Having just spent the last couple of weeks painting several rooms in our home, I thought it would be interesting to write about what I learned. And cover some of the steps to follow when painting a room in your home. We have baseboards along the floor which is standard in all homes, hardwood floors and popcorn ceilings. There are several windows and doors with closets. This means there is lots of trim to deal with. In addition these rooms have not been painted in a while so there are nail holes in the walls that were used to hold up pictures, mirrors and small paintings. There is even the odd nail pop and other imperfections to deal with.
In addition, to painting my wife has decided that all of the door hardware etc is going to be changed along with the window coverings. You get the idea we hope of what the typical room is like and what needs to be done.
Painting a Room – Preparation
Proper preparation of a room before you actually start painting can save you a lot of time. For example all of the furniture should be removed from the room or at the very least moved into the center. Everything should be taken off the walls. Any nail holes or nail pops should be sanded and plastered. There will be dust on the floor and on the corner round. Make sure you vacuum up all of all of the dust and then wash the floorboards and corner round. The last thing you need to do is to apply tape on the floor against the wall to protect the floor from any paint while you’re painting and doing edging. Some people will also tape the windows to keep paint from getting on the window panes, however I just use a steady hand and a high quality brush.
Painting a room – painting
The next step is to actually paint the room. Start by cutting in all of the edges along windows and floors and ceiling. You can use a one and a half inch brush that has that is high-quality. When cutting in make sure you paint from the edge out at least 3 inches from the wall or window. Once all the cutting in is completed, you can then use a roller to paint the walls. Never start at the edge, always start at least one roller width from the edge of the wall or the last point that has been painted. Roll back towards the area that has been painted.
This allows you to overlap and distribute the paint evenly. Roll slowly so that you don’t have paint splatter. If using latex paint you can usually paint again the second coat within a few hours however I’d like to wait at least 24 hours before adding the next coat.
Give all of your trim a new paint job as well. We painted all of the window trim, door trim and doors with white paint to provide a contrast against the paint that we placed on the wall.
Painting a room – replacing hardware
If you are replacing the hardware on the doors for example remove the old hardware first before painting. Complete all of your painting and then install new hardware. Hardware includes hinges as well as door knobs or handles. Following this approach will avoid paint getting on any of the new hardware.
Painting a room – clean up
Once you have completed painting the room it is now time to clean up. You will want to remove all of the painters tape that was placed on the wall and windows. You may also need to do some touch ups here and there if you found that you missed a few spots. If by chance you got any paint on the floor now is the time to clean the floor. Vacuum first and then wash all of the floors to complete the job.
While this sounds like a lot of work, it is the best way to ensure a high quality job.