How to Paint the Interior of a House

The first thing you need to do is to develop a vision as it will help you regulate the whole process smoothly. Take a tour of your house or just the rooms you want to paint and write down your thoughts on color while considering the sunlight coming from the windows. Colors can be quite tricky. Light shades play well with any room size and structure while dark colors require a spacious place with a lot of windows allowing sunlight to enter. Those who are planning to sell their house sometime sooner should go with neutral as they feel welcomed to the buyers. Some people don’t have the guts to take the risk. They should use some photo editing application and edit the picture of the room in it with your favorite color to know how it would look after the paint is done. But as long as you are redoing the paint just for your satisfaction or pleasure, go crazy! You like bold, go with it. If you’re confused between two different shades, apply them both on a single wall and see if they make a friendly contract. You can also paint two partitions with one shade and the other two with a different shade of the same color. Also, consider the gloss level of the paint. Glossy paints are more comfortable to clean and ideal for rooms with higher humidity such as bathroom and kitchen. While flat colors are perfect for massive walls and ceiling and help cover wall blemishes.

Painting the interior walls is nothing like painting furniture or outdoor fence. You have to be very careful and do everything according to proper measurements. Start with estimating the area you need to cover. Measure height and width of each wall with measuring tape. Metric system is the primary way of taking measurements everywhere in the world, but in the United States of America, the unit of square feet is used to give the coverage estimation. The simplest way to find the area of a wall is to multiply its height by the width. Make a detailed list containing all the measurements of all walls you need to cover. While taking measurements of walls with windows, don’t forget to cut the window area from the overall area estimation. Once all the evaluation are made correctly, you can use them to determine the number of gallons required for each wall. Round up all figures as you don’t want to run short on material while painting. If there are some walls with angled ceilings, the estimation won’t be correct unless you follow a proper measuring method. You can consult an expert in this matter as calculations for an angled ceiling can get too tricky. One thing you need to understand about painting interior walls is that you cannot follow mere guesses but appropriately measured estimations. It would help you arrange sufficient amount of materials to carry out the project properly without giving any middle pauses.

The task of painting interior includes a lot of work that cannot be managed by one person. If you don’t want to hire a professional crew and interested in attempting the task yourself, consider a few helping hands at least. There will be a lot of work including furniture moving, materials gathering, wall measuring and floor covering. You need a team of 5-6 people to paint the one-story house. Get as many people as you can on the first day of the job as this is the time when most of the work will be done. Create a team that must include measurement expert, cutter, trimmer, coordinator, and caulker. All these people will help you complete the whole project smoothly in a professional way.

You and your team must take safety precautions to avoid getting paint in your eyes, hair or mouth. Wear painting gears such as eye masks, hair caps, and rubber dress. Don’t inhale paint as it disturbs reparation and causes breathing issues. Make sure you all wear face masks and caps while painting the ceiling especially.

Prepping is very much necessary. Wash the windows and walls and remove the peeling paint and wallpaper. Don’t forget to sand the surface with sanding paper to let paint adhere to it quickly.

The primer coat is necessary before paint application to enhance the final look. Usually, a white primer coat is used as it seems quite ideal for dark paints and covers unpainted surfaces impressively. Not all surfaces require a prime jacket so you may skip this step according to the surface and paint color requirement. The previously unpainted surfaces absorb the first application quickly. Therefore, it highly recommends applying the prime coat first so your paint coatings won’t look dull. Moreover, if you’re using a light color, a top layer will allow the paint to reflect its actual color. But one thing to keep in mind is that never apply a darker prime coat for lighter shades as it will prevent the paint color to appear in exact shades. Same goes for the darker shades. Use a light tone to prime the surface so when you apply the dark shadow, it will appear in its actual color. Some don’t find top coats as necessary as paint coats and argue on its use. Well, the prime coat is essential in many ways. It doesn’t only allow the top layer to appear rich in shade but also covers the roughness of the surface and provides a smooth area for application. Prime coat enables the paint to adhere firmly and give a fine even look. If there is any damaged area, you can seal it with the top layer, so when you apply paint, the damaged part won’t be noticeable. Primer improves the adhesion and prevents the color from peeling off or breaking any time sooner. Nowadays, many paints come with inbuilt introduction but it is still highly recommended to opt for a separate prime application. It preps up the surface in a better way and provides smoother texture. When priming the area, cover the surface that you don’t want to paint like window sills and door trims.

If you want to use a sprayer for an interior painting project, make sure you use a right model. There are different types of paint sprayers such as HVLP sprayers, airless sprayers, and air compressed sprayers. The airless spray models are most versatile tools offering professional-level finish. While HVLP sprayers are usually the handheld machine that sounds pretty comfortable for beginner do-it-yourselfers. Consider how big or small your home interior project is before buying a sprayer. You also need to check the fluid viscosity limitations of tools.

It’s very much necessary to isolate the area you want to paint with a sprayer. Make essential preparations like to spread the drop clothes on the floor, use a plastic sheet to cover things and painter’s tape to include the door and window trims. As sprayer spreads paint droplets in the air that can go anywhere, cover everything you don’t want to paint. Whether you are working outdoors or indoors, covering things is essential when using a paint sprayer.

Here are some of the best paint sprayers we recommend you to check out.

If you have no experience of using a paint sprayer then practice first to avoid flaws. There are a few things you need to keep in mind while holding the sprayer and applying paint. Hold the tool in a way that color comes out horizontally and keep a distance of 6 to 12 inches from the surface for a consistent application. Maintain stiffness in your wrist and move steadily without making abrupt movements. When you are painting the ceiling or any other horizontal surfaces, prefer using tip extension for better paint application. Make sure you start moving from left to right steadily as soon as the trigger is pressed. Don’t make pauses and keep your hand in motion until the trigger is released. After the first coat, start the next application and this time increase the distance by 1 to 2 inch to get a fragile and robust layer over the base coat.

If your paint spray is not providing satisfactory application, try adjusting the viscosity level and fan pattern to improve the results. You can also change the tip orifice and pump pressure to enjoy the desired form.