Interior painting for residential rooms is a great idea. By applying a fresh coat of paint your room will end up with a whole new look. If your room feels too big and empty or disconnected, you can change the feel of the room to one of warmth and comfort by using a richer color. If your room feels small and cramped, you can breathe in new depth and space by painting the room a light and cool color. The absolute ultimate way to repaint your room is by hiring a professional but if you have decided to do the work yourself, the following are a few simple steps and tips about painting your room yourself.
First you will need to do the preparation of the rooms ceiling, walls and trim. This is removing any furniture that you can, removing all decorative items plus the light switch covers, and then covering any items that are left plus the floor. A drop cloth that is plastic will work for the furniture but a canvas cloth is best for floors because it is safer for walking and not slipping. The walls should be washed and wiped clean and all holes and cracks should be filled with putty or spackle. The patches need to be sanded plus any shiny areas and then the dust from sanding needs to be removed. All surfaces must be clean and dust free. After drying for a couple hours it is time to begin painting.
Any areas of the wall or ceiling that need primer or stain covering paint to prevent bleed through problems should be done first so it can dry. Next you can paint all the borders after you have tapped them using the blue painters tape. The ceiling should be the first paint to be rolled so put the tape along the wall edge first. Using the tape takes a little time and effort but makes the job look professional and clean. If you are painting alone you can start by painting the molding around the room. This usually takes two coats and should be semi-gloss or a pearl finish. Each coat of paint you apply needs to be thoroughly dried before you apply the second coat. After painting your first coat on the boarder molding you can paint the window and door molding. Then you can either apply a second coat to molding or you can cut in with the ceiling paint around any hanging fixture and the border edge about 3”.
After doing the cutting in for the ceiling it needs to be rolled. The ceiling paint should be a flat finish. If you have a partner it is easy for them to follow behind after you do the cutting in while the paint edges are still wet. To protect the windows from any paint splatter you can use the blue painters tape and some newspaper to cover the window panes. When painting the walls you should use either eggshell or matte finish and do the cutting in first by extending a 3” strip from each side of the corners and the borders after moving the blue painters tape from the wall to the ceiling and molding edges.
All painting, either with the brush or the roller should be done in the same direction. If the painter is right handed then work in a counter-clockwise direction and vice versa for the left hand painter. Keeping the painting in one direction insures that the brush strokes will be uniform. It is always important to be sure that the second coat is not applied until the first coat is completely dry.
