Painting a Room Without Tears

Enjoy your home improvement projects, there is certainly no need for tesrs

If You Want To paint your home and you have never tackled this sort of home improvement before.Read these few useful tips before you start. Many friends will give you advice as you proceed.

Pale colour schemes will enhance the space in smaller rooms. More intense colours can be used in larger rooms without making it feel smaller. Similarly, if the room does not get too much light, then, lighter colours in an eggshell paint will help to reflect light and brighten the place. Try not to use white, though, it tend to look cold and clinical - and it very quickly becomes grubby. Using eggshell finishes means that it can be easily freshened by wiping down. Very useful if you have young children.

Having chosen the colours you are going to use (No mean feat with all those colour paint charts to choose from), now you must decide whether to decorate the walls yourself or get a contractor to do it for you. Painting the walls is an easier route if you are doing it yourself. It is also a lot less expensive than wallpaper so if you find you hate the finished product it is less of a disaster.

The key to a good finish is preparation-preparation-preparation. Clear the space of as much furnisher as possible before you start. Cover the rest with at least two layers of cloth. Make sure you adequately protect any floors and carpets. All surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned in order to remove the accumulated grease and grime. Next fill any small holes or cracks in wall with filler, several layers may be required for larger holes. The filler will usually shrink as it dries. Give it 24hours to fully dry, then rub it down thoroughly with sandpaper  so it is very smooth. Next, use sandpaper rub down all the woodwork. Make sure the woodwork is smooth and dust free, where possible cutting right back to bare wood.

Now start at the top and work downwards. Start with the ceiling, and make sure it is fully dry before moving on. Next place masking tape at the very edge of the ceiling so that you get a very straight line when you paint the walls. Do not leave the masking tape on for to long, it will be difficult to get off without damaging your newly painted ceiling.

When painting large areas, it is quicker and gives a better finish if you use a roller rather then a brush. To get good coverage and depth in the finish, you may need to use several coats when using a roller, even so the roller will use les paint that a brush, it will dry faster, go on much faster and therefore, even though you are applying more than one coat it will still be faster.

Now for the woodwork. Again, the walls should be masked where they meet the woodwork. Then apply an undercoat using a small paintbrush. The undercoat will help the top coat to adhere better and will therefore last longer. It also gives a much smoother final finish if the undercoat is lightly sanded. It is normal to use gloss paint on woodwork. This washes easier and takes the considerable amount of touching that woodwork gets. Trying to paint too thick a coat can produce a poor finish. Multiple thinner coats are always better. Always make sure that the paint is dry before applying the next coat

If for any reason you have to stop painting for a while, wrap your paintbrushes tightly in clingfilm. .It prevents air getting to them and will stop them drying out. Even after you have thoroughly cleaned your brushes, it is still useful to wrap your brushes. There are always occasions when you need to make good you decorations after disasters, so always keep any left over paint

Always open windows slightly before painting the frames. Paint will securely glue the windows permanently shut!  This also applies to doors. When painting doors, the rule is that you paint those parts of the frame that can be seen when it is open. Or in the case of an inward opening door, when it is closed.  

One last thing. Take your time. Take enjoyment from the pleasure of watching the transformation of your room. Home improvement should be enjoyable.If you find you have hated every minute of it, then next time you want a rooom painted, save up to pay somebody else to do it for you. If you don't enjoy the process, then you will tend to rush and skimp the work and the end result will not be so good.