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So, you’ve just been asked to help assist your friend in
painting their new apartment, or you've just moved into
your own new place or even home. You’ve never painted
before; either you’ve relied on someone else to do it, or
hired professional help to take care of it. Now, you want
to cut some costs and have heard about others painting for
themselves. Well, you can do it, too, with a little elbow
grease and a few simple instructions.
Determine Your Needs
Take a good hard look at your place and what you hope to
accomplish via color and accent. If you’re planning to
“lighten things up”, you may want to choose extremely
light pastel paints, which almost look like white, but are
tinged with color (i.e., green or pink).
What to Look For
Paint comes in cans or buckets. You are better off buying
the buckets which are usually premixed and less expensive.
Just let the paint person know at the store what “type” of
paint you’ll need and for what purpose. Then, fine tune
things and choose your favorite color. Paint “types”
includes matte, semi-gloss, full-gloss and eggshell. You
can also get either the water or oil based types.
Buying the Paint and Supplies
Some other supplies that are essential to painting that
you should be looking for in the painting section are:
primer, brushes, rollers, masking tape, paint trays and
plastic paint drop cloths. Even a bunch of inexpensive
rubber gloves are very helpful. You should purchase all of
these things at once if you do not have them at home, as
it won’t be very convenient or wise to go back and get
these items later on.
From the Trenches
Make sure that there is plenty of ventilation before you
begin painting a room. You should always begin a paint job
in your oldest and worst clothes, because it is guaranteed
that you’ll be covered with spots and blotches of paint as
you go along.
Try to clean the room and sweep and dust as much as
possible beforehand. This only makes is easier and neater
to paint. Mask any areas that are delicate before hand
well.
If there are any outstanding holes or imperfections in
your walls, it makes sense to spackle them beforehand, so
that things look crisp and clear later on.
There is some rhyme and reason to painting a room and an
order should be followed. This is an example order:
ceilings first, then walls, then doors, and lastly
windows.
As for strokes, try to keep them neat and even. It is a
good idea to prime, then, do your first coat, let that
dry, and do a second coat. Or, if your paint is a
one-coater, then you won’t have to paint the second time
around. Try not to put too much or too little paint on the
roller or brush. Keep it steady and light.
Make sure all brushes are soaked well overnight. Allow the
walls to dry, preferably overnight, or with a fan blowing
on them. You may preserve the paint on the rollers, by
wrapping the rollers in plastic wrap and putting them in
the freezer or refrigerator overnight. This way, they
won’t get hard and dry. |
