Spike Carlsen: I am Spike Carlsen, I am a contributing editor with Family Handyman Magazine, the number one Do It Yourself and Home Improvement magazine on the planet.

We have been looking at ways to get a room ready for painting and now we are going to take a look at masking off the wood work and other surfaces to get nice crisp lines.

It's important to use the right type of masking tape; there is a lots of different kinds out there. We are using a painter's tape made by FrogTape. There is one kind of easy release if its surface has been painted more recently and another kind for surfaces that's have cured and have hardened. Make sure you pick the right paint that will help you get good results.

So let's go ahead and some tape on this window. So apply the tape in segments of about 24 inches long, position it lightly at first just give it a little tap so it's tightly against the trim. Run it through with your finger to put it on and then go back over it with a putty knife, you can even use a spoon if you want to really press it tightly against the trim. Then continue on sliding the tape around the rest of your frame.

Now that you have applied painter's tape around your windows and doors it's time to protect your baseboard. For that use a nice wide painter's tape that way it will create a little drip edge so if any paint drips down the walls it will catch it.

Again its best to work in 24 inch or so length segments, lightly position it and tap it in place, once you have it just how you wanted, run your finger along it and then use a putty knife to really press it in place.

You can see we have created kind of drip edge so anything that comes down off the walls will help protect the baseboard even more. Another great way of keeping carpet in good condition is to run masking tape beneath the bottom of the baseboard and the top of a carpet.

Use a putty knife to slowly and gradually tuck a little bit of the edge underneath the baseboard and let the painter's tape lie on top of the carpet. You will also want to make sure to apply a small scratch of masking tape or painter's tape over the outlets to keep those free of paint.

Once we have given your walls a couple quotes of paint and you are happy with the results its time to remove your painter's tape. Again a good paint is going to stick to your wall and its also going to stick to your tape a little bit. So the best way to get a good clean line is to take a utility knife and very lightly score right where the tape meets the wall.

Then you want to remove the painter's tape. Pull it straight back towards you and away from the wall to get the cleanest line. So there you go, you have created a nice crisp line between your wood work and your wall. That's how you use masking tape to create a nice looking paint job.