It may appear simple enough. Open a paint bottle, dip a brush in it and begin painting your walls. But anyone who has attempted interior painting themselves knows it can be anything but easy; from uneven paint finishes on walls to drips of paint that make their way onto floors, mistakes must be considered in order for any DIY painting project to succeed successfully.
Here are a few interior home painting strategies and tips that are sure to make your next job a success.
Choose A Dry Weather
If painting the exterior of your home is something on your agenda, choosing dry weather would be wise. When painting inside walls it would also help as it allows faster drying times with reduced drippiness – making your colors pop even more!
Keep The Furniture Covered
Before starting to paint your room walls, be sure to cover all furniture and objects you do not want painted with plastic covers, moving any necessary objects to a different room if painting occurs, or covering everything with an unsoiled, clean and dry cloth until after the paint dries and taking it off when finished. Otherwise your objects could become stained and your home would appear awkward when finished; one effective approach would be using plastic sheeting and covering everything with one. Once dry you can take off this cloth then return furniture back where they belong!
Avoid Roller Lap Marks
When using an airbrush to paint walls, if done incorrectly you will create lap marks when painting over previously-painted areas of wall. To avoid these marks be sure to overlap these areas prior to when their paint dries completely.
Keep Can-To-Can Paint Colour Consistent
Even when mixed simultaneously with the same formula for colour, paint colors may still vary across containers. To maintain consistent hues throughout all containers used to complete a task, mix all necessary paint in one bucket (five gallon bucket usually does the trick) before mixing thoroughly.
Make Edges Cleaner
Achieve exact edges can seem impossible with masking tape alone, especially since its removal can reveal bits of your applied paint that stayed attached. Allow enough drying time before using a knife to cut the tape’s edge off as you take it off.
Get An Even Paint Finish
After patching any holes and filling cracks with filler, always apply primer over all surfaces in order to create an even paint finish. Otherwise, final coats might absorb differently into those particular spaces than elsewhere on the wall and lead to an unappealing, uneven, blotchy effect on your finished wall surface.
Use Cotton Drop Cloths
Although it may be impossible to fully protect the floor from paint droplets, fabric drop cloths may prove more effective as an alternative than plastic sheets in keeping paint droplets at bay. Paint drops remain moist when they land on plastic sheeting; you can trace single drops all through your home with the plastic. Cloth drop sheets offer greater stability and are safer for ladder use than their plastic counterparts.
Visual Inspection
Assemble and inspect the wall that you intend to paint carefully before beginning painting it, noting any flakiness, cracks or peeling that might pose potential obstacles before beginning. Keep in mind that damp and clean walls allow paint to adhere more securely; thus if any flaking or peeling issues arises such as flakeing or peeling then use sandpaper to scrape these areas off to eliminate these. Once your wall is prepared for painting then proceed – otherwise all your efforts will go unused as the weight of new paint might rub off and wash off and you might lose everything!
High-Quality Brushes, Rollers, and Tapes
Impactful colour schemes depend on using efficient tools like brushes, rollers and tapes. If you have invested heavily in high-quality painting services, make sure that these accessories match.
Colour Combination
No matter if they’re subtle or vibrant, colors play a critical role in setting the scene of any living space. A brilliant palette can give a room an attractive appearance at any moment; while an inappropriate selection could render any room unprofessional. To give a room an expansive appearance choose two lighter tones on opposite walls then contrast this with darker tones in the same hue; otherwise if your space already offers plenty of room you could experiment with two bold and distinct hues for maximum impact!
Designer Walls
Choose themes or artworks that complement the walls in your room, modern decor offers many choices; stickers featuring animals or fictional characters might work great for children’s rooms while flowers make beautiful wall decor choices in bedrooms. When considering wall painting options available to you make sure that you choose one most suited to the decor in which your room resides.
How to Prep a Room for Paint?
Remove hardware
Take careful steps when uninstalling window locks, doorknobs and lifts as well as electrical cover plates and lighting fixtures from their sockets to preserve their position when re-assembling in the future. Attach all required screws on each piece then label its location before placing in a bucket so you can reassemble later.
Clear out obstacles
At first, try moving furniture so as to be able to more comfortably navigate the area in which you will be painting. Place plastic sheets over any obstacles that cannot easily be moved so they remain safe while making sure that at least three-foot path exists between every item on it and where you intend to paint.
Protect floors
Pros often opt for protection over painter’s adhesive due to its time-consuming application process. One area Mauro always taping is along the bottom of baseboards, after which he tapes large borders of rosin paper along the tape strip before covering his floor using plastic-lined canvas drop cloths to stop any potential paint spills getting through. “Protecting your floor will save time and headaches in the long run!”
Fill holes, gaps, and cracks
Examine trim and walls for flaws; patch holes, dents and dings using ready-mix spackle for walls or wood filler for trim; for walls made of plaster Mauro uses joint compound with mesh tape and flexible patching compound to fill large cracks; on small ones flexible patching compound may be applied instead. Fill gaps in trim area using cut caulk tube edge by applying small bead of caulk on edge to apply tiny bead and press gun towards wall; once done smooth it with damp finger then smooth finger to smooth it over its edge for best results.
Sand and remove dust
To ensure an ideal surface for painting, take steps to scuff-sand moldings, doors and windows using 220-grit papers before utilizing a pole sander with 120-grit papers on walls (if you’re working with paint older than 45 years make sure you check for lead first before testing) then clean up with an HEPA vacuum filter and damp cotton rag or tack cloth afterwards.
