Tips for Getting Ready to Paint a Room
My friend Jennifer over at The Magic Brush (www.themagicbrushinc.blogspot.com) wrote a post recently about her bedroom painting project. Even though she is a professional decorative painter (and a great one at that) she admits to making some mistakes.
First she picked the color that she thought she wanted and bought a whole gallon of it instead of purchasing smaller sample size paints and testing them on the walls. Later on she decided to change the color all together. So this became a bigger project than she anticipated.
She wrote out a few great tips on her site and I asked her if I could have permission to share them with my readers as well and she agreed. They are fairly simple, but if you follow them, you will save yourself a LOT of work in the long run.
I did change the order of Jennifer's tips. Her actual tips are in quotes, but I pulled from her ideas and did some re-wording.
Painting Tips - Getting Ready to Paint a Room
1. "Pick your fabric first" (bedding, window treatments, etc) Go with a color that is in the fabric. Don't choose the main color, go with a color that is NOT the focal point, but would be complimentary to all the colors together.
2. Pick your colors and then purchase sample containers of the paint. Some stores may offer 2 oz. sample containers. Otherwise just purchase a quart. Do not assume that because you love the color on the paint chip / chart, that you will like it on your walls. There are many things to take into consideration such as natural & articifical light.
You can paint the sample colors right on the wall or I always tell my clients to take the sample color and paint the color onto a piece of foam board. You can then move the board around the room to see it in different lights and at different times of the day. This brings us to Jennifer's next tip...
2. "Live with the color on the test spots for a few days before pulling the trigger. In retrospect...I wish I still had chosen an even "dirtier" blue. I know most paint seems to look darker and brighter once it's in an entire space. Usually if I pick a color that is a little "duller" than I want... it ends up to be perfect."
3. "Clear out as much of the room as possible to give yourself plenty of room to work." I have to say that it sure can be frustrating working around a bunch of furniture. I have had to do this in some of my client's homes - work on one wall and then move the furniture and work on the next wall. It is a real pain in the neck. If you can avoid this by moving the furniture entirely out of the room, that is great. Otherwise try to move everything in to the center of the room. An ideal space to work in is 5-6 feet between the wall & furniture.
4. "Give yourself plenty of time to paint the space (48 hours is NOT enough time)." I have to stress to you not to rush. Get the job done right the first time. Clean up at the end of your work time as well. It is always nice to start fresh the next day with clean tools and a work area that is tidied up. Painting should never be sloppy.
So there ya have it. A few great tips for those of your DIY'ers who plan on painting a room in your home. If you start out doing it the RIGHT WAY, you will be so much happier with the outcome. You may even be PROUD. :)
Happy Painting everybody!
DAWN
