Room Painting Tips

Painting can definitely give your room an instant makeover. But if you have no experience in painting, chances are that you might mess the job up and meet with a lot of disappointment. However, you can easily avoid this by proper planning and organizing. An interior painting job is not the kind of job you can finish off in a day. You need a day to prepare for it and the next day to actually paint the room. Following are some tips for painting a room.

Preparation
Move all the furniture and hardware towards the center of the room. Remove the light bulbs and cover the fixtures with plastic bags. Work on the cracks and holes and patch them up. Cover the doors and windows with blue painter's tape. Clear the walls by removing the hardware and the wall hangings. You also need to be equipped with the required gear. Arrange for some old yet comfortable clothes, slip-on shoes, gloves, protective glasses etc. You will also need to wear a shower cap while painting the ceiling.

Brushes and Rollers
Choosing the right kind of brush is extremely important for any painting job. You can choose from a synthetic or a natural bristled brush. A natural brush is likely to go limp with a water based paint, and hence should be used for oil based paints only. Synthetic bristles are more suited for oil based paints. Choose the density of the bristles as per the type of your job. Rollers can be used for spreading the paint evenly on walls. Go for a smooth, flat paint roller for a smooth effect or a thicker one for acquiring a textured look.

Choosing the Paint
Paints are available in two types, water based or latex and oil based. Latex paints are easy to apply, easy to clean and dry quickly, while oil based paints are more durable. Latex paints are environment friendly, but these days newer formulations of oil paints also do not harm the environment in any way. Choose a color that goes well with the rest of your home decor. While choosing the shade, remember the paint's look may vary at nighttime from what it looks like in natural daylight. Also, the dried paint on walls always shows variations in shade when compared to the color on the can.

Painting
Open the paint can and stir the paint properly. Pour the paint slowly into the tray. Use a roller to paint the wider sections of the wall, and use a paint brush for the portions where the roller cannot reach. And for the areas where masking tape cannot be applied, you'll need to use an edger. Apply the second coat of paint. Inspect the room, and apply touch ups wherever necessary.

After you are done with the painting job, do not forget to clean the excess paint or the drops of paint, if you have spilled any. Re-install all the hardware and fixtures. Observe a little care with the wet paint for a couple of days. If you have a problem with the odor of the paint, you have an option of choosing from the less odorous varieties of paint. Hope the above room painting tips help you to paint your room.