14 Painting Tips the Pros Use to Paint a Room

Paint is a big expense, but it's also an investment in your home in Brighton, CO. When you paint, you not only get to change the entire look and feel of the space, but you can also add value if you ever decide to sell. But painting isn't always easy! There are so many painting tips that professionals painting company in Brighton use when they're painting a room.

There are tons of mistakes that people make when they try to paint their own rooms. Luckily for most homeowners, just following these simple painting tips will help them avoid those mistakes:

Sand Away Flaws

Before you paint, use sandpaper to remove any bumped corners or crevices. This will help reduce the odds of a noticeable uneven line after painting if there are still bumps in the corner when you lay your coats on thickly.

The first time that you paint your living room, start at the base of the wall and sand up 2-4 feet high with 220-grit sandpaper. Make sure to overlap strokes so that every inch is covered.

Sand the top of the baseboard and the tops of walls at ceiling level. Press lightly, distributing your weight evenly to protect your wrists and ankles from muscle strain. Use different grits according to light or dark paints worn on surface.

The second time you paint your living room, start at the ceiling and sand down to about four feet high. Sand in straight lines from where one wall meets another like a painter would when painting baseboard or crown molding on an outside wall. Remember to overlap strokes and don't forget to do the tops of walls!

Buy the Best Supplies

There are so many painting supplies and tools that you can buy to make the process easier. But it's just as important to buy quality materials. Painting contractor in Brighton often recommend buying high-quality brushes that are made of natural bristles.

For some projects, you may want to rent the equipment rather than buy it. This is a good temporary solution for things like roller covers and floor paint rollers but not something that's going to be used every day.

Paint Brushes - Buy a high-quality brush like Wooster or Golden Taklon for natural oils, acrylics, alkyds, stains and varnishes.

Primer - Buy a quality primer for oil-based paints and stains.

Paint - Choose high-quality paint that will last and cover tightly without soaking in too much. It should be the same consistency as heavy cream, not thin like milk.

Rollers - Use rollers to lay down a uniform layer of paint on furniture or walls with a smooth surface.

Paint Tray - Buy a quality paint tray that has polyurethane lining to keep the paints and stains from soaking through while you work.

Wallpaper Peeler - Use a wallpaper peeler to remove old, thin or peeling paper on furniture before painting it. This will help reduce the number of layers needed to cover the furniture.

Remove Corners - Remove bumps in corners with a knife or sandpaper before painting if you still see any remnants of old paint on your walls after prepping them with primer and sanding away imperfections.

Cover Furniture

Protect furniture that you don't want to paint with heavy-duty plastic wrap. Never bother moving any furniture out of the room when painting- instead, cover up all the furnishings and then paint around them. This will protect your furniture from smudges or stains, along with any sanding dust.

Use Tinted Primer

If you have dark colors already in your room, it's always a good idea to use tinted primer before painting. This will help the paint glide on smoothly and avoid brush marks that can make for an uneven finish.

Painters often create a smoother surface for paint by filling holes and patching cracks with joint compound before painting. However, if the patched areas are painted over without any additional prep work, they will "flash" (get pulled away) from the wall and leave ugly unattractive marks in their place.

Press Tape With a Putty Knife

When painting windows, doors and trim boards in your new paint color, use a putty knife to press the tape down firmly onto corners. This will ensure that paint doesn't seep underneath it as you go along.

Painter’s tape leaves no sticky residue to clean up. It removes easily so paint doesn’t seep beneath it and stays on for more than a week, meaning you won't need to repaint sections that are still wet from a previous coat of paint.

Eliminate Brush and Lap Marks with Paint Extender

If you find brush or lap marks on the wall, use a paint extender to help eliminate them. The paint will fill in and hide these imperfections with ease without any additional work from you! Lap marks are created when your brush moves over the same area twice and leaves a thin, solid layer of paint.

Scrape a Ridge in Textured Ceilings

If you have textured ceilings, scrape a ridge in them with your paintbrush to help the roller cover more evenly. This technique helps fill in any dips or divots that might be on the ceiling and will also ensure that no streaks are left behind when painting. Professional painter in Brighton also scrape a ridge in textured surfaces when painting over wallpaper to help the paint cover more evenly.

Use Canvas Drop Cloths

Canvas drop cloths are a great way to protect your floors and carpets. They are more expensive, but they aren’t slippery and will absorb any spilled paint, which is necessary when painting ceilings (very messy!). You don’t need to buy jumbo-sized drop cloths for the entire room you're painting. A small one that fits a few feet wide or so should protect your floor sufficiently.

Finish One Wall Before Starting Another

It's easy to get distracted while painting and end up with a messy finish. Instead, focus on one wall at a time and then move onto the next. This will ensure that the paint looks even and there are no drips or streaks.

Scrape (Don’t Tape) Windows

When painting windows, you don't need to tape the edges before hand. Instead, scrape them with your putty knife so that there are no visible lines left behind. This will help paint go on smoothly and without creating any uneven lines on the window pane or frames like typical painter’s tape would create!

Wash Roller Covers After

Roller covers are disposable, but they can be a pain to wash and dry. To avoid this hassle, just give them a rinse after you finish painting each wall so that the excess paint is removed before your next coat goes on. Paint dries fast and will set on the roller cover, so be sure to give it a good rinse before putting it away for future use.

Take Off Those Electric Plates!

If you are painting electric plates, it's best to take them off and cover the outlets. This will prevent paint from dripping down onto your floor or carpeting as well as any damage that may occur if someone accidentally trips over an outlet with a cord attached.

Clean Dirty Walls With Degreaser

Before painting over dirt or grime on your walls, clean the surface with a degreaser. This will make it easier to get all the paint off and be sure that you have an even finish on all surfaces.

Push Paint to Avoid Runs

When painting a door, do not paint the entire back of it. Instead, push your brush against the wood and apply some pressure to get as much paint on the bottom side of the door without any drips or running down. It's best if you paint from top to bottom while working around each room to help make sure that the brush doesn't drip and create uneven lines.

Contact us for your painting tips on how to paint a room! Give us a call today at (303) 731-4146 or visit our website at https://colorado-painting.com/brighton/ for a FREE quote for your home painting needs. We’ll send one of our professional Brighton painters over and they will assess your house's needs and go through the interior and exteriors paint colors with you to find out what type of paint would work best for your home.