Giving a room or two of your home a fresh coat of paint is a project that can improve your property’s aesthetic appeal, spruce things up before putting your house on the market or give you and your family a much-needed change of scenery. While many people assume painting a room only requires a few simple tools, a steady hand and a free afternoon, the project can be more complicated than you might think.

Compared to plumbing, electrical or HVAC work, painting may seem like an approachable, self-explanatory task. Still, duplicating a professional paint job as a do-it-yourselfer takes patience, planning and high-quality equipment. If you hope to paint a room like the pros, you’ll need to do extensive prepping and priming work to ensure your paint job looks flawless without damaging your furniture, walls or décor.

1. Prepare

It takes a few steps to get your walls ready to paint. First, move all the furniture, shelves, wall decorations, hooks, switchplates, outlet covers and picture hangers out of the room. Remember, anything you leave behind can become an obstacle. To ensure you don’t lose track of any small hardware, put everything in separate sandwich bags labeled with masking tape.

For safety purposes, shut off electricity in the room you’re painting. Tape over the outlets and switch openings in the walls to avoid painting over them by accident. Cover the floors with a heavy-duty canvas dropcloth to prevent damage from paint spills and splatters. Put painter’s tape along the edges of baseboards, door and window trim.

2. Patch

Since any flaws on your walls will still be noticeable after you apply a fresh coat of paint, you’ll want to repair scratches, small holes and cracks before you start painting. Use fine-grit sandpaper to smooth these minor imperfections, and scrape off any old, peeling paint. Spackle and sand larger blemishes.

3. Prime

Priming walls covers tough stains and adds a subtle texture that helps the paint adhere better. Oil-based primers are ideal for most interior walls. If your walls are clean and stain-free, you can save time by using self-priming paint.

4. Paint

After preparing, patching and priming, you are now ready to paint the room using these steps.

  • Working top to bottom, roll back and forth across the wall in a series of V- or W-shaped strokes. 
  • Before reloading your roller and moving to the next wall, roll over the area you’ve just painted in a continuous stroke from top to bottom. These smoothing strokes even the coat and cover lines and tracks.
  • Frequently stir your paint using a stick or paint mixing tool. Stir thoroughly anytime you return to the paint after letting it sit for an extended period.
  • Wait at least two hours for the first coat to dry before applying a second coat, following the same steps. Blend each section as you go, lightly lifting the roller off the wall to avoid leaving marks. 

Maximize Your Results and Satisfaction With Nashville Painting Professionals

While interior painting may seem like a project you can tackle yourself, that doesn’t mean it’s in your best interest to do so. Depending on the scope of the job, it can take hours or days of your precious time, and if you’re inexperienced, it will probably take even longer – with no guarantee you’ll be happy with your results.

Get more out of your paint job by hiring Nashville Painting Professionals. Our team will treat your home as if it was ours, using high-quality, nontoxic paint and materials for a faultless finished product. You can count on our experience, professionalism, craftsmanship and efficiency. Contact us today to request a quote.