Before you paint a room
Choose a Color
Before even considering repainting your room, you should ask yourself what color you want it to be. Now picking a color can seem simple on paper, but you have to consider many things when deciding. It’s not always as simple as choosing your favorite color and moving on from there.
For one, different colors can have different meanings. Depending on your culture or beliefs, each color can represent something abstract such as happiness, good fortune, and love, or on the other side, it can mean death, bad luck, and anger. Even if you don’t believe in those ideas, it has been scientifically proven that different room colors can affect your mood and headspace, so you should choose one that matches the room’s intended purpose.
You also have to consider how the color of your room will look with the furniture and whether it will clash with the appearance, not to mention the house as a whole.
Removing Your Things
Now that you know what you want to paint, you should work on what you don’t. Painting a room is a very messy task, and there is a very high chance of it dripping and staining. If you are not careful, you can get it all over the room. For that reason, it is best if you take precautions to minimize the mess.
The first thing you should do is remove all the things you don’t want to get paint on entirely. Anything that you can move should prevent the color from getting on it and stop it from getting in the way. For larger items like tables or furniture we recommend placing them in the middle of the room and covering them with a drop cloth. Despite that, there are still many things that you can’t move, such as the floor. To prevent drippings there, you can cover the bottom with newspaper. You can never be too careful here, so make sure every square inch of floor is adequately protected.
The Painting Itself
Start with the edges
Once you begin painting, the first areas you should start with are the edges and corners of your room. This is known as “cutting in”. These areas are where your wall meets other sections of your room, like the floor, windows, and doorway. Take a smaller brush and create a border around these areas to prevent overlap. It should be large enough that you have plenty of room for error while you work.
You will have to do this twice during the process, the first is when you start with the primers, and the second is when you are working with the paint itself.
Add the Primer
Before adding paint, it is recommended that you start with primers first. While the consistency is similar to paint, it is more solid and helps smooth the surface. Many primers also use adhesives that make it easier for the paint to stick on the wall.
Although very helpful, not everyone believes a primer is necessary in all cases. It is usually for when you are painting the wall for the first time or repainting a dark wall white. Aside from that, it is not always essential to use a primer. However, some people still prefer to use it in all cases
Paint the wall
Once you set up all of that, you can begin with the actual painting. Start by thoroughly stirring and mixing the paint before dipping your brush. The best and most efficient method is to use a roller brush to do the job. You will need a rolling tray and paint roller for this part of the project. Be careful when you dip your brush to ensure there isn’t any dripping.
From there, begin to move it along your wall in vertical motions. Move from up to down while slowly covering listing to the side. When you roll, make sure that you do not move too quickly as the paint will splatter. As you work, be sure to go back and cover areas you missed the first time. To prevent this, you can let the roller move in overlapping motions to ensure that no place is left uncovered.
Examine Your Work
After you finish painting, be sure to take a step back and examine your work. First of all, make sure that all areas are covered with an even coating of paint. If you notice any mistakes, now is the best time to try and fix them before the paint dries. However, you should know you should not judge the results immediately. The best painters make sure to wait until the pain is dried and see how it looks under different lighting. When you are satisfied under all those conditions can you call it a job well done. You can always add another coat.
Save the Paint
Make sure you save the paint for touching up. As we all know after time your walls will become smudged or chipped or just dirty. If you have the leftover paint it is very easy to just touch up small areas with a little brush to keep everything looking brand new.
Mesa Painting Santa Barbara Painting Contractors
For those of you the love DIY projects, and are looking to upgrade a room in your house, enjoy the process. If painting isn’t a fun project for you and you would like to leave it to the professional Santa Barbara painters please give us a call for a free estimate. It’s less expensive than you think and saves you a lot of time.
