Painting - Need a pro's tip for "neatness"

I need a couple of tips for keeping a touch up
job neat.

1) My baseboards are stained and walls (knock down
texture on drywall) are painted (with latex). After
cleaning the baseboards I've marked the walls in
a few places right at the point wall and basebard meet
(well maybe a 1/2 to 1 inch from the top of the baseboard
up). How can I touch up the paint in this area with the
least amount of effort, keeping paint off the baseboard
and off the carpet as well?

2) New carpet was just installed. When the installers were
done I found a dozen small spots where their tools had
scraped the baseboard (stained an early american brown and
laquered). How can I touch up the finish in these spots (some
are just above the top of the carpet) and not get anything
on the new carpet?

Thanks,
Jim

1. Use a small 1" brush, or artist's brush, and don't load the brush fully with paint. Just dab it on until its covered the spot.

2. Put a layer of painter's tape on the carpet, or use a stiff 6" putty knife and push the carpet down when touching up. If the scuffs are small, use a qtip dipped into the stain rather than a brush. Probably won't be necessary to re-seal with laquer/poly if the are small and at the floor level. If not, poly it same way, with a qtip.

If they are scuffs/marks on the wall (and not scrapes or gouges) that are just a little dirty, you can use a Magic Eraser to clean them. Just wet an end of it slightly and rub over the mark. We had to do this after the movers moved us into our freshly painted house and it took everything off!

This won't help if the paint is actually missing, though.