5 Most Important Painting Tips

Painting your walls or the outside of your home is something that isn’t meant to be taken lightly. You cannot simply decide to paint them, and then expect the job to be done in a matter of hours. There is some prep work involved that includes having all of the right tools and waiting for each layer of paint to dry thoroughly before continuing. Here are the five more important painting tips that you need to follow in order to get the job done right:

Treat your painting project just like you would any home improvement one. You wouldn’t start to build a bookcase without a hammer and a cordless screwdriver, right? Well, you also wouldn’t begin painting a room without a paint pan or two, brushes, rollers, a wooden stir-stick and the paint. In order to properly prep a room for painting, you need to remove as much of the furniture as possible. Then you need to take down everything that is hanging on the walls – including the hooks that are holding these items in place — and lay down a plastic drop cloth to protect the floor. You also should use painter’s tape to cover the baseboards, window frames and door frames in order to avoid getting paint on them. A good layer of primer is the trick to making your chosen paint color come out correctly. Read the instructions on the can to avoid choosing a primer whose chemical makeup clashes with that of your paint, or else you may end up with an unpleasant surprise. Interior paint is meant strictly for interior walls – that is, the inner walls of your home. You cannot use it on the outside of your house, as it will not stand up to the elements like exterior paint will. The same goes for exterior paint. It should never be used indoors, as it is chemically formulated for outdoor use only. If you rush things and start laying down your first coat of paint before the primer has a chance to dry, then that first coat of paint may end up looking blotchy, messy and uneven. You’ll then have add a few extra coats of paint to try to cover it, and even that may not work, depending on your chosen paint color. Avoid this scenario entirely by waiting for the primer to dry fully.