How to Paint a Room

I have spent my recent free time sporadically picking up Susan Waggoner's practical and delightfully helpful book, Simple Country Wisdom. Her logical take on the simplification of a home ranges from no-scrub tricks to make bathroom faucet gleam, to advice on keeping your home harmonious, all with the mindset of completing the task with as little fuss as possible. Susan strives to help her readers create a cheery, welcoming, warm home that caters to the needs of those who live within its walls. It is a book certainly worth purchasing.

Today I am sharing a section from her book on how to paint a room. This is a wonderful source to keep for future reference. It includes common sense tips to, hopefully, help the walls you plan to paint look a little less intimidating. I hope you find her tips as helpful as I have.

A refreshed room beings at the paint store. If it's been a while since you've painted, be sure to check out the latests gadgets. As I discovered last time I painted, edgers, extenders, pint-sized rollers, and a lot of other gear now make it possible to do perfect walls and ceilings in places that won't accommodate a ladder.

Once you're home with your paint, it's time to take everything off the walls and take everything that is moveable - including furniture - out of the room. It seems like a lot of work, but it will more than pay you back when it is time to paint.

Push all the remaining furniture to the center of the room and cover with the plastic sheets you bought at the paint store.

Cover the floor as much as possible with drop cloths. You may not be painting on the other side of the room yet but trust me, someone with paint on their shoe will be sure to walk where there isn't a cloth. I prefer to use old sheets as my drop cloths rather than the plastic drop cloths sold at the store, because the plastic slides around.

Examine the walls for cracks and divots that need spackling. If you're filling in a divot, remember that spackle shrinks as it dries, so you may need to do a second application. Be sure to let the spackle dry at least as long as the can says - longer, if possible, to make sure there is no further shrinkage or cracking.

Wash the walls with soapy water, even though you're about to paint over them. While you're at it, dust or wash the baseboards as well. Paint doesn't adhere well if the walls are dirty, and painter's tape doesn't cling to dirty woodwork. A quick version is to dust the walls lightly and thoroughly clean the baseboards.

Remove electrical outlet plates and register covers, and cover the switches and outlets with tape to guard against drips. Tape each set of screws to the plate to which they belong.

Protect the baseboards by running a strip of painter's tape along the upper edge. Press it down as you go and, instead of pressing it down to cover the baseboard, let it stick out horizontally - it will work like a tray to catch drips. Tape around the windows and door frames as well.

Work from the top down. Splatters happen, so this way you won't be splattering a wall you just painted. Start with the ceiling and crown molding. If you are painting the crown molding a different shade from the ceiling, you will need to avoid marring the freshly painted area. If you have a steady hand and a lot of confidence, use a small brush to carefully paint the edge of the molding that abuts the ceiling. Small spots and smears can be touched up later. If this idea makes you weak at the knees, there are a couple of alternatives. One is to hold a straight-edged metal trowel against the ceiling as you paint. You can also use painter's tape, but that means waiting for the ceiling to be thoroughly dry. I've learned that "dry" and "thoroughly dry" are two different things. The ceiling may feel dry to the touch, but using tape too soon may cause damage if it isn't completely set. How long this takes depends on the humidity in your home, and how thick or thin the coat of paint was.

Now you're ready for the walls. Again, start at the top. Use a brush or an edging pad to paint a clean straight edge where the wall joins the ceiling or molding. Use a brush to paint the upper few inches of the wall, the corner seams, and about six inches around the windows and doors.

After you have taken care of the areas that must be done by hand, switch to your roller. Thanks to all your prep work, you'll be amazed to see how little time it takes to cover the wall.

Step back every so often to see if there are places you missed. Remember that paint changes color as it dries, so the piece of wall you just did won't look like the patch you started with. I've found it easier to let the whole area dry, then apply a second coat if needed.

If you've finished your paint job in one day, throw the rollers away. If you plan to paint tomorrow or the next day, wash your rollers and brushes in warm water (assuming you're using latex paint), squeeze them out, and let them dry.

My personal advice when it comes to rollers is to buy a roller cover for every day you plan to paint. It takes gallons of water to get the paint out of the roller, and mine seldom dry completely before I am ready to paint the next day. This is a problem because a roller that feels just a little damp has a considerable amount of moisture in it, and the moisture dilutes your paint and makes for a bad paint job. So starting with a new roller cover every session is much easier, saves a lot of water, and results in a far better paint job.

When the room is thoroughly dry, replace the switch plates and register covers and enjoy putting your new room back together.

I used to save all of my leftover paint, just in case. Eventually, I realized two things. First, if I ever needed to do more than a touch-up, I'd have to buy new paint and redo the whole room anyway, because the old paint would have faded and the large touch-ups wouldn't match. I also realized that paint left in a can with a lid that no longer seals dries out. Now I pour enough for minor touch-ups in a small mayonnaise jar and dispose of the rest.

Use a drop of paint on a cotton swab to touch up a scratch or other type of blemishes on a painted wall. You won't waste a bunch of paint and you won't have to waste time cleaning a paint brush.

Keep a damp cloth with you when you're painting. Wipe up any splatters right away, and wipe your hands often to avoid accidentally leaving a trail of fingerprints where you don't want them.