so that I can touch up the paint with one more coat tomorrow.
Caulking is a funny thing.  It makes me nervous because there really is no getting it off once it's applied, unless you are wanting to take it off (which is a whole other process).  Which means, if you "spread" it too high on the wall, you. are. donefor.  At the same time, once it's up, I can't imagine living without it.
Here is what it should not look like:

I don't know whose house this is, but it shouldn't look like this.  Sorry!  We made this mistake in one of our bedrooms and I was so unhappy with it, I wanted to be sick.  I understand this is a bathroom, but it's not hard to get it to look like this in a wall in your living room.  We bought one of these:

And I was very unhappy with it.  It started leaving little blue streaks on the paint on our wall and didn't leave a smooth line whatsoever.  I did better using my pointer finger, which was still awful.

Caulking should look like this:

Don't judge the paint job.  I still have more coats to do!

Want to know how I got it that way?  You've come to the right place!

This tutorial is dedicated to my Dad, who taught me to go perfect or go home.  He taught me not to settle for it doing anything "half-a**ed" (sorry!), but to keep working at something until it is perfect, no matter how long it takes.  This tutorial is a result of that mindset!  Once we finish the entire project, I will post a long tutorial.  Consider this an installment!

Hey girl!

• First, hang your trim.  I will post in a week or so how we did that- or you can figure it out on your own.

• Next, use painter's tape to tape off a very thin line above the trim.  Make sure you have a pretty solid adhesion to the wall, or the caulking might seep (it might not because it's so thick, but I don't take that chance!).

•  Using a caulking gun, squeeze a long line of caulk into the top of the trim, in between the tape and trim.

I am not that hairy!  My hubby helped me.. or I helped him?  Joint effort.  Love him!

• Next, use your pointer finger (no fancy tools needed!) and smooth it out.  Don't worry about getting it on the tape.  You may want to wipe off any access that happens to get onto the trim.

• Pull the tape away from the wall slowly and at a 90 degree angle (or more!).

 and again:

Done!  Let it dry and you are ready to paint =)

So easy.  Whoever made this technique up is a genius.

Never again will I buy a silly caulking "tool"!  =)