Painting interior walls is one of the most impactful ways to upgrade your home. Some people dislike interior painting, but it’s more rewarding when you learn to paint like a pro and follow the right steps. Here are 5 interior painting tips.
Interior Painting Tips: Clean Up the Wall First
Start with cleaning up the walls you’ll be painting. Wipe them down to remove dust, grease, and anything else stuck to them. Then, fix imperfections for a smooth finish. Turn all the lights on and inspect the wall for areas of peeling paint, nail holes, and dents. Mark each imperfection with a little piece of tape. Then fill small holes with a drywall compound and use a joint compound for larger holes. Sand over peeled paint and any areas that have been filled.
Tape Baseboards and Trim
Preparing the room for painting is half the work. Buy masking tape specifically for painting so it won’t damage the surface when peeled off. Carefully tape around trim, baseboards, ceilings, and other areas you don’t want to paint. Instead of taping over the outlet and light switch covers, remove them altogether. Put drop cloths over the floors and move furniture to the center of the room.
Interior Painting Tips for a Large Space
If you are painting a room that requires more than one gallon of paint, combine several gallons into a bucket and mix it. This process is called “boxing” the paint. Gallons of paint can vary slightly in tint, so you’ll get a consistent color when you combine them all together first. Some paint stores will box the paint for you if you request it.
Maintain a Wet Edge
Keeping a wet edge when painting means overlapping each previous stroke so the edge doesn’t dry. Paint hardens quickly, and when the edge starts to dry before being painted over, it can create some unwanted texture on the wall. Don’t let the roller dry out either; always keep it at least half loaded with paint.
Following these tips will help your paint job look neat, even, and tidy. You can learn to enjoy painting once you know how to do it well.
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