Since last month’s posts were all geared towards renters and lots of different ways to decorate without having to paint your walls, I thought that for this month, it would be nice to talk about the BEST ways to paint your space! From prep work to clean up… this month is all about PAINT!
This week’s post will be covering the steps that you’ll need to take in order to best prepare your surfaces for painting. I think that for most of us, we get so excited to actually see our new paint on the wall, that sometimes we forget to actually do the necessary prep work to ensure the best quality finish. So here are a few quick tips to guarantee the perfect start for your rooms new look.
Gather Everything you Need into One Place
Find a centralized spot in your painting area to gather all of the supplies for your project, BEFORE you start any painting. Collecting the items that you’ll need all at once will save you from having to make multiple trips to the garage for more supplies later. This will save you time and frustration later on.
Here are a few basic things you might want to think about having on hand:
- Painters Tape
- Rollers and Handles
- Paint Brushes
- Bucket of Water
- Cloth (for spills)
- Paint
- Disposable painting tray
Prepare your Walls
Taking the time to prep your walls, is one of the most important steps in painting. To get the highest quality surface for your paint to adhere to, you’ll need to do a few key things:
- Using a quick dry putty, fill and then sand smooth any old nail holes in your walls. After that’s done, take a large sponge with a bit of warm water and give your walls a good wipe-down, to ensure that they are clean and dust free.
- Once your surface is clear of any extra particles, take a good quality painters tape and mask off any areas on your walls that you don’t want paint to get on. After this step, you may need to prime your walls first, before your paint color is applied.
Protect Other Surfaces in your Space
Safeguard other areas or items in your room with appropriate coverings. Painters plastic and tape is great for covering furniture or cabinets that you want to avoid getting any paint splatters on…
…while large fabric drop cloths are the perfect solution for shielding floors. The reason you should try to use fabric covering on floors, verses plastic, is because it will move around less under your feet, stay in one place and also absorb any paint drips quicker then plastic. Making you less prone to tracking paint around the room, if you should get any on your shoes.
Now you are all ready to paint!
Even though prep work can sometimes take a while and not be quite as enjoyable or rewarding as actually applying your new paint color, it’s definitely one of the most important steps in the entire painting process. I promise that if you take the time to prepare your space well, BEFORE you start adding color to your walls, you will cut down on wasting expensive paint and have a prettier, more polished looking product in the end!
