Things To Do Before Painting a Room

Things To Do Before Painting a Room

The secret to a beautiful paint job is in careful preparation. Learning the “best practices” of painting will give you professional results you can be proud of.

Avoid peeling paint and uneven lines with some planning and taking a few extra steps. You’ll be glad you made the extra effort to keep cracks, bumps, and holes from spoiling your hard work.

Drop by Shop-O-Rama before you start painting for professional tips to transform your rooms with paint.

Make Space

Painting a room is the perfect time to declutter! To create space, move heavier furniture to the centre of the room and away from the walls. Cover your furniture with a protective sheet. Move smaller items like side tables, night tables, and lamps to another room.

If space is limited, consider renting a container and place on your driveway to store your furniture.

If you need to remove an area rug before painting the room, it may be a good idea to have it professionally cleaned.

Take down your drapes, curtain rods, and blinds. Tape over window treatment fixtures you don’t want to remove to prevent them from being splattered by paint.

Remove pictures, nails, light switch plates and outlet covers, and tape over any areas you don’t want to paint, such as air vents, baseboard edges, window and door trim, and crown molding.

Use painter’s tape to secure a thick sheet of plastic or newspapers to your baseboards, extending to the floors. Then add drop cloths for complete protection of your floors.

Now is an ideal time to replace old heating vents, upgrade your lighting and light bulbs, and check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Clean Your Walls and Trim

Your walls should be clean and smooth, and doors and window trim prepped. Use your vacuum cleaner on cobwebs, dust and insects on ceilings, walls, and windows. Make sure the floors are dust-free.

Smooth Surfaces for the Best Results

Fill holes and cracks with a crack filler, let dry, and sand with 220-grit sandpaper until smooth. Remove dust with a clean cloth. Rinse the walls with clean water. Let your walls dry for 12 to 24 hours.

Wash the walls thoroughly with Trisodium phosphate (TSP) using a sponge. Rinse your walls twice with clean water and let dry thoroughly before priming and painting. If you see mold, clean the walls and trim with a 3:1 solution of water and bleach.

Prepare Glossy Surfaces

Prepare glossy surfaces such as trim on windows and doors by washing the surface with TSP. Rinse twice with clean water. Roughen the surface by lightly sanding surfaces with sandpaper to ensure the primer and paint adhere properly.

Think About Ventilation

Even with today’s environmentally friendly, low-fume paints, it’s necessary to have sufficient ventilation in the room you are painting. In the winter, if you can’t keep the windows open for long, you can run a fan after applying paint to speed up the drying process.

Prime Before Painting

Primer will help paint adhere better to your walls and cover up stains and wood knots on wood trim before you apply paint. If you are using a light-colored paint over a dark-colored wall, a primer will help reduce the number of coats of paint you need to apply.

Choose Your Paint Color and Finish

The main factors to consider when selecting paint colors are your personal preferences, the home’s décor, the size of the room, the amount of light your room gets, and how the paint will look at different times of the day in different seasons. Your furniture, window treatments and flooring will all play a role in color selection.

Make a statement with more dramatic paint colors. However, if you’re selling your home soon, choose neutral colors to appeal to a broader group of potential buyers.

Lighter shades will make your room appear larger. Avoid stark whites and use softer off-whites if you want a bright, airy feel. Get a sample can of paint when you have narrowed down your favorites to try on the wall at home.

Most paints are now water-based and environmentally friendly, with low fumes for a more enjoyable painting experience.

Matte and eggshell finishes are appropriate for living and dining areas and bedrooms. A satin finish is ideal for high-traffic areas like hallways. Look for paints that stand up well to moisture for the kitchen and bathroom.

Semi-gloss paint gives a lustrous, protective finish to trim, doors, wainscotting, and window frames.

Learn How Much Paint You Will Need

Your paint supplier can tell you how much paint you need for your walls and trim. Generally, one gallon (4 L) of paint will be enough for the walls in a 300 to 400-square-foot room. If you are covering dark paint with a light color, you will need a coat of primer plus two or more coats of paint.

Use the appropriate paint rollers and brushes for your paint finish and surface. To get a professional finish, ensure you have a generous amount of paint on your roller. Roll the paint on your walls in a “W” pattern from top to bottom to cover the walls evenly.

Our team can give you more tips on preparing to paint your home. Drop by Shop-O-Rama today!