Remodelling with Paint: Tips For Painting Around Your Home

For the price of only a few cans of paint, you can transform the look and feel of your entire home. It can make tired floors, ceilings, furniture, and walls look like brand new, but painting is also the perfect opportunity to show your personality.

It can be a lot of work, though, especially if you don’t know all the little tips and tricks. Below I have shared with you a few tips and tricks to give you a kickstart.

Using a Paint Roller

Rollers and paint trays can start to get expensive if you use new ones each time. So, before you pour any paint, wrap the paint tray in a garbage bag. When you’re done with it, all you have to do is use the garbage bag as you normally would before discarding it. This way, you’ll be ready to use the paint tray again without the messy cleanup. You’ll also want to prep your rollers by running painter’s tape over them to remove any loose fuzz or particulates.

When you are ready to paint, dip the roller into the pool of paint at the bottom and run it up and down the textured portion of the pan fast enough that the roller spins. This technique will ensure the roller is evenly coated and get rid of any extra paint. How do you know if you have enough or too much paint on your roller? If you find that you need to push to get an even coat on the floor or wall, you’ll want to put more paint on the roller. If there’s too much paint, you’ll notice splatter and dripping.

You can avoid having to clean the roller between coats, too. When you’re done painting, simply place your roller into a double layer of old and used plastic bags and store it in the fridge. The plastic will keep the paint wet until you’re ready to put on the second coat. This also helps you reuse plastic rather than throw them away.

Painting Hardwood Floors

Painted wood floors can look amazing. Spatter painting can hide dirt and the imperfections. For a custom stained look, use stencils and monochromatic paint choices to create intricate patterns and designs. You can make a room multi-purpose by painting each area in a different shade of the same color. And if space is a problem, you can use stripes to make narrow hallways or rooms look more spacious.

Painting a floor can be a bit tricky the first time you do it. First, because floors must withstand a lot of wear and tear, make sure you choose good quality paint. Semi-gloss with a polyurethane top coat or marine enamel paint should do the trick. When you start painting, make sure you don’t paint yourself into a corner and plan for the extended drying time. It could take a good day or two before you can walk on them again and several days before you can move furniture back.

Painting Furniture

Furniture might look like a smaller project, but it can take just as much work and time as painting an entire room. Part of the reason for this is that most of the time, it must be sanded and primed. Even with an orbital sander, it can take a long time to get everything ready. And the dust will get everywhere, so try to sand and paint furniture outdoors if you can. Also, to make the prep work and painting easier, try to disassemble the furniture as much as you can before you start.

Primer is important especially if the furniture has been finished before. Priming will not only give you even coats, but it will also make the new paint stick to the wood. So, make sure it’s a good quality primer and that it goes on evenly. The same goes for paint. However, because furniture rarely requires a lot of paint, you can splurge on small sample cans of your favorite colors and types of paint.

You can do amazing things with a little paint and imagination. And the nice part is, if you don’t like the result or are ready for a change, you can just paint over it. And with these tricks and tips, you’ll find it easier than ever to get professional-looking results.