Painting your home can be fun for your entire family, especially when you first move in. We let our kids pick their own colors for their rooms, and we even let them do some of the painting. No matter how much fun we had though, I had to keep in mind that a quality job meant picking the right paints for each room and following some interior painting tips like the ones below.
House Painting Tips: Pick the Right Paint for the Job
As you may already know, paints come in different finishes. Each finish has different properties that make it ideal in certain situations. Therefore try matching the right finish for the needs of each room. In our children’s rooms we chose egg shell paints because they look nice and clean up well. Dirty handprints wash right off without messing up the paint. The kids’ rooms were also not very brightly lit so the shininess of the paint helped brighten up the rooms.
Our dining room was a bit small so we chose high gloss paint. All of the light pouring in from the French doors leading onto the patio reflected off the paint and made the room feel huge. Thankfully, the walls were in good shape since high glass paints do have a tendency to show imperfections.
I was going to choose a flat paint for the master bathroom because the walls were slightly worn and a flat finish is good for covering up these problems. However, flat finishes are also notoriously difficult to clean and bathrooms have a tendency to need a great deal of cleaning. Instead, I did some wall patching and chose a semi-gloss. We ended up choosing a satin finish in the kitchen, living room, and hallways even though it’s one of the more expensive choices. This type of finish is very durable which is nice in these busy areas.
Interior Painting Tips
If you do much do-it-yourself work, then you’ve probably already learned the importance of having the right tools for the job. The same is true for interior painting. We started off trying to use a paint sprayer in our bedroom but because of the room’s size it just didn’t deliver the look we were looking for. Once we switched to traditional rollers, the paint job looked beautiful.
Another tip is to make sure you take the time to prepare the walls before you paint. You need to wash the walls thoroughly with a mixture of hot water and mild detergent. Let the walls dry then go through and patch up any sections that are flawed. Make sure you use sandpaper to sand down the patched areas.
Make sure to place drop cloths around the room to protect the floor and carpeting from the paint. No matter how careful you are accidents do happen. It’s a good idea to purchase blue painters’ tape to protect your molding, your door knobs, window frames, light switches, etc. The tape can be removed easily and won’t do any damage.
Don’t forget to get everything you need before starting. Running out of paint in the middle of the job can result in poor quality results and that’s definitely not what you want. If you’re not sure how much paint you’ll need, ask a professional at the paint store for advice. And remember if you’re in doubt it’s better to have too much paint than not enough.