PREPARING WALLS FOR PAINTING

Painting is one of the easiest, quickest and cheapest ways to spruce up your house.  Which is why I have a tower of paint cans stacked on my living room floor right now.  Since I am in the middle of things, I thought it good to pass on how I am preparing walls for painting.

Here are my tips for painting day success:

ONE: Remove everything from your walls.  Switch plates, window blinds, pictures, shelves etc., etc.  Take it all down.  It may take time, but you will have a nice, fully painted wall when you are done.  You can save switchplates and the screws in a ziploc bag so they stay in one place.  If you set them in the corner of the room, or on a dresser, they might get lost.

TWO: Check for any cracks or holes in the walls.  Don’t paint over these, and don’t fill them with toothpaste (I read that on a blog post once).  Spackle is great for holes, and caulking works for cracks, and both are very affordable.  Ask for advice on brands at your local hardware store.

THREE: Clear the room of clutter, or at least move the clutter as far away from the walls as you can.  It really helps to be able to move around freely while you paint.

FOUR: Wash the walls and baseboards.  It will not take a long time, but it will help you avoid creating painty-dust balls on your wall (no one wants those!).

FIVE: Use dropcloths to cover furniture and flooring.  Fabric cloths lay nicely and stay in place, and they also help remove it if you get some paint on your shoes.  Plastic is nice for keeping paint spills and splatters from soaking through.  It’s really a personal choice.

The best way to have painting day success is to do the work of preparing walls for painting.  It takes a bit of extra time, but it is more than worth it. I know this because I have avoided some of these tips in the past and not had the best results!

When I paint I generally prep on an evening and do all of my painting the next day. If I start early, I have plenty of time for two coats (or for the dreaded 3rd coat).

If you have any tips to add, please leave them in the comments!

Happy painting, friends!