The color of your living space contributes significantly to your mental well-being. Therefore, your painting job must be excellent and suit your needs.
Whether you are looking to apply fresh paint, renew your apartment’s colors, or even add more textures, you will find these professional tips from Painters Brisbane useful.
Measure
Measure the walls and ceilings area to help you find out how much paint you will need. To get a fair idea, a gallon of paint will cover about 400 square feet. Just so that you do not run out of paint, multiply the length of the longest wall in your apartment by its height, and then multiply that result by four. For your ceiling, square the greatest length.
Remember, if you wish to cover a darker color with a lighter one, you would need to apply two paint layers.
Sample the Colors
Once you have decided on the colors you would like to use, go ahead and get samples. You should test the colors’ different shades to find which one will blend in with the existing paint or even your furniture.
When sampling the colors, do not rely on the tiny chips you find in product catalogs. You should use a slab of foam core of at least three-square feet to sample your paint. This foam core’s white surface will help you get a better idea of how the colors that you have chosen look like
Get the Right Tools
The success of your painting job will depend largely on the tools you use. Besides getting sufficient paint and the right brushes, make sure you have the following tools at hand.
- Painters’ Tape
- Drop Clothes
- Paint Tray
- Putty Knife
Do not give in to the temptation of buying the cheapest materials you can find.
When selecting painting brushes, go for those with synthetic bristles and unfinished hardwood handles. You do not need bigger rollers to get the job done. 14-inch rollers are perfect.
Also, use a ladder to get to those top edges. Trust us, standing on your toes, and craning your neck for extended periods will make you feel terrible.
Prepare your Space
Paints are lovely; until they get on surfaces, they shouldn’t be. To avoid dealing with splatters, you should make sure that you get whatever should not be painted out of the way.
Clear out your apartment. If you do not have enough space, you should push all your furniture to the center and then cover them with drop cloths or plastic sheeting. Do the same for the floor.
Clean Up
Watching your beautiful paint peeling off the walls and ceilings of your apartment is heartbreaking. It would be best if you avoided this by cleaning the walls first. You could use mild washing liquids to get the job done. Degreasers can be toxic so it’s a good idea to wear gloves before using them.
Fill
Good colors will look poor on bad surfaces. Fill those cracks and dents on your walls and ceilings with a quality filler.
Mix the Paint
If you are using more than one gallon of the same paint, then you should mix them all before you begin. This step is important because although the colors are uniform, there could be slight texture variations. Put all the paint into a large vessel and stir with a wooden paint stick.
Make sure you stir the mixture often throughout the job.
Use the Right Techniques
With a brush and some paint, anyone can cover any surface. But there are techniques you should remember if you seek to do a good job.
- Tape the edges of the room’s corners firmly.
- Seal the tape with a putty knife.
- Apply lighter colors before darker ones.
- Apply a primer first if you are covering dark colors with a lighter one.
- Paint one wall at a time.
- Paint along the edges of the walls and ceilings with a brush before covering the broader areas.
- Use the roller with long strokes in a zig-zag pattern.
- Begin with the trim closest to the ceiling before doing that of the doors and windows. Save the baseboards for last.
Keep your Space Ventilated
Keep all the windows open, and throw in some artificial ventilation if you can. Besides taking the paint more time to dry, applying paint in poorly ventilated spaces also puts you at so many health risks.
Clean Up
Perform a thorough sweep once you are done. Clean up those splatters on the spots they shouldn’t be and wash your brushes properly. A wire brush will damage the delicate bristles of your paintbrushes, so you should use a nylon scrubbing pad instead.
Conclusion
It’s possible to do a proper job of painting your apartment by yourself. Use the steps we have listed above, and you are all set.