Painting a room is a super easy way to freshen up the place and give a whole new feel; but this seemingly simple project can quickly turn into your worst nightmare if you’re not smart about it.

Interior painting is by far the most popular DIY home improvement activity, and it’s easy to see why; everyone can give it a go – but you will need some patience, practice and some helpful advice. Follow these straightforward tips the next time you paint and you’ll end up with great looking walls, whilst staying sane and hopefully stress-free!

 

Prepare the Surface

A successful paint job lies in the preparation, without properly preparing the surface you’re going to paint you’ll end up with an imperfect finish. Preparing the surface isn’t a particularly fun job, but it is a completely necessary and unavoidable one. You’ll need to scrape, sand, patch and fill every hole, dent, crack and surface flaw. No paint on the market, regardless of its cost, colour or thickness will hide a badly prepared wall.

 

Tint the Primer

Priming the walls and ceilings in mandatory whenever you’re painting a new wall or painting over a dark colour – but it is in fact smart to prime whenever you paint. Primer serves to provide three main functions; it blocks stains from bleeding through, allows one-coat coverage for your paint and most importantly it provides paint adhesion, which massively reduces blisters and peeling. 

Lots of people tint the primer toward the finished colour, by mixing a small amount of the topcoat paint into the primer. This simple trick greatly enhances the ability of the topcoat to completely hide the primed surface. You can now even purchase paints that contain primers, but nothing quite matches the coverage or improves adhesion as much as a dedicated primer. 

 

Go for Canvas, Not Plastic

Whilst plastic drop cloths provide an inexpensive way to protect your floors and furnishings from inevitable paint splatters, you’d be much better off investing in some canvas cloths. Canvas is super durable and rip-resistant, it lays flatter and as such it presents much less of a tripping hazard (safety first!). Canvas cloths absorb paint drips, unlike their plastic counterparts, which become slippery when spattered with paint. They can also be folded easily around corners and doorways, something which is near-impossible with plastic sheeting. Canvas cloths will last a lifetime, rather than plastic which are usually tossed out after one-use.

 

Get an Extension Pole

Gone are the days of precariously leaning on a stepladder to reach those difficult places – instead, get yourself a sturdy extension pole for your paint roller. These extension poles come in various lengths, so there’ll be something that suits your needs. Check that your paint roller’s handle has a threaded hole in the end, and then simply twist it onto the extension pole and start painting.

When choosing your extension pole, look for one with a soft, non-slip grip and a rigid metal core. Also ensure that the threaded end of the pole is also metal; all plastic handles are too flexible which doesn’t give you enough control. 

 

Overnight Storage

If you find yourself done painting for the day, but you still have some more to do the next day; you don’t need to go through the time-consuming process of painstakingly cleaning your paint brushes and paint-roller sleeves. Instead, simply brush or roll off the excess paint, and then tightly wrap them in plastic food wrap. If necessary, double wrap them in order to seal out any air – then place the wrapped brushes and roller sleeves in the fridge to keep them fresh.

The next day, simply remove your gear from the fridge around 30 minutes before you intend to start painting, and you’ll be good to go. 

 

If you’re on the fence about giving some home painting DIY a go, don’t worry. You can always leave the job to the professionals and save yourself some time and hassle. Get in touch with the team today to find out how we can make your painting job run smoothly.