Are you over the current colour theme of your Perth home, but hate the thought of painting? Painting is often a task that homeowners dread. However, it is one of, if not the least expensive way to improve the look of your home without too much effort.
Paint colours can dramatically change the mood and feel of your home. Paint can make a statement with splashes or it can be a soft backdrop to a more subtle interior. Either way, painting is one of the easiest and least expensive tools in the interior design world.
Before you start, there are a few things you should know before you paint—things that will make your job much easier.
You never know, you may actually enjoy painting after reading this.
1) Paint preparation,
It is a known fact that painting is much easier when there is nothing in your way. This means empty out the room, or at least as much as possible. If you are painting your living room, move large furniture pieces to the centre and cover them up with old sheets or drop cloths.
Although it seems like an unnecessary step to wipe the walls down, it is a very important step. Whether you can see it or not, there is buildup on the walls of dirt, dust, and oils from your hands. Removing this debris prior to painting will allow the paint to adhere to the walls.
You should also fill in any nail holes or cracks with filler, as well as tape off adjacent walls, window trim, and light switch or outlet covers. Use drop cloths, newspapers, or a roll of paper to cover the floor.
2) Test the colour.
Knowing for sure if you have picked the right colour for your room is difficult at best. If you have a colour in mind, it is a good idea to buy a sample.
Allow the paint to dry, observing its colour in both daytime and at night. This will give you a true idea of what the colour will look like on your walls.
If you are unsure of the colour still, purchase a few more samples and do the same. You might be surprised at what colours you actually like, and even more surprised at how what you thought was your favourite colour on the swatch looks terrible in your home.
3) Experiment with colour.
Colour can be overwhelming for some. However, when painting your Perth home, do not let fear stand in the way, leading you to only make the choice between white, off white, or beige.
For instance, dark colours add texture and depth to the space. This is particularly true if the room is very large with high ceilings. On the other hand, if you have a small room, such as a guest bath with no natural light, brighter, lighter colours can really open up the space and make it feel much larger.
Essentially, don’t be afraid of colour—experiment to see what works—you may be surprised!
4) The finish matters.
Surprisingly, not only does the colour matter, but the finish, or sheen, does as well. Higher sheen paint finishes are very durable and easier to clean, but the downside is they often highlight imperfections in your walls, when decorating your Perth home.
On the other hand, a flat paint finish will hide these imperfections and make touching up chips and the like much easier. The only downside is that some people prefer a low sheen finish over a flat or matt finish when painting their Perth home.
5) All walls or just 1?
After painting a square on the wall and observing it in different lights, you may discover that what looked great in a small section is too overwhelming once the walls are finished.
Fortunately, paint is an inexpensive option for making over a room and it can be easily changed. If you find that you do not like a certain colour, you can easily paint over it.
In addition, if the colour seems too overwhelming for all four of your walls, consider leaving one wall painted that colour as an accent. You may find that a ‘pop’ of colour is all you needed to finish decorating your Perth home.
6) How much paint do you need?
There is nothing more frustrating during a painting project than running out of paint halfway through the project. Likewise, you don’t want to have too much paint either.
A handy way to work this out is to go off the average – 14 square metres per litre (per coat).
For example, if you are painting all four walls in a bedroom that has a ceiling height of 2.4m and each wall is 3.5m long, then your total will be 33.6 square metres to paint.
Divide your total square metre rate by 14 (Average square metres per litre as above) and in this example you will need 2.4 litres per coat. Keep in mind, this is an average only and depends on the applicator as well as the brush and roller that you use.
The next thing to decide is how many coats you want and multiply that by our example above. If you are just refreshing or going over light colours, one coat may be acceptable, but as a rule, we recommend that you put two coats on, as well as a primer or sealer if going over darker colours or if it is a new substrate.
7) Primer
Speaking of priming, this is an important step in the preparation process. Primer seals the walls providing you with a base for the paint to adhere to.
After you fill in all the holes and cracks, primer becomes even more important. The primer will prevent flashing or a shiny spot on the wall, which occurs when paint is placed directly on filler.
Primer does not, however, help you skip the step of cleaning the walls. Cleaning the walls is still a very important step, primer or not.
8) The Painting Process
For many, the concept of brushing the corners before or after rolling the walls can be confusing. However, you must remember to cut in with a brush before rolling.
Carefully use a high-quality brush to paint about an inch out from corners, the ceiling, and the baseboard. These are areas that a roller cannot reach.
Use the roller after brushing in order to flatten out any brush marks that have gone further out than the depths of the corner. This will leave you with a smooth flat surface.
9) The Paint Roller
Rollers are made from fuzzy material that puts more than paint on your walls. It is important that you remove any debris, such as loose fibers, from the roller.
You can use painters tape wrapped backward around your hand to do this. Press your taped hand onto the roller, and it will work in a similar manner as a lint roller.
You should also rub the dry paint brushes up against your hand and gently tug on the fibers. This will ensure that no loose fibers end up in your paint from the brush.
10) Painting Equipment
Aside from a good quality paint brush, you want to make sure you have all the supplies you need prior to getting started.
This will include roller extender poles and a sturdy step ladder.
Roller extender poles will help you reach higher walls without stretching your arms too high or standing on your tiptoes.
A sturdy step ladder will help you easily reach the top corners of you walls when brushing. Both of these items will keep you from overextending your body causing injury.
These are just a few tips that will make your painting experience much better than you could have expected! Follow these 10 steps and you should end up with walls that are painted to perfection!
Remember to take your time doing the tedious prep work—it pays off by making your painting project run more smoothly and results in a better paint job.
If this all seems a little more than you would like to tackle, call an expert like Gary, and his team of award winning painters and decorators will come in and expertly finish your painting project for you.