Painting can be one of the easiest and most effective methods of giving your home a facelift and raising its value. Ensure professional results when you tackle any home painting project by following the tips presented.
1.Remove all furnishings in the room or push them into the centre of the room and cover them with a drop cloth. By doing this you are ensuring you have the necessary work space and you will not be damaging any of your furnishings with the paint you are using.
2.Place drop cloths on the floor, and ensure they are down. You do not want to drop paint on your carpet or hardwood and have to spend time cleaning it up.
3.Remove any switch plates, outlet covers, chandelier ceiling plates or drapery to prevent them from getting paint on it and ensuring you cover the entire wall when you begin painting.
4.Begin washing the walls with detergent and let it dry.
5.Fill any holes or cracks in the wall and wait for it to dry before you sand it. You must lightly sand walls, keeping in mind to thoroughly sand trim and semi gloss surfaces.
6.Tape off joints between your ceiling and wall; if you have crown moulding, you must do so as well. Ensure that you are not getting paint on surfaces you do not want painted. The tape you should be using is masking tape and when you remove it, do so when the paint is still wet to avoid any peeling off any paint.
7.Paint each wall one at a time, ensuring you are covering the entire surface properly without having paint clumped together. Apply at least two coats of paint or one coat of primer and one or two coats of paint.
8.In the event you do make a mistake and paint in a spot you are not meant to, have a washcloth nearby to quickly clean up. Once the paint is still wet, it is no problem to clean up the mistakes you make. Every second counts, and if you take too much time correcting the mistake it can cost you.
At the end of painting any wall, if you feel it does not give off the look you wanted, either paint it again with the same color or switch colors. The beauty of painting is that you can always repaint the surface over if you feel it is not up to your standards.
Samuel Pack is a Sales Representative with Royal LePage R.E.S. Johnston & Daniel Division. Sam’s website is located www.primetorontoproperties.com. Sam is a regular contributor to Toronto’s Muddy York Real Estate Blog.
