You'll Want A Paint Stir Stick On Hand If Painting Tight Spaces

There are many tips for painting your home like a professional, including easy-to-try DIY paint hacks that address common problems that would otherwise stand in the way of a perfect result. For instance, the challenge of painting tight spaces, like behind a toilet tank or radiator where a paint roller is too thick and a paintbrush won't get to all the areas you need to reach. That's where this particular paint hack comes into the picture: Repurpose a wooden paint stir stick to get into those previously hard-to-reach tight spaces.

The best news about this painting hack? You don't need to go out and buy a bunch of pricey professional equipment to make it happen. Chances are, you already have what you need — a paint stick — lying around the house from a past painting (or crafting) project. After all, reusing wooden paint sticks is the eco-friendly way, and this hack gives you one more way to do so.

Painting behind a toilet or a radiator is the kind of detailed paintwork people sometimes leave undone. The fixture hides most of the unpainted wall, after all. Right? But it doesn't hide all of it, and the edges of an unpainted outline can be especially noticeable depending on the color of the new paint. So, the solution is to get behind that toilet or radiator and paint the wall, too. But how?

To paint such spaces, you could try using a mini paint roller and a large, wide, flat paintbrush. You could also buy a tool made for reaching tight spots like this, such as this flexible painter by Behr (available at The Home Depot). Or, you could fashion your very own DIY tight-space tool. All you need for the hack is a paint stir stick, hot glue, and an edger refill pad.

Simply use hot glue (or another adhesive) to glue the paint stick and edger refill pad together. Note you'll need to wait at least 10 minutes for the glue to set. Once it's dried, you have a tool, one that's thin enough to get behind a toilet or radiator or whatever else may be blocking the wall. Edger pads vary in size but average 6 inches by 6 inches.

As noted, you likely already have a wooden paint stir stick (or two) in your home if you've ever painted before, whether it be a room's walls, a piece of furniture, or some type of DIY craft or garden project. For example, you could repurpose old paint sticks into rustic DIY décor or use several as stakes for your garden. It should be noted that this practice of recycling paint sticks is one the pros use, too (per Benjamin Moore).

However, if you don't have a paint stick on hand, when you're out getting supplies for your painting project, you easily can pick up a pack for a few dollars. For instance, Lowe's sells a 10-pack of 100% pine wood sticks from SHLA for $2, while Amazon carries 25-packs from Hanwer for $8 (and 50-packs for $10). As for the refill edger pads, you can get a Behr 2-pack from The Home Depot for about $3.