Room Painting Techniques

The vital part of room painting techniques is good preparation work to make the painting experience a hassle-free one. To start with, move all the furniture in the room away from the walls and cover them up with large plastic sheets so that dripping paint does not spoil them. Cover the carpet with plastic sheets and fix up the sheets with some painter's tape so that the plastic sheet does not expose the carpet when you are making movements in the room. Make sure you remove all the wall decorations. Remove the bulbs and then cover up the light fixtures with plastic bags. Similarly, cover all other hardware like switches, door knobs etc., in the room. Clean up the walls and the ceilings with mild soap and water to get rid of the dirt and the debris. If the walls or the ceilings of the room have some cracks or holes, repair them before you apply any paint on them to get a good paint result.

Selecting the Right Paint

The choice of a paint for any room largely depends upon the size of the room and the kind of interior designing you have. Any dark shade tends to give a compact feeling to the room, and the size of the rooms seems to be smaller. Hence, they should not be used in small rooms. For the bathroom and kitchen, semi-gloss paint should be selected as they are unaffected by splashes of water and are easy to clean. Latex paints are easy to apply and hence should be preferred over oil-based paint when the paint job is done by you.

Application of Primer Coat

Primers are applied on the walls prior to the application of the paint because it has several advantages. You should choose the sealing primer that can conceal the defects of the surface, like stubborn stains, glossy surfaces, etc. It also makes the surface even so painting can be done more easily. White primer can be applied after tinting it slightly by mixing a cup of the paint to be used in one gallon of primer. Primer is applied with rollers on the main surface of the walls and the ceilings, and for the corners a paint brush should be used.

Application of Paint

There are various room painting techniques that you should follow when you apply the paint on the walls and the ceilings. You should start the paint work with those areas which are tough to reach ,like the corners and the edges of the walls. For this, you have to use a simple paint brush and dip it up to two inches into the paint and then apply it to the borders of the walls with short even strokes. Thus, the walls will look like frames. For the wider areas of the walls and ceilings use a roller brush. The choice of the roller brush should be right to get the correct finish. If the surface to be painted is rough, you should use a very thick roller brush. Take some amount of paint on a roller pan and roll the roller brush over it.

You cannot cover the entire wall at a time. For this reason, you should divide the walls into a number of sections. Apply the paint on any one section of the wall with large upward strokes. Keep the length of the paint strokes even at all times. Once you have covered the chosen portion of the wall, blend all the stroke lines to give and a uniform look before you move on to the next section. Repeat this process till all the walls are covered with paint. For painting the ceilings, add an extension handle of suitable length to the roller. In this way, you can reach out to all the areas of the ceilings by positioning your ladder at the center of the room. A second coat of paint is a must to cover up all those gaps of paint left on the walls. This time also the application method is the same, only this is that you can keep the layer of the paint slightly thinner than the previous one.

Use your Creative Skills

There are various techniques for painting a room which will give a unique look to the walls. For this, you can use other materials to get a different effects on the walls. You can apply the paint with a sponge which will cover up the defects on the walls in a better way. Take a piece of natural sponge, dip it into the paint and press the sponge on the base coat of the wall. You can get a marble effect on the wall by applying the paint with a rag. For better results, do not scatter the colors too much on the walls. You can use your creative ideas to get the pattern of your choice. Stencils can give some innovative patterns to your walls. Draw some sketches of nice designs with the help of stencils using a pencil on the base coat, and then fill them with colors of your choice using small brushes.

Now you can see that interior painting can be fun if you use the right kind of room painting techniques. Finally, I would like to tell you that you should not forget to protect yourself with suitable protective gear like gloves, goggles, etc., before you take up the paint job.