Montgomery County TX Home Stager's tip ~ Painting the room is not as hard as you think.
When you decide to sell your home or just thinking about a re-design project the cheapest way to change the room is to paint it. If you want to try your own skills, you can do it and it's not as hard as you think plus you will burn 200 calories per hour painting, 280/hour for cleaning and dusting, 500/hour moving furniture around the room. So all together for the average 10' x 12' room you will burn at least 1400 calories. Not bad?
Of course you will have questions:
What color of paint should you choose?
How much paint should you buy?
How long it will take?
First find your inspirational piece, it could be a work of art, the rug that you like, the new bedding or throw pillows that you just bought. If you are unable to make a decision, please contact your local Stager for the color consultation.
If you feel like you can do it yourself there something you should know.
Choose neutral colors for the walls and add splash of color with accent pillows and artwork.
What color is popular now? The new color trend is a gray tone which adds elegance to the room.
Usually paint looks little darker on the wall.
Every paint has an undertone that shows up more in the evening when you turn on electricity. So your, let's say, gray paint could look more purple or more blue depending on the lighting. So before you choose your color think about when you will be spending most of the time in that room and choose your colors accordingly. If you are selling your house, check how your color samples look in your room at the day time.
Go to your paint store and pick as many samples as you can think of and some extras. Than try them on your wall. Don't expect the staff to help you out to choose your color as you've seen on the commercials ;-)
Now lets go back to the process.
To paint an average room 10' x 12' with 9' ceilings you will need about 2 gal of paint.
How long it will take? Around 6-7 hours including prep work and cleaning.
I am sure you will hear different opinions on paint brand, but I have to tell you that I found very inexpensive paint at the Wal-Mart. It is Color Place - generic made by SW exclusively for Wal-Mart. I've used this paint for several years and you can't beat the price which is less than $10 per gallon and I am happy with the quality because from my experience you would have to do two coats anyway, so why spend lots of money and brands like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore? Even if you picked a color samples from those companies, Wall-Mart has all the combinations in their computer and will make exact the same color for you.
What else will you need besides the paint?
The tray ( I use plastic inserts because I don't like cleaning), the roll, the brush, the wet cloth to wipe out any drips or mess ups, drop cloth, and the ladder high enough to reach the ceiling. I like to use the brush for the edges instead of painters tape. The only exclusions are arches.
Don't skip on primer if you are painting over the darker colors or covering kids wall art. You will save time and many coats of paint.
Try to paint right away after you bought your paint. If you decide to put that project aside, make sure you go back to your paint department with your paint cans and ask the to shake them for you. You will have a perfect mixture again.
Make sure you choose the foam roll instead of faux fur one, unless you like to be covered in tiny polka dots ;-)
If you use the painters tape, make sure you press really hard on it to avoid bleeding through and remove it right after you paint.
When you pick the brush choose the one that has feathery ends that way you will have better line.
The Process:
1) Make sure you use all purpose cleaner to clean the shoe molding, than dust all corners and around perimeter of the ceiling from the web.
2) Remove all plates from electric, cable and phone plugs
3) Patch up all nail holes. You don't need spatula for that, just use your finger.
4) Everyone will tell you to paint all corners, electric plugs and around crown molding and ceiling line first. I hate routine work, so I paint edges first on one wall and than paint that wall. Than I go to the next wall. This way painting becomes not that boring and you can see the results sooner.
It doesn't matter how hard you try on the first coat, you will have to make the second one, so don't try to be perfect. Also don't be so harsh on yourself about edges and ceiling line. I am not saying that you should do the sloppier work, but go to the Model Homes and check our contactor's work, you will be proud of yourself immediately ;-)
If you decide to paint the next day, you don't have to wash your brush, roll, and tray. Just put it in the plastic grocery bag and tie it really good. You can use it all next day.
I personally thing that the plastic drop cloth is waste of time and money. You can successfully use an old sheet moving it around the room as you paint.
Happy painting!
If you have more tricks to share or have questions, please post your comment or e-mail me
anna@addvaluehomestaging.com
Comments(21)