Interior Painting

DIY Interior Painting

Interior painting is the easiest way to update or change the look and feel of a room. It is fairly inexpensive, not too difficult, and even can be fun if you follow the right steps. It is a job that even the most inexperienced of homeowners can accomplish. Following step-by-step instructions will help you create a professional-looking paint job and save you the time of having to go over your walls again and again.

Diy interior painting; before you begin

The time you put into preparing to paint will be the make or break factor in your interior painting project. The first step to prepping the walls is to do a thorough inspection, looking for cracks and chips, popped nails, or any water damage. Make any repairs that need to be made; you can find detailed instructions on many home improvement websites. After you've repaired any damaged areas, sand those spots and any other rough spots in the paint. If you have high gloss or semi-gloss paint already on your walls, you need to rough up the finish (can be done with sandpaper) to allow the paint to adhere better. The last step is to thoroughly clean the walls. Plain old soap and water work just fine, but if your walls are really dirty, a chemical called tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) is the best. Just be sure to ventilate any area while using.

Steps to a professional-looking interior painting project

After you have prepped your walls, including taping off any trim and removing light switch and outlet covers, you are ready to begin. A minor inconvenience of interior painting is that you have to cover everything with either a plastic tarp or a canvas drop cloth. Primer should be applied to bare wood or anytime you are painting over a darker color.

Start with the ceiling first. If you are using a roller, roll the paint diagonally, in an M-shape. Rolling paint on this way gives greater coverage than vertical or horizontal painting. If using a brush, start in the middle and work out.

On to the walls…continue using the M painting technique if using a roller. Brush painting should be done in small swatches, from top to bottom. Trim work should be done after the walls, if you are using a different color. If you are using the same color for the trim and walls, you can paint the trim at the same time.

Be sure to wait the manufacturer's recommended drying time before applying a second coat. Following these steps will help to insure that your diy interior painting project looks just as good as professional work.