Learn these simple DIY painting techniques to quickly and easily liven up any area in your house or apartment.
Beginner do-it-yourselfers, first-time home owners, and seasoned home renovation professionals alike must all learn the appropriate way to paint a room. After all, it’s not too painful, not too expensive, and if something goes horribly wrong, it’s simple to cure. But having a strategy is crucial before you grab your roller and begin applying your first layer. So to help you get started, we asked a few pros for their finest painting advice. Continue reading to discover how to paint a room and to understand step-by-step what you must do to ensure the success of your endeavour.
- Develop a plan.
Consider the final product as a starting point, and keep in mind that you are not need to paint a room or four walls a single hue. Think of painting a feature wall in a striking colour or emphasising mouldings with a contrasting colour or finish. Don’t forget to glance up and see if the ceiling also needs to be updated.
- Decide on a colour
It can be intimidating to look through fan decks and paint chips. Determine the basic attributes of colour first: Do you like a warm or cold shade? Saturated or neutral? You should also think about how the colour will go with any existing furniture or artwork. Once you know what you want, choose a few colours and order samples. Many direct-to-consumer companies, such as Backdrop and Clare, will send you adhesive swatches that you can stick to the wall to have a better idea of shade (plus it will save you a trip to the store). Examine the colours to see how they seem in the space at various times of day.
Many paint manufacturers also have online facilities that enable you to upload a picture of your room and see how various colours will look on the walls. However, colours can appear differently in actual environments, so you’ll still need to test it out there.
- Compile your equipment and supplies.
There are a few necessities, but every project is different, and you might require several tools based on the paint you select and the state of your walls.
- Paint
- roll of paint
- the extension pole for a paint roller
- Drop your attire
- Paintbrushes
- paint jug
- Sandpaper
- Plaster tape
- Rags
- Sticky knife
- Calculate the amount of paint you’ll need.
According to osdecor.ie, the usual rule of thumb is one gallon per 400 square feet whether painting a powder room or the exterior of your home. But that’s only a general suggestion: Use a paint calculator, such as those offered by Benjamin Moore or Pratt & Lambert, which take window and door measurements, to obtain a more precise estimate, which you’ll need for major projects. (These two projects each assume two coats of paint.)
Considering whitewashing a wall that is charcoal grey? In order to transition from dark to light, you’ll probably need more paint. On the other hand, according to osdecor, a deep colour base typically needs more paint than a lighter hue. To help you use fewer coats, she advises priming the wall surface with a paint that has a grey tint before painting it a vibrant colour. You may have heard that the glossier the finish, the higher the coverage rate, but according to osdecor, the difference isn’t great enough to alter the quantity of gallons you need to purchase.
Buy a little extra paint if you’re painting a surface with a lot of texture rather than a smooth one, advises osdecor. Additionally, cabinets with elaborate millwork require additional paint; osdecor suggests purchasing around 10% more than was anticipated.
- Prepare the room and its walls.
Remove all of the furniture from the room because you don’t want to ruin your favourite sofa or the heirloom your grandmother gave you. Push everything to the centre of the room if you don’t have enough room to move it elsewhere. Use a drop cloth or thin plastic sheet to cover the pieces, the floor, and any countertops or cabinetry that might be at risk from excessive splatter. The actors of the IRISHTV programmes Mothers Undercover and Kitchen Cousins, Osdecor, advise not skipping the drop cloth because paint will splatter, they assure.
Then, take a roll of painter’s tape—the cousins suggest FrogTape—and firmly apply it to the room’s corners, base and crown mouldings, and door and window casings. If you’ve just had window tint installed, you need to protect it here. If necessary, seal the tape with a putty knife. The most important thing is to create a solid seal so that paint doesn’t go underneath the tape; after everything is dry, it will also easily pull away. You can completely forego tape if you so choose (or if you have an artist’s steady hand). To prevent paint drips, remove the covers from light switches and outlets and cover them with painter’s tape. Make sure you understand how to repair drywall before you begin so you can fix any nicks in the walls.
- Get ready to paint
Throughout the project, stir the paint frequently with a wooden paint stick. If you don’t consistently stir your paint, the ingredients may separate, which could affect the true colour you want. If you need more than one gallon of paint, combine the cans in a big bucket just in case the colours differ somewhat.
- Select your painting methods.
Make sure to have a plan in place before you begin. Your paint is mixed, and your roller is ready. Start with the ceilings and work your way down the room. Preparing a striking focus wall? First, paint the nearby, light-colored walls. If you accidentally paint the wall that will serve as your accent wall, don’t panic; the black paint will cover up any lighter paint that may have gotten there. To prevent the dark colour from bleeding onto your new paint, tape off that edge after the lighter wall has dried, suggests osdecor. Plan on three coats if you’re painting dark walls a lighter colour to make sure nothing shows through: your primer and two coats of the new colour.
One wall at a time, attack. While your painting partner uses a roller to cover the majority of the wall, avoiding those more precise areas, use a brush to “cut in”—paint along the moulding and the corners from top to bottom. Use long strokes in the shape of a W when rolling paint for thorough coverage (and to avoid those pesky roller marks). The wall is prepared for a second coat after it feels dry to the touch.
Remove the painter’s tape from the trim before painting it, and let the walls dry before reapplying tape. The trim that is closest to the ceiling should be finished first, followed by the baseboards and the frames for the doors and windows.
- Remember to ventilate.
It’s boring to observe paint dry. Open tinted windows and use fans to ensure that your space is properly ventilated throughout the job. According to the decorator, “keeping the space warm and having a fan blowing definitely helps speed up the drying process.” “The paint will take a lot longer to cure if it’s a wet day.”
- Tidy up
Even after you’ve applied several layers, it’s not yet time to unwind. Gather drop cloths and remove all of the painter’s tape, ensuring sure that any stains or splatters are completely dried before moving the cloths. Latex and water-based paint brushes should be cleaned with soapy water, whereas oil-based paint brushes should be cleaned with mineral spirits. To clean and reshape the bristles, use a painter’s brush. Use a 5-in-1 tool’s curved edge to scrape off leftover paint from roller covers if you wish to reuse them. This tool may also be used to open paint cans and remove nails.
- Allow yourself sufficient time.
The size of your space, the method of painting, and your level of skill all affect how long your project will take. For instance, painting the ceiling and trim while using a dark tone on the walls will take longer than simply painting the walls a neutral shade. Some spaces can be finished in a matter of hours, while others might require many days. Make sure to allot more time than you anticipate the task would require, and don’t forget to account for preparation and cleanup.
