Now that you’re fully equipped with the best tools and have your walls all properly prepped, let’s get painting!
When picking your perfect shade of paint, remember that specific colors promote different moods and feelings in a person. Blues, greens, and browns are neutrals that can produce calming, cool and serene feelings that remind people of nature, while more vivid colors such as reds, yellows, and oranges can create an upbeat, energetic, passionate atmosphere that’s more lively. Choosing your paint shades carefully can help you to create the exact feeling that you’re going for in your space.
Once you’ve got your perfect shade of paint and your walls are primed and ready to go, it’s time to get down to business.
Cutting in with Paint:
The first step, when painting a wall or ceiling, is to start by ‘cutting in’. Basically, this means starting at the edges and corners of the wall you’re going to be working on. Take a quality angled brush, and begin a steady line of paint, right up to the ceiling or molding. This is usually where painters tape and other edging tools come in handy.
Make sure to feather out any harsh paint lines that your brush may leave behind as well, so that they won’t dry and leave marks, before you can get to the rolling stage of your painting process. Cutting in may take a bit of patience and time, but careful cutting will result in a superior finish and overall easier painting process.
Rolling Paint on Your Wall:
Once you’ve got your cutting done you can start rolling on your paint.
Roller sleeves are typically sold in three different naps, or lengths: short, medium, and long. A shorter nap will hold less paint and works well when painting with glossy finishes, because it leaves a smooth coat behind. Where a long nap holds lots of paint, for rough or densely textured surfaces and tends to have a more dominate stipple effect in the end.
You don’t have to really do anything to prepare your roller sleeve for painting, although a good rule of thumb is to give it a light misting of water with a spray bottle and then scrape down the sleeve with a 5-in-1 tool. This will remove any excess fibers and keep them from getting on your wall.
Now you pour your paint into a rolling pan, load up your roller with the perfect amount, so it’s not too full, and not too dry, and begin painting.
You want to make sure when using a roller that you start about 6-8 inches from the bottom/top of the wall, to avoid accidentally hitting the baseboard/ceiling. Start with a slow zig zag motion and distribute the paint from your roller evenly onto one section of your wall, usually about 3-4 square feet at a time. Make sure to work quickly and also try hard not to lift your roller up, unless you’re refiling it with paint. You want to always be overlapping wet paint with wet paint. Doing this will ensure that you don’t end up with visible lap marks in the end.
Work your roller as closely into your previously painted cutting areas as possible, to create a uniformed blending effect, that will help your painted wall appear perfect and seamless. Once you’ve got this technique down, your room will be finished and looking like a professional did it, in no time flat!
Whether selling a home or buying a new one, a fresh coat of paint on the walls and baseboards can really make a room feel fresh and new. Painting is one of the easiest, most DIY’er friendly projects to tackle around the house. So if you’re looking to give your home a face lift, I definitely recommend starting with paint, first.
TIP:
If you are painting your walls with a dark color, such as red or deep blue, start off with a tinted primer first. Simply add a little of your paint color into your primer, mix, and apply! Having a tinted primer as your base will help your color cover the walls quicker and more evenly. Also, primer is significantly less expensive then actual paint, so if you need the extra coverage, double up on tinted primer and THEN start with your color. Even though most rooms need two good coats of paint to get a full, even coverage… you won’t waste as much paint getting there, if you start off with a great primed surface.
Homes.com is the place to dream and discover your ideal home! Are you starting to get the itch to look for your first or next home, but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place! Browse our real estate and lifestyle blog for home buying tips, mortgage guides, DIY ideas, interior design, lifestyle topics, general home inspiration, or just some homes fun. We are sure you can scratch that itch and find all the information and tools you need to help in your home search. Want to start looking at available real estate right now? Head to our home page and check out homes for sale or rent listings all over the country.
Happy house hunting!
