How to Paint a Home

Painting is one of the fastest, least expensive ways to change the look of an entire room. It's also one of the best ways to express your personal style within your home. Get your painting job done right so you can live happily with the results for years to come.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Prepare to Paint

1. Know what's already on your walls and ceiling. Acrylic latex paint is the modern paint of choice because it applies easier than oil-based paint, but don't assume your home is painted entirely with latex. Make sure, otherwise your paint job could turn into an unsalvagable mess.

2. Decide on the color scheme for your decor. Once you have specific colors in mind, purchase a small amount of each color and paint a floor to ceiling section of each color's intended wall. Color swatches do not give enough surface area for you to adequately judge how the color will look on the wall. The only sure way to decide if a color is the right one for a wall is to put it on the wall. Conducting a color test with whole sections of wall is time consuming, but it will help you avoid costly mistakes and ensure you are happy with your choices. Try to leave the test walls over night and revisit your color choices in the morning. "Living" with the test colors for several hours will give you a good feel for how the colors will work long term in your home.

3. Calculate how much paint you'll need to do your entire job. It's safer to get your colored paint mixed all at once to avoid potential color variations. Generally, one gallon of paint will cover 400 square feet. Calculate the square footage to be painted in each color and purchase accordingly.

4. Clean the walls and ceilings you will paint. Walls and ceilings are both victims of lint distributed by air conditioning vents and from dirt that travels into your home from outside. Walls and ceilings in and near the kitchen collect a thin coating of grease. Remove all this debris so the paint adheres properly. If grease is present or stains are set into the paint, clean with a small amount of bleach in water.

Paint the Room

5. Use painters tape or masking tape to cover and mark off any baseboards, molding or any adjoining areas that are to be painted a different shade or paint.

6. Use a brush to paint a 2-inch strip around the area to be painted. Paint wall corners with the brush where paint rollers won't reach.

7. Fill in the body of the ceiling and walls using a paint roller. Move the roller in a zig-zag pattern, sometimes referred to as an overlapping "W" pattern. Paint in this pattern in one direction, and then come back painting the pattern with the opposite slant to the "W"s. Do this until the wall is completely painted. Use less pressure around the outer edges to make it easier to blend the patterns left by the roller and brushes.

8. Apply a second coat of paint once the first coat is dry. If using a dark color, paint a third coat to ensure even coverage.

9. Finish your paint job by painting the moldings. Mask off the walls once they are dry. Mask off and cover the floor around the moldings. Use a quality paint brush to carefully paint the trim work.

Tips & Warnings

• Empty all paint of the same color into one container and mix to be absolutely certain there are no color variations among individual gallons.
• Paint ceilings first, as these are usually a lighter color than any other color you put on your walls.
• An additive is now available for paint that acts as insulation. It reduces heat loss by as much as 20 percent. You mix the additive directly into your paint and then apply the paint to the wall. Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions in partnership with NASA, and the Insulad Company, are two such manufacturers of this new ceramic additive.