A Primer on Interior Painting

By: Matt Millsap

Painting must be approached with meticulous care and extensive preparation. If a paint job is not properly prepared and executed, the simplest error will become obvious and permanent, catching your eye for years to come. The best way to avoid such mistakes is to plan thoroughly and take your time with a paint job. This brief informational guide illustrates some of the basics of an interior paint job, from the shopping list to the clean up.

Flip through some catalogs and home improvement websites to choose a paint color that's right for the room. Visit a hardware or paint store for some color samples and paint chips. Take the samples back home and compare them to your old color and your furniture. Choosing colors is a fun way to begin a project.

Once you've chosen a color, that means you are ready to begin shopping for your project. The trade is a highly developed industry, so you will discover that there is more equipment out there than a typical DIY buff ever needs to know about. To simplify things, use this basic shopping list to help you make your own.

Project shopping list
*Brushes and rollers
*Roller covers
*Paint trays and tray liners
*Drop cloths
*Clean up rags
*Painters tape
*Sandpaper
*Paint pail for brush work
*Paint removers
*Razors
*Paint can openers
*Ladders
*Furniture moving pads
*Paint

How much paint will you need?
Measure the square footage of the surfaces you will be. That means grab a tape measure and add the width plus the height of all the walls that will get a coat of paint. When buying the paint, read the labels or ask a professional how much square footage a particular gallon of a particular type of paint will cover.

What type of paint will you need?
The type of paint depends on the room. If you're working on an interior paint job, the paint will need to give good coverage coupled with stain resistance. The paint should also be able to withstand occasional scrubbing so you can keep it clean for a long time. The two basic families of paint are latex paint and oil based paint. Most modern day oil based paints are actually made with synthetic resins called alkyds, that are less toxic than traditional oil base. Latex paints have excellent gloss retention and give the longest lasting finish. Latex paints are also quick to dry and very durable. Oil or Alkyd based paints are known for good adhesion and stain resistance. Oil or Alkyd based paints are great for trim in high traffic areas like kitchens and bathrooms.

Flat, Satin, Semi-Gloss, or Gloss?
Both latex and oil paints come in a variety of finishes. Flat finish paint softens a room, smoothing the look of walls. Flat finish is not hard to clean with a damp sponge and is great for adult rooms like dining rooms, living rooms, and bedrooms. Satin finish has the benefits of a flat finish but because it has a slight gloss, it is even easier to clean. Satin finish is good for high traffic spots, like children's bedrooms, family rooms, and hallways. Semi-gloss paint is best for areas that will be cleaned often, like kitchens and bathrooms. Gloss paint has a rich finish and is very durable. It is an ideal finish for trim and doors.

Be prepared!
Preparation is probably the most important part of a painting project. Remove all wall art, area rugs and furniture from the room to be painted. Then clean the room. You don't want dust bunnies interfering with your fresh beautiful new paint. You must lay out drop cloths to cover the entire floor. You must scrape chipped and loose paint. You must clean the walls to be painted with a mildly abrasive cleaner like TSP to remove the dirt and prepare the surface to stick to a new coat of paint. Using painter's tape, tape all edges and glass that you want to protect. If you are using a different color or gloss for the trim than you are for the walls, make sure to tape off all the trim before you begin. Make sure the room is ventilated. Open windows and doors. Have all of your tools, including clothes in the room to be painted. Once you finish preparation and begin acutally painting the walls, you want to avoid having to leave the room for something you forgot about.

This brief DIY guide can not cover all of the details of the job. There are many types of brushes and rollers that were not discussed. Techniques include what order to paint in, from ceiling to floor, and how to use brushes and rollers to avoid spatter and runny application. This guide should serve as a starting point. As your project develops, seek out the help of painting and home improvement professionals for best results. Good luck!

Author Resource:-> http://www.buildingcompanynumber7.com

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Selecting the Right Shade for your Bathroom

Like any other part of your home, the bathroom also calls for paint work that suits its contours and design. As with most painting, there are a lot of issues that need to be considered before you start work. Factors to consider for bathrooms are the size and location of the bathroom within your house.

After understanding the dimensions and structure of your bathroom you will need give some thought to the colours you would like to use. The colour coordination of your bathroom could be such that it gives a sense of harmony, peace and comfort and in this case excessive use of bright colours would not be suitable. It is also a good idea not to make unbalanced colour choices. There are certainly a wide variety of colours of which you can use inside your bathroom and a number of them like Pink, white, and lighter shades of blue, yellow or purple are popular and nicely suited as bathroom colours due to their inviting nature.

Some general colour ideas for bathrooms are:

Bright shades like red and orange can be used to provide brightness and freshness to boost physical energy. Some prefer using these colours near the shower area. However you should note that excessive bright colours can make you feel overexcited and restless.

The use of calm shades like white and blue is especially popular with interior painting and the bathroom is an ideal place for these colours as it provide a clean and fresh appearance and dirty areas can be spotted easily with these colours. Again excessive use is not advised simply because it can make the area look drab.

The use of dark colours is to attract attention to a point of interest and the use of light shades gives the illusion of making a room look bigger. However dark colours have some durability issues and these problems are only heightened when used in a bathroom. Darker colours can fade over time and can become patchy; this is due to the fact that there is a high density of moisture within the bathroom which only aggravates the fading. Dark colours, because of their nature, absorb more heat than their lighter counterparts, therefore, absorbing more moisture and in turn ruining walls along with giving a damp smell. Dark colours are not straightforward to maintain and therefore their use should be limited to accents and points of interest.

Lastly, the colours that you select should be well coordinated, they should be properly prepared and applied to keep them looking fresh and new for a long time.