Planning, executing, and completing a successful interior painting project can radically transform your space. There’s a reason that painting projects continue to be the most popular home improvement projects out there—they can dramatically change the aesthetic of your home, improve its value, and make it a more inviting place to be and live.
Thousands of homeowners embark on painting journeys each year, whether a single room, a series of rooms, or the entire house. As with any project, painting projects are affected by preparation, from following a series of steps to buying the right tools and materials.
So, where do we begin? To help you out, we break down the components below, from cleaning surfaces to painting the trim and baseboards. Follow our detailed guide to accomplish your most successful interior painting project ever!
Clean and Prep Surfaces
Cleaning dusty and dirty surfaces before you paint might be the most important step in the whole process. Even the cleanest of homes can have microscopic dust on surfaces, preventing the paint from forming a strong adhesive bond.
It’s easy. Use a mild detergent and damp cloth to scrub down your walls and surfaces, removing dirt, dust, and debris. Allow the surface to dry thoroughly, and begin painting!
After cleaning, make sure to prep your work space. Repair any holes or damage in the walls, sand down the repaired areas, apply a primer base for the paint, and use painter’s tape to prevent any paint from spilling onto the walls or floor. Lay down drop clothes to minimize splatter, and finally move any furniture out of the way to make the space easier to paint and remove tripping hazards.
Don’t Forget To Cut In: What is “Cut in?” Paint the edges and corners first, then use the roller. By using your brush to give yourself a head start, you will make a nicer finish and it will be easier to use your roller on the wall without worrying about those pesky edges.
Clean As You Go: Ensure your project’s ease by cleaning your brushes thoroughly and often. Clean your rollers so that the paint doesn’t become thick and lumpy, and clean up any spills as soon as possible.
Painting That Wall or Room
Everyone has a color they particularly love. Pastel yellow, regal blue, or an evergreen so dark that it turns heads and transforms spaces. The right colors and shades allow us to express ourselves, bringing a smile to your face whenever you step into the room. By using the right colors, you can turn a space from dingy to delightful, but paint has a habit of being tricky: the most beautiful paints might not look so amazing when they intensify across a wall.
One of the ways to make a room glow is to lighten the shade of paint on the largest wall without changing the color. You can dial down the intensity without having to change the color, while will still allow you to match the aesthetic of the furniture and accessories in the room.
ProServ Pro Tips:
Ask Your Contractor For Advice: If you’re having your house professionally painted, an experienced contractor can give you advice on colors and shades for each room.
Test Our Multiple Colors: You can paint small sample squares of the color on your wall side by side to help you visualize the finished product.
Paint the Ceiling
The top of each room needs love too! While walls are easy enough to paint, ceilings come in many varieties. Older ones are made of plaster, you might have a popcorn ceiling, etc. Acoustic tiles can also be a problem!
Ceilings accumulate dust and cobwebs. Cleaning your ceiling can be difficult, and leave you feeling sore. If you’re not up to the task or you simply want it done the right way, professional painters can clean and paint your ceilings so that you don’t have to.
ProServ Pro Tips:
Use Ceiling Paint: Wait, there’s a special paint for ceilings? Yes, there is, and it’s important to use it!
Use The Right Tools: Rollers, extension poles, ladders, and long-handle brushes are all important when painting a tight, difficult space.
Trim and Baseboards
Rooms with woodwork deserve a little extra brightening, and whether you paint the walls or the ceiling, it’s a good idea not to leave them out. Gaming rooms, living rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens have trim work and baseboards that can look lively with a new coat of paint.
High-gloss paint or semi-gloss paint is the key to accents and can help brighten a space and accentuate its beautiful aesthetics. You can change the look of an entire room with a little bit of trim work!
Sand The Surface: Sometimes trim isn’t completely smooth, and sanding it down can help paint adhesion.
Use Spackling: Dings, cracks, and divots can be unsightly and difficult to paint. Fill in blemishes with spackle, and then sand down the surfaces.
Use Painter’s Tape: Protect your walls, countertops, floors, and other areas from the wrath of your paintbrush.
Painting ceilings, walls, and trim on your own can be a hassle. Hire painting professionals and save yourself the headache.
Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets
Those of us who spend a lot of time at home can end up staring at cabinets and built-ins, thinking about how our spaces can be different. Over time our homes acquire a bit of dreariness—maybe we want to replace everything and start over. Replacing cabinets is a huge undertaking, and expensive, oftentimes going over budget and creating a huge mess that we have to live in for days on end.
There is another answer. Instead of replacing your cabinets, paint them. By painting your cabinets and built-ins, you can add new color and brightness that will transform your space.
When painting your cabinets and built-ins, plan things out carefully. It can be a daunting undertaking that is often best left to the professionals because of the effort and time involved.
Remove Doors, Hinges, And Hardware: Screws, caps, and hinges aren’t all the same size. It’s important to label your hardware as you take it apart and keep it safe in containers or plastic bags.
Clean And Sand Your Cabinets: You want the surfaces to be clean, dry, and smooth.
Frequently Asked Questions
These days, interior house paints are latex or oil-based. Oil-based paints are made with synthetic resins called alkyds which makes them the best for interior walls. Paints made of natural oils have a tougher time adhering, but each has different characteristics and uses. While latex paints provide a long-lasting finish a great gloss retention, oil-based paints have excellent durability, stain resistance, and adhesion, making them ideal for high-traffic rooms.
The average residential paint job project should take a few days to a week to accomplish, though many factors can prolong this. Cut out the stress by hiring a professional painter who can stay on time and budget.
Surface area, labor cost, type of paint, complexity, location, needed materials, and moving furniture can all affect the total cost of an interior painting project. A good painting professional will give you an estimate up-front and avoid hidden fees or additional costs. You should always discuss your budget and expectations with the contractor to ensure that there are no surprises at the end of the project.
DIY or Hire A Professional?
While a “do it yourself” approach to painting might be rewarding in its own way, it’s also time-consuming, frustrating, and expensive. Professional painters come with knowledge and expertise that can save you time, not to mention the quality. The DIY approach might appear to have cost savings in the long run, but many homeowners forget that there are tools and equipment that must be purchased, not to mention finding the time off to complete the project.
ProServ Painters has been serving Canton and the surrounding areas for decades, providing high-quality painting services with an attention to detail that just isn’t matched by anyone else. You can trust ProServ for a stress-free, professional result that will completely transform your space, improving both your living conditions and the value of your home. Contact ProServ Painters today for a no-obligation Free Estimate and see what a difference we can make!
