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Painting Tips and Techniques Part 2: Painting By Melissa J Wantuck  |
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 This is part 2 of our two part painting series. Here we’ll discuss buying paint and finally, painting your walls.
To begin:
Choose your paint color. As you look at paint chip samples, bring them home and tape them up on your walls so you can see how the color will look in the light of your room. Shades change under different light and you’ll notice a big difference between what you see in the store and how it looks in your house.
For walls, you’ll want to use either flat (matte) or semi-gloss. The benefit of flat is the walls won’t be shiny however semi-gloss is easier to clean and is better in a high-moisture room, bathrooms in particular. Use semi-gloss or glossy on trim. The purpose of trim is for it to stand out and shinier paint will help it serve that purpose. Glossy paint is also easier to wash and keep free of dirt and fingerprints.
Calculate amount of paint needed:
You’ll want to buy all of your paint at the same time, especially if you’re having a customized color mixed to avoid variations if paint is mixed at different times. To calculate how much paint you’ll need, measure your room. First, add the width of each wall together then multiply times the height of the room. This will give you the total square feet of your walls.
Next, measure the width and height of openings in your walls, the windows, doors, closets, etc., where you won’t be painting. Multiply the width times the height of each one, add the results together and subtract that square footage from the room total. You’ll be left with your paintable square footage. Remove any other portions of your walls that you won’t be painting by multiplying their width and height and subtracting from the overall square footage along with the windows and doors.
When you have your paintable square footage, look on the paint can to see how much square footage the paint will cover. Buy enough cans of paint to cover your total square footage twice for two coats. This means doubling your paintable square footage figure.
Prep your area:
Tape off edges and around trim using painter’s tape. Scrape and sand areas with old, chipped paint. If you don’t remove chipped paint, you’ll find your new paint chipping down the road. If you’re painting a wood surface that hasn’t been painted before, sand that as well so the paint will adhere to it. Otherwise you risk peeling paint down the road.
Move furniture and accessories out of the room. Cover the entire floor and any remaining furniture with drop cloths.
Begin Painting:
If your walls require a coat of primer, paint with this first. You’ll apply at least one coat or more depending on the primer’s instructions.
Painting Techniques:
When you begin painting, start by using the angled brush. Stir the paint after you’ve opened it, then pour a fair amount in the small paint tray. Paint a 2-inch swath along all edges including the floor, ceiling, around wall openings and other non-painted areas.
Once you’ve finished with the brush, pour paint into your large paint tray and using the roller, fill in the rest of the walls, being sure you blend in with the edges you painted by brush but don’t get the roller too close to the edges or you’ll risk leaving marks where you don’t want paint.
Clean Up:
Between coats, always clean your brushes according to their care instructions, and tightly close the paint cans. When you’ve finished your project, you can clean old sheets and blankets in your washer, but wash them separately.
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