If you choose to paint a room yourself instead of hiring a professional painter, it will be important you learn how. When purchasing a new home, oftentimes you will have to do some painting to make it your style. If you already own your home, general maintenance requires you to paint from time to time.
Painting can look simple, but if you’ve never painted, it is best to go online and research how to paint a room yourself before starting. Painting a room can be messy and a lot of work, especially if the room is filled with furniture. Depending how big the room is, it is a job that may require several people.
First, start with a painting plan. Will you only be painting the walls, or include the ceiling? Do you want to paint the baseboards, doors, and trim? Are you choosing one color for everything, or will you be using multiple colors? You may want to consider the color of the furniture and art that will be in the room. Another important consideration is what the room will be utilized for. There is a lot of science behind the psychology of color and how it affects the brain in certain room situations. There are so many considerations when researching how to paint a room yourself, so do your research!
If you are new to painting, basic tools and materials will be required purchases for your paint project. You will need a ladder, paint brushes, a paint roller & extension pole, drop cloths, sandpaper, rags, painters tape, a putty knife, and of course the paint. Most of the time, all these materials can be purchased in the same store. When you begin the process to paint a room yourself, make sure you have all the required materials on hand and in the room prior to starting.
To paint a room yourself, empty as much of the furniture out as possible. This will make the process go much smoother and have less of a chance for damage to occur. If the furniture is too big, you can just slide it to the center of the room and cover it with a drop cloth.
Use painters tape to protect any base and crown molding. Remove outlet and light switch covers, and use painters tape to protect open outlets and switches once the covers are removed. If you are not painting the ceiling, you can put painters tape along the ceiling’s edge to protect it from wall paint. This process will also produce a straight line between the wall and the ceiling.
Make sure the walls are clean prior to paint, and start one wall at a time. If you are painting the trim, it’s best to paint this first. Once fully dry, tape off the trim and paint the walls. This process is the most efficient and works best to paint a room yourself. When painting in this order, you won’t have to worry about getting the trim color on the walls, because the wall color will cover it later. Also you will only have to mask off the room once after the trim is painted and dry.
If you do your research and follow these suggestions, you should have success every time you paint a room.
