Last Updated on 08/21/2022 by hortonteam
New paint is one of the best additions you can make when it comes to your home in Evansville. Whether you’re thinking about selling or just need a change of scenery, explore some of our tips for painting your home before you dip your brush!
Map Out a Plan for Painting Your Home
Once you’ve decided to paint your home, the first step is to figure out which rooms you’d like to paint. You may have trouble deciding when standing in each room and looking at the walls; it’s here that some people get caught up with emotions or memories in the home, and they might start to get cold feet about the new look. It may help if you create a map or drawing of your home and look at it from the top down. The blueprint approach will help take out any associated feelings with the rooms and home. From here, decide whether you’d like to paint just a room or two or the entire home. Depending on your intentions, this answer may change accordingly. If you’re hoping to sell your home, you may be better off painting the entire home. On the other hand, if you’re planning on staying in your home, it might make more sense to just paint a single room, like in the case of a bathroom or kitchen remodel. The choice is ultimately up to you, but thinking about your long-term plan is a great way to get started painting your home.
The blueprint approach will help take out any associated feelings with the rooms and home. From here, decide whether you'd like to paint just a room or two or the entire home. Click To TweetChoose Your Color(s)
Now it’s time for the fun part! …right? When painting your home, choosing colors can sometimes become a much bigger headache than you would think. During the planning stages, it’s easy to say you’ll be painting a room “green” or “white,” but the process is much more complicated once you begin looking at different shades. It’s not uncommon to find ten, twenty, or sometimes even thirty shades of “white” that all have different names. At a glance, you may not notice any major differences between shades, but upon closer inspection, you’ll see that each one is either darker or lighter than another when held next to each other. Most people have difficulty imagining what an entire room will look like when looking at colors. The best method to overcome this is to bring home a collection of color swatches and hold them up to your walls. As far as choosing the primary color, you’ll have to remember our comments from above: it ultimately depends on what you intend to do with the home. If you’re planning on staying in the home for some time, you obviously have freer reign over choosing colors that please you. There are plenty of suggestions as to which colors go with which rooms, but keeping the home yourself will allow you to experiment a bit more. If your furniture and decorations are drab, you may elect to choose a loud, powerful color on one wall to help accentuate the room. When it comes to selling your home, it’s a totally different story. Since you don’t know what kinds of furnishings a buyer will have, painting your home with a drastic color may turn off potential buyers. It’s much safer to go with neutral colors, especially those which are currently popular in the world of home painting.
Choose Your Paint Finish or Texture
Choosing a color isn’t the only option to consider when painting your home. With the advancement of paint technology, there are now several types of finishes you can find that will ultimately alter the look of your home. Although there are specialty finishes for specific preferences, four of the most common types of finishes include flat/matte, satin/eggshell, semi-gloss, and gloss. Which style you should go with really depends on your home and what it looks like. You may also find that different rooms or parts of the home will look better with different kinds of finishes. If you’re going for a modern look, a dark, matte finish in the bathroom can do wonders for your home’s attractiveness. However, rooms that experience a substantial amount of traffic or activity may be better off with satin or a semi-gloss. If you’re having trouble selecting a finish, you should be able to find same-color paint swatches that show off the different types of finishes your chosen color comes in. If you try that and still aren’t sure which finish proceeding with, try heading to one of our local paint stores and asking a professional for advice.
BONUS TIP: Primer is important, but keep in mind that adding it will increase the time required to finish the room or home. If you don’t mind spending the extra money, invest in a higher-quality paint that acts as a 2-in-1 primer and paint mixture. You’ll pay a little more, but it may be worth it to you with the time saved.
Prepare the Room(s) for Painting
You’ve selected your paint color and finish, as well as the rooms you’re going to paint. Now it’s time to prepare your canvas! Start by clearing the area; take down any wall decorations and move any furniture or other objects that are in close proximity to the wall or room. Once you’ve cleared the way, lay down a tarp or newspapers along the wall to prevent any paint from splashing onto your floor. It’s possible to remove paint from your floor, but it’s best to avoid that possibility from the start if you can. Before you start painting your home, it’s a great idea to outline the walls you’ll be painting with painter’s tape. This tape is similar to standard masking tape, except you may notice that the adhesive on the painter’s tape isn’t as strong as its counterpart’s, making the removal process easier and safer for your trim finish or ceiling paint. Start by carefully aligning your painter’s tape all along the edges of where you’ll be painting and the areas where you don’t want any paint to touch. This process can be a little tedious, but you’ll thank yourself later. Once you have finished your paint job, simply pull up one end of the tape and slowly remove it from the surface.
The Final Step: Painting Your Home
Now that you’ve mapped out your plan, chosen your paint color and finish, and prepared your rooms with painter’s tape, it’s finally time to begin painting your home, right? Before the brush hits the surface, there’s one last decision you need to make: who should paint the home? You will undoubtedly save some money if you choose to do the painting yourself. With so many free painting guides online, you can easily learn how to paint a wall or home on your own without it looking too amateurish. The downside is that the entire project will be up to you, meaning it could take an extended period of time. There’s also the chance that you may have some kind of paint mixing error or dangerous fall. If you choose to use a professional or a team of painters, your total cost will jump quite a bit. However, most people decide to have professionals paint their homes to ensure there aren’t any noticeable mistakes created by inexperience. If you decide to go this route, be sure to review your contract for important details such as the amount of work to be completed, the duration of the project, what types of paint is to be used, and so on. Once you have everything lined up and signed, your home will be ready for paint!
Painting your home is a big undertaking, but the benefits can last long after the project has ended. As long as you follow our guide and take your time, your home will come out looking much better than before!