How to paint a room for the first time
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” include 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
1. 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.
2. Try to clean the room and sweep and dust as much as possilbe beforehand.
This only makes is easier and neater to paint. Mask any areas that are
delicate before hand well.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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
puttting them in the freezer or refrigerator overnight. This way, they
won’t get hard and dry.
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