painting (idea)
First, make sure to wear junk clothes (or just plain underwear or nothing at all if you don't mind paint on your skin) and use a drop-cloth to cover the floor, walls, furniture and other surrounding objects.
Second, make sure you have the appropriate tools, including a paint-tray, paintbrush, and paint-roller if you will be painting large areas.
I chose to paint the legs first, so I laid the table top-side down (on the drop-cloth of course). I then could sit in the middle and paint the legs (with the brush, because 2x4's are mostly too small for the roller). I made sure to paint the edges of the table-top because the paint helps to seal the wood (which will prevent later warping and slivers.)
I decided to let it dry before turning it over and painting the top side. That was a bad idea. As the paint dried around the edges, all of it that had dripped down served to glue the table to the drop-cloth. When I tried to turn the table over, I found that I had to peel away the paint and drop-cloth that were sticking together. After I eventually got the table turned over, there was a lip of paint running around all of the edges that had seeped underneath while it was still upside down. My sister and I had to use a putty-knife and sand-paper to remove as much as possible of that paint before I could paint the top.
My advice would be to set the table on blocks of wood while it is upside-down so that the paint on the edges will not act as glue on the drop-cloth or bubble unattractively.
It is also very important that any drops of paint (or drips of paint) be smoothed down before they dry. If a drop of paint dries, it will be a bump on your finished project, even if you try to paint over it.
If you are stuck doing a painting job in a garage or other hot area of the house, try to paint early in the morning when it is not too hot. I found that sweat which drips into the paint does not help it's consistency.
Using a fan to beat the heat is not necessarily a good idea as it can blow dust and dirt into the paint, which is difficult to remove without ruining what you have already done.
If you have long hair I definitely recommend pulling it back to keep it out of the way. I got some white paint in my hair and my family kept asking when I had gone grey.
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