Painting a room is a popular and fun exercise for everyone from beginners to veteran renovators alike. And why not, it is painless, relatively inexpensive and if something goes wrong, easily fixable. But before you get right to it with your paint and roller, it’s important to have a game plan in place. In this post, we’re going to take you through the various steps you need to follow to ensure your DIY room painting project turns out to be a roaring success. So here goes.
1. Plan your approach
Start by visualising what you’d want the room to look like once completed. And while you’re at it, don’t limit yourself to something as basic as four walls of the same colour. Instead, think accents and arches and how you can make your room do everything from being bold to being subtle and understated. Try and make your room reflect your personality.
2. Choose your colour
Now, we realise that this isn’t easy. And the million and a half options you can choose from don’t help either. What we suggest is you start by figuring out the general characteristics of the colour you’d like. Is it warm or cool, neutral or saturated? Does it go with the art you have up on your walls? Ask yourself these questions and narrow down your search to a handful of shades. Once that’s done, get samples of those shades so you can see exactly what it’ll look like on your walls. Another thing to keep in mind is to test the shades to see how they look at different times of the day. Remember natural light will play a huge role here.
Want to skip the whole sampling process? You totally can! We at Aapkapainter are very proud to introduce to you our newly launched ‘colour consultant service’ where we create renders of your home based on your inputs and help make it easier for you to decide exactly what your home will look like in the new colour of your choice. It doesn’t end there, we also have a chatroom feature that allows you to do all of this real-time. Click <here> to check it out.
3. Pick your tools and materials
Every project is unique and you may need different tools depending on the paint you choose and the condition of your walls, but there are a few must-haves.
- Paint
- Paint roller
- Paint roller extension pole
- Drop cloths
- Paintbrushes
- Paint tray
- Sandpaper
- Painter’s tape
- Rags
- Putty knife
- Painting Tools
4. Determine how much paint you’ll need
Whether you’re painting your study or the entire exterior of your house, the general rule of thumb is one gallon per 400 square feet. But that’s just a rough guideline.
Here are another few things that you should keep in mind. You’ll need additional paint to do a whitewash in case you’re going from a darker shade to a lighter one. However, on the other end of the spectrum, a deep colour base will tend to require more coats of paint as compared to a lighter colour. Lastly, if you’re painting a highly textured surface, buy a little extra. In case you’re wondering how much extra, about 10% should suffice.
5. Prep the walls and the room
This is super important as you don’t want to soil that dressing table that’s been in the family for three generations. So the first step is to clear the room of all furniture. If that isn’t possible, push everything to the centre of the room and cover everything with a plastic sheet or cloth and do the same with the floor.
Next, grab some tape and firmly apply it to edges of the room corners and base, the door and window casings and use a putty knife if needed. The last thing you want is the paint seeping under the tape. Another thing you could do is remove outlet and light switch covers and apply painters tape to protect outlets and switches from paint drips.
6. Mix your paint
Mix your paint well! Best you use a wooden paint stick and re-stir every now and then. If you’re using more than one gallon of paint, combine the cans in a large bucket in case there is a slight variation in colour.
7. Pick your painting techniques
So your paint is mixed and roller ready. Before you get started, it’s best you have a strategy in place. Work top-down, starting with the ceiling. Have a bold wall that’s going to be your centrepiece? Well, paint the lighter coloured walls around it first. So even if you do spill some paint on the focal wall, you can always cover it up later. If you’re covering up dark walls with a brighter hue, plan on three coats: your primer, plus two coats of the new colour to ensure nothing shows through.
We suggest you tackle one wall at a time. Break up the more delicate portions that will require a brush and the larger expanses where a roller can do the job. When using the roller, long strokes in a W pattern is the way to go. Remember coverage is the name of the game when it comes to the roller. Once the wall is dry to the touch, it’s ready for a second coat.
If you are painting the trim, remove the painter’s tape and wait for the walls to dry, before applying tape to the walls. Start with the trim closest to the ceiling, moving on to door and window frames, and finally the baseboards.
8. Ventilation is important
Don’t forget to keep those windows open and fans switched on!
9. Clean up
Once you’re done with all your coats, don’t sit down just yet. Remove all the painters tape and make sure any spills and splatters are dry before you move them. Clear up all other materials which include the paint, rollers and all other equipment so there’s no scope of anything staining your freshly painted walls.
10. Give yourself enough time
The amount of time your project will take entirely depends on the size of your room, how you’re painting, and your skill level. For example, if you’re using a single neutral colour, it will take a lot less time to complete as compared a using a darker shade for your ceiling and trim. A good thing to do is always budget for more time than you think is needed.