A guy in Western Springs showed me his garage last year. Three shelves of painting supplies he'd accumulated over a decade of DIY projects. Fourteen rollers of various quality (most dried out and unusable). Eight rolls of painter's tape (three different brands, none of them good). A collection of brushes that looked like they'd been used to clean a barbecue grill.
He'd spent easily $500 on supplies over the years. He'd also never completed a paint job he was actually happy with.
His problem wasn't effort or ambition. It was buying the wrong stuff. The right interior painting supplies make the difference between a weekend project you're proud of and a weekend project you're quietly planning to hire someone to redo.
Here's the actual list—what to buy, what to skip, and where to get it if you live anywhere near Chicago.
The Brushes That Matter
You need two brushes. Not a twelve-piece set from the clearance bin. Two.
A 2.5-inch angled sash brush — This is your precision tool. You'll use it for cutting in along ceilings, around trim, and in corners. Buy a good one. A Purdy Clearcut or Wooster Shortcut will run you $12-18 and will last years if you clean it properly.
A 3-inch straight brush — For trim, door frames, and window casings. Same brands. Same price range.
Cheap paint brushes shed bristles into your wet paint, leave brush marks in semi-gloss, and make cutting in feel like writing with a broken pen. A $4 brush from the bargain bin will cost you an hour of frustration and visible flaws.
The Cleaning Rule
Here's a secret that separates people who hate painting from people who get decent results: clean your brushes immediately. Not "after dinner." Not "tomorrow morning." The second you're done for the day, run warm water through those bristles until it runs clear, shape them flat, and hang them to dry.
A high-quality brush cleaned properly lasts for dozens of projects. A high-quality brush left to dry in a paint tray lasts exactly once.
Rollers: Where Most DIYers Go Wrong
Rollers do 90% of the work on any wall painting project. Get this wrong and nothing else matters.
Roller frames: Buy a standard 9-inch frame with a comfortable grip. Purdy or Wooster make solid frames for $8-12. Avoid the ultra-cheap ones—the bearings seize up and the roller spins unevenly, leaving visible texture differences.
Roller covers (the part that matters):
3/8-inch nap for smooth walls — This is what you want for most drywall surfaces. It holds enough paint for good coverage without leaving excessive texture.
1/2-inch nap for slightly textured walls — Orange peel texture, light knockdown, or older walls with some character.
3/4-inch nap for heavily textured surfaces — Popcorn-adjacent textures, rough plaster, or stucco.
Buy the good covers. A Purdy White Dove or Wooster Pro/Doo-Z in the right nap gives smooth, even coverage with minimal roller marks. The $3 four-packs shed fuzz into your paint and leave stipple patterns that scream "homeowner special."
Extension pole: Get a threaded 4-6 foot extension pole. Painting walls from a ladder is slow, dangerous, and produces worse results than rolling from the floor with proper reach. $15-25 well spent.
Painter's Tape: The Great Debate
Two schools of thought here. Professional painters mostly cut in freehand—no tape needed when you have steady hands and ten thousand hours of practice. DIYers almost always need tape, and there's no shame in it.
FrogTape is the best consumer-grade painter's tape available. Its PaintBlock Technology creates a micro-barrier along the edge that prevents paint from bleeding underneath. Green FrogTape for walls, yellow for delicate surfaces like fresh paint or wallpaper.
3M ScotchBlue Original is the reliable backup. Not quite as sharp on the edges as FrogTape, but easier to find and slightly cheaper.
What to skip: Any tape that doesn't specifically say "painter's tape." Masking tape, packing tape, duct tape—none of these release cleanly. You'll either pull up your paint or leave adhesive residue.
Taping Tips for Chicago's Humidity
Here's a Chicago-specific quirk: painter's tape adhesion changes with humidity. In dry winter months (January–March with the heat running), tape sticks aggressively and can pull paint off when removed. In humid summer months, tape can lose its edge seal and allow bleed-through.
Winter taping: remove tape within 2-4 hours of painting while the paint is still slightly flexible.
Summer taping: press tape edges firmly with a putty knife or credit card to seal against the higher moisture content in the air.
Drop Cloths and Protection
Canvas drop cloths — Heavy-duty canvas catches drips, stays in place, and lasts forever. One 9x12 cloth covers a standard bedroom floor. $20-40 for a good one that you'll use for years.
Plastic sheeting — Thin plastic sheet works as a protective barrier for furniture and fixtures you can't move. Buy a roll of 0.7mil or thicker—anything thinner tears when you look at it.
Painter's rags — Keep a stack of clean cotton rags for wiping drips, cleaning edges, and catching mistakes. Old t-shirts work perfectly.
Don't skip floor protection. One paint drip on hardwood costs more to fix than a year's worth of drop cloths.
Surface Prep Supplies
This is where most supply lists fall short. Prep supplies aren't exciting, but they determine whether your paint job lasts two years or ten.
Patching Compounds
Spackling compound for small holes and dents — DAP DryDex (the one that goes on pink and dries white) works for nail holes and minor dings. For anything deeper than a quarter inch, it'll shrink and crack.
3M Patch Plus Primer — This stuff is genuinely clever. It's a spackling compound with primer built in, so small patches are ready to paint once they're sanded smooth. Saves a step on minor repairs.
USG Easy Sand 45 (or 90) — For larger patches, drywall joint compound that sets chemically rather than by evaporation. The "45" means it sets in 45 minutes. It won't shrink like regular spackling on bigger repairs, and it sands smoothly. This is what the pros use for anything beyond a nail hole.
If your walls need more than patching—holes bigger than a fist, crumbling plaster, water damage—you're looking at drywall repair territory. Patching compound won't fix structural issues.
Sandpaper and Sanding Blocks
120-grit sandpaper — For smoothing patches and light scuff-sanding walls before painting. Buy a pack of sheets plus a sanding block to keep pressure even.
220-grit sandpaper — For smoothing between coats on trim and for final sanding on semi-gloss surfaces. The finer grit gives you the smooth-to-the-touch finish.
Sanding sponge — These flexible sanding blocks work beautifully on contoured trim and molding where flat sandpaper can't reach.
Caulk
Paintable acrylic-latex caulk — For sealing gaps where trim meets walls, where baseboards meet floors, and around window casings. DAP Alex Plus is the standard. Use a caulking gun to apply, and keep a damp rag handy to smooth the bead.
Caulking is the most-skipped step in DIY painting, and it's the one that makes the biggest visual difference. Clean caulk lines between trim and walls make a room look twice as expensive.
Primer
Never skip primer. Ever. I've written an entire article about why primer matters in Chicago's humidity, but here's the short version:
Kilz PVA — For new drywall and patches. Seals the porous surface so your topcoat goes on evenly.
Zinsser BIN — Shellac-based stain blocker for water stains, smoke damage, or any mystery discoloration. Nothing bleeds through this stuff.
Benjamin Moore Fresh Start — All-purpose acrylic primer for most situations. Good adhesion, low odor, easy to work with.
If you're changing colors dramatically—dark to light or light to dark—tint your primer to a midpoint between the old and new colors. This saves you a coat of expensive topcoat.
The Paint Itself
The single biggest factor in how your room will look in two years is paint quality.
Premium tier: Benjamin Moore Aura, Sherwin-Williams Emerald — Self-leveling, excellent coverage, outstanding durability and longevity. One coat often covers over properly primed surfaces. $65-85/gallon.
Quality tier: Benjamin Moore Regal Select, Sherwin-Williams Cashmere — 90% of the premium performance at 75% of the price. What most professional painters use for standard residential work. $50-65/gallon.
What to avoid: Big-box store house brands in the $20-30 range. They require more coats, show roller texture more prominently, and fade faster. The paint cost savings disappear when you need three coats instead of two.
Where to Buy in Chicago
JC Licht — Chicago's own. Independent paint stores across the North Shore and suburbs carrying Benjamin Moore. The staff actually knows paint—they can match sheens, recommend products, and troubleshoot problems. Worlds apart from the teenager in the big-box paint aisle.
Local Benjamin Moore stores — Dedicated Benjamin Moore dealers in Highland Park, Winnetka, and Hinsdale offer the full Aura/Regal/Advance lineup plus expert color matching.
Sherwin-Williams stores — Good product, knowledgeable staff, and frequent sales that make premium paint more accessible.
For a room-by-room paint cost breakdown, the Chicago painting cost guide has current 2025 pricing data.
Eco-Friendly Options
Both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams have pushed their premium lines to low VOC or zero-VOC formulations. Benjamin Moore Natura is their zero-VOC line. Sherwin-Williams Harmony offers similar air-quality benefits.
In Chicago, where windows stay closed from October through April, low VOC paint isn't just a preference—it's a health consideration. Six months of recirculated air means whatever you put on your walls, you're breathing.
The Putty Knife (Your Most Underrated Tool)
Buy a 3-inch flexible putty knife. You'll use it for applying spackling, scraping loose paint, smoothing caulk, and prying open paint cans. A good putty knife is the Swiss Army knife of painting supplies.
Rigid putty knives work for scraping. Flexible ones work for applying compound. If you only buy one, go flexible.
What You Don't Need
Supply lists online will try to sell you everything. Skip these:
- Paint sprayers for a single room (cleanup takes longer than the painting)
- Edging tools (they don't work as well as tape or freehand)
- Paint additives unless you're dealing with specific problems
- Roller screens instead of trays (messy and inefficient)
- Cheap multi-packs of anything (you'll replace them before you use them)
The Chicago Winter Painting Note
If you're tackling an interior painting project between November and March—which is actually ideal timing since humidity is low and paint dries fast—remember that ventilation works differently.
You can't open windows. So:
- Choose low VOC paint (you're breathing it all winter)
- Run your HVAC fan continuously to circulate air
- Use a box fan to move air across painted surfaces for faster drying
- Allow extra drying time between coats—Chicago's dry winter air actually helps paint cure faster, but you need air movement
The Complete Supply Checklist
Everything you need, nothing you don't:
- [ ] 2.5" angled sash brush (Purdy or Wooster)
- [ ] 3" straight brush for trim
- [ ] 9" roller frame with extension pole
- [ ] Roller covers (3/8" or 1/2" nap, buy 3-4)
- [ ] FrogTape or 3M ScotchBlue painter's tape (2-3 rolls)
- [ ] Canvas drop cloths (9x12, at least one)
- [ ] Plastic sheeting for furniture
- [ ] Painter's rags
- [ ] Spackling compound (DryDex or 3M Patch Plus Primer)
- [ ] Sandpaper (120 and 220 grit) plus sanding block
- [ ] Paintable caulk plus caulking gun
- [ ] Primer (matched to your surface)
- [ ] Paint (quality matters more than everything else combined)
- [ ] 3" flexible putty knife
- [ ] Paint tray and liners
Total painting supplies cost (excluding paint): $100-175 for quality tools that last multiple projects.
Paint for one bedroom: $80-170 depending on brand and number of gallons.
Worth it? If you enjoy the work, absolutely. If you'd rather spend your weekend doing anything else, that's what we're here for. No judgment either way—just good results.