Summer is here! Which means that keen DIY enthusiasts may be thinking its time to spruce up their living room, bring new life to their kitchen or simply add some new colour to their bedroom. Painting your home inside and out can be a tricky task, but the team at Deco-Furbish Painters & Decorators have listed some helpful tips on how to paint the interior of your home on a budget.
The Tools
Brushes & Rollers – This first one probably goes without saying, but brushes are key. Not just any brush will do the job however, you’ll need to find the correct brush type for your chosen paint. Brushes that come with synthetic, man-made brushes are ideally supposed to be used on water-based paints whereas oil based paint works better with natural bristle brushes. You may need different size brushes for different parts of the paint job, for example a brush that tapers off into a more chiselled, pointed edge will create the best lines.
When it comes to rollers, there isn’t as much of a variety but again, different types of rollers are best suited to different types of jobs. If you’re attempting to paint a rough, textured wall you’ll need a plusher, thicker roller in order to adequately coat the surface whereas with smooth surfaces you’ll do fine with a flat roller.
Trays, Buckets & Protection – Following on from rollers it’s important to choose a paint tray that properly fits your roller. Now we’ve all been there, you’ve finished a tough day of painting and it comes time to empty the paint tray and scrub it clean – well here’s our top tip, lay some cling film over the tray itself BEFORE you pour the paint in which means you have little or no clean up to do once your done.
The cling film is also important if you want to make your paint last, if you need to take an overnight break from painting you can cover your paint with some clingfilm to create an airtight seal which will keep the paint fresh. You should also prepare some rags, cloths and sheets for the floor in case of any mishaps.
The Prep
Now that you have your tools at the ready you can begin preparing the room you’re starting to paint. Grab your sheets and place them on the ground before you go any further in order to protect your floor. You can purchase these but an old bedsheet or something similar will do just as well in a pinch.
Clean The Walls – If you want to give your paint the best chance of actually adhering to the surface and lasting, you’ll need your walls to be as clean as possible. Wash your walls down with some sugar soap and warm, soapy water in order to remove all that dirt, dust and grime that builds up over time. This step is especially important if you’re painting in a kitchen for example, where grease can accumulate or if you have smokers in the house, as smoke from cigarettes can create build up on the walls.
Fill in The Gaps – Once everything is cleaned you’ll need to go over the surface and fill in any scratches, divots or cracks that might have popped up. You can use some filler here and smooth it out using a paint scraper or even just a kitchen spatula, whatever works for you. Be sure to sand this area afterwards and sand any other bumps on the wall.
Tape it Up – Now its time to lay down your masking/painters tape, although we would always recommend the latter as it offers better protection and is nowhere near as messy. You’ll want to cover door frames, skirting boards, light switches and any other fixtures or fittings you want to protect from wayward brush strokes.
The Painting
It’s finally time to start painting – For the best results you’ll want to allocate yourself around 48 hours per room, yes this may sound like a lot but it’s always best to overestimate rather than trying to rush things. If you get done before this amount of time, great! But remember you’ll have to clean, move furniture, tape everything up, lay your sheets, take breaks, give second coats etc etc, it’s a lot to do.
Organise the Space – Strip the walls of any frames or posters that may be present and then move all the furniture either out of the room entirely or just into the centre of the space (If you are doing this be sure to cover all the furniture) Then gather your tools and equipment and make a small workstation for yourself. This will make the process a lot easier as you will be able to find what you need far quicker.
Test Your Paint – Before you start lathering on your paint, you’ll want to test it first to make sure you’re totally sure. You can either paint a small patch of the wall to get the feel or just paint a strip of paper and hold it against the wall. Move this around and see how the paint reacts within the space and how it looks in different lighting, this is hugely important as colours naturally shift depending on the amount of light in the room so you might come to the realisation this isn’t infact the colour for you.
First Coat – Open your paint and stir it thoroughly. You can use a stick for this and be sure to get right down to the bottom of the tin – The paint should be pretty even looking by the time you’ve stirred it then you can pour into your tray.
Paint along the edges of the room first, near the ceiling and right into the corner. Pay special attention to all of the angles where the walls meet. You can paint on a strip around three inches wide and feather it out so that the paint lines up nicely when you’re using your roller on the wider sections.
Now it’s time to fill in these middle sections. There’s a simple trick to follow here, when rolling the paint you shouldn’t go up and down, but instead apply the paint in overlapping W shapes, going diagonally – this will maximise the risk of roller marks on the walls and meaning you’ll end up with the best level of coverage possible.
Once the entire area is painted, give it another pass with the roller to really get that even finish, ideally the paint should still be wet when you do this. Now let everything to dry and give it a second coat when the time is right.
For all of your painting needs this summer be sure to get in touch with Deco-Furbish, trusted and professional interior and exterior painters. Based out of Clonakilty, the Deco-Furbish team offer up the finest painters in Cork, be it kitchen cabinet painters, or if you need work on your windows and doors, interior, exterior or just a colour consultation, they are there to help.
