Tips for Painting 6 Popular Rooms in Your Home

 

Every home improvement site suggests you try painting a room as the ideal do-it-yourself (DIY) project. It always appears in that list that claims it as an easy project. But, they don’t mention how exact it needs to be, typically.

We’ll tell you and provide advice for you to paint like a pro. Painting requires equipment. It takes concentration. It needs the perfect weather conditions. You must prepare the surface correctly first.

In this article, we examine the multitude of tips you need to follow to paint every room of your home just right. We even include rooms like the homeschooling room, that other lists have yet to add. Let’s get started.

Every Room

Buy proper equipment. While you won’t need those cute overalls for painting, you do need some equipment that professional house painters use. Let’s consider the list, all of which you can purchase at the local hardware or home improvement store.

• Paint brushes of various sizes
• Paint rollers
• Roller tray/pan
• Roller screen
• Painters tape
• a 5-gallon bucket
• Paint
• Primer
• Paint stirrer
• Sealant
• Utility knife or Box cutter

Start with a clean, dry surface. Before you can paint a wall, ceiling, or trim work, you need to clean it using the appropriate type of cleaner for its existing paint and surface. Use a lint-free cleaning cloth, so it does not leave behind debris. Paint a clean, dry surface, free of debris for the best results.

Avoid leaving lap marks, a stripe of uneven paint, on the wall or ceiling by rolling with a wet edge at all times. Latex paint makes this challenging because it stiffens in less than 60 seconds in dry, warm weather.

Start at a corner and run the roller up, then down the full wall height. Move slightly over with the paint at each stroke. Move the roller backward to even out any running, dripping paint, or thick areas. Reload the roller often to keep it at least half-loaded with paint at all times.

Paint with the open end of the roller facing the already painted area. This method results in fewer paint ridges. Too much pressure on the open side makes a ridge.

Cut off painters tape in sections

after the paint fully dries. Wet or tacky paint can still drip, so don’t try to peel off the painter’s tape from the trim or built-ins until after the paint fully dries. Cut the tape carefully from the wall because paint forms a filmy bond between the tape and the wall. Wait at least 24 hours for the paint to fully dry, then slide the knife through the filmy edge at the tape’s top or side edge.

Peel the tape off carefully and slowly. Do it in small sections, pulling it upward at a 45-degree angle. Begin in an area that will remain hidden from view, such as the wall area behind where the refrigerator goes.

Paint in the right order. Professional painters use a specific order when painting. They paint the trim first, the ceiling second, and the walls last. Trim takes little time to paint and once it dries, you tape over it, and quickly address the rest of the room.

The goal of trim painting is to create a smooth finish. If some paint does get on the walls, you will paint over it with the main color. This means you need to stick to the rules of a darker main color than trim and ceilings, otherwise any paint smears on the wall will become tough to cover. Painting a light color over a darker one requires more coats of paint.

1. Kitchen

Many homeowners choose kitchen remodeling as their first home improvement project. They spend a lot of time in this important room, so it makes sense to start with it. Each person has a different way of cooking and meal preparation. Since most people eat at least three times a day and two of those meals they usually eat at home, the kitchen tops the remodeling list.

Mix a few cans of the same color paint together to create a uniform shade. Larger rooms require more paint, but paint manufacturers don’t mention the slight variations in their paint mixture. In a small room, such as a closet or foyer, you may only use one can of paint. In large rooms, like the kitchen, you will need to use multiple cans of paint.

Avoid variations in color by pouring the contents of up to five cans of paint into a five-gallon bucket. Use the paint stirrer to mix them together. Work from this bucket, pouring enough paint into the roller pan to use. Using this method avoids shade variations and results in uniformity of color.

Remove kitchen cabinets before painting

the room, if you plan to replace the cabinets. This provides you with solid walls to paint, instead of needing to tape off large areas. If you plan to keep your cabinets, cover them, using painter’s tape and plastic sheeting.

Paint the cabinets first

, if you will keep the ones you have. Tape around their edge, covering the wall area surrounding them. Lay a tarp over the kitchen counter and the sink to catch drips. Cover the floor with a tarp, unless you paint before putting in new flooring.

Huge rooms like the kitchen make painting a challenge, but the right equipment eases the challenge. Instead of pouring into the roller tray, place paint on the roller directly from the five-gallon bucket. Use the roller screen to unload the excess before rolling it onto the wall.

2. Bathroom

Make a list of the changes you want to make in your bathroom. Consider which items for which you will need to hire a remodeling contractor and which you could do yourself. Be honest because painting will likely be the only thing a new homeowner could feasibly do.

The very complex bathroom or water closet requires a team of professionals, such as a bathtub renovator, plumber, and electrician. Save yourself the work in this often tiny, crevice-ridden room by hiring a general contractor who specializes in bathroom renovations. Let that team refinish the tub, switch out the fixtures, and put in the new sink stand. Painting the room only adds a few hundred dollars to most renovation bids.

If you want to paint the bathroom and you have your heart set on it, tell this to your renovation team at the outset. Let them know you want to do this little job in each room of your house for a sense of accomplishment and to make the home feel your own. Ask them to leave the fixtures wrapped when they install them, so you won’t have to wrap them and tape them for protection. If tub resurfacing or sink resurfacing numbers are among your many projects in your bathroom remodel, ask them to cover their work before leaving, so you won’t need to tape it either.

Break out your brushes for the bathroom. This room typically only features one wall large enough to use a roller. This large wall usually has towel racks installed, so you will need to paint small areas, a little bit at a time.

Place your paint roller tray and other equipment just outside the door because there won’t be room for it in the bathroom. You won’t need the roller screen in the bathroom, but you can work directly from the paint can or bucket. Many bathrooms only require one gallon of paint because of their small size.

Paint the trim first. The trim needs to dry before you can remove the painter’s tape keeping it from getting on the wall, so devote two days to the bathroom. If your bathroom uses wood trim that you won’t paint, tape over it and do the walls, finishing the bathroom in a single day.

3. School Room

During COVID-19, many schools expanded their homeschooling offerings. Parents devoted one room of their home to their children’s education. After the pandemic’s worst ended, many parents retained that one room as a study room for their kids.

These rooms typically offer an easy painting job because they contain little furniture. Remove the study desks, chairs, and computer equipment to prepare the room for painting. Tape over the chalkboard or dry-erase board. You will typically have four large wall spaces to paint, although at least one usually features a window.

4. Home Office

Give your office cleaner the week off the week you paint your home office because new paint should not undergo cleaning for at least a week. It needs to bond with its surface. That means it sits gloriously for seven days before any type of cleaner, even water touches it.

Schedule your week of painting with the local office cleaning crew, then get to work preparing your office for its new look. Like the educational room, you will need to empty the room before painting it. Use painter’s tape and clear plastic sheeting to cover any outlets, light switch plates, etc. They don’t accept paint well.

5. Basement

When renovating a whole home, schedule work in the proper order. That means in the basement, have the contractors handle the basement waterproofing first. You will need to paint the walls after they finish the waterproofing process, which includes adding sealant to the walls.

6. Garage

In the garage, you might not have considered painting the walls or overhead door, but you should. This room usually connects to the rest of the home but gets neglected since people don’t spend a lot of time in it. Add insulation to this room first, then finish its walls with wallboard, just like in other rooms of the home. That gets you ready to paint it.

Painting the garage interior helps it weather the elements. Its walls bear the brunt of the weather and most garage doors allow a little water seepage, so address the door first. Have it sealed so any drafts get blocked.

If storage presents an issue in your home, consider installing overhead bins in the garage. This area often goes unused and the high ceilings in most garages offer the space for it. You won’t need to paint them and you will quickly get everything out of the way.

Arrange for somewhere else to park your vehicles, including the family bicycles for at least 24 hours. Just like other rooms, you need to start with an empty workspace because painting takes lots of room. The great thing about garages is that they have little trim, so you won’t have much to tape over.

Tackle the larger rooms, like the dining room and living room, using the same method as the bedrooms. Move all furnishings out of the room before painting, so you can move around well and so you do not accidentally get paint on them. Tape off the ceiling and walls first to paint the trim mess-free.

Start with the right equipment. Set aside plenty of time for the painting job. Because paint needs 24 hours to dry, you need three days for each room. You can paint the trim in every room one day, then move on to the ceilings the following day. Do the walls of every room on the third day. Since you need to empty a room to paint it, schedule portions of the house at a time for painting.

If you can, paint the home before moving into it. This provides you with empty rooms that you can easily navigate. Wait a day after painting the walls, then move your belongings into the home.

Rushing the painting work does not work well. Expect the home renovation to require time, effort, and care. Plan a weekend away for the kids, so they won’t get in the way. A sleepover at their grandparents or a friend’s home can net you the time needed for doing the work in peace and quiet.