Painting the walls in your home can bring new life to a room. But firstly, it’s just as important to clean and prepare the walls to make it easier to apply the paint and give you a professional-looking finish.
Select Your Paint & Colour
Selecting a new colour for your walls can sometimes be difficult but with the availability of sample pots this can be a fun process of elimination. I love a trip to the local Bunnings to choose my colour cards and some sample pots.
With my current painting project I have chosen Dulux Wash & Wear Natural White in low sheen which is a favourite neutral colour of mine at the moment. I love this neutral white because it has a bit of warmth to it.
But before we start painting its time for the preparation work to make this so much easier.
Clean your walls
Cleaning the walls will help the paint adhere better with a clean and dust free surface and will also keep your paint brush and roller dust free.
You can dust the walls or wipe them down with a cloth or if they really need a good clean it’s recommended to clean your walls with some sugar soap which is available at any hardware store.
Fill In Gaps
After the walls have been cleaned and are dry, identify any gaps or rough surfaces on the wall that need filling. Use the filler according to the instructions. When the filler is dry, lightly sand till the wall is smooth and ready for painting.
If you have any gaps between the walls, corners or skirting and architraves you can apply a gap sealer with a caulking gun to fill the gaps. After you apply the gap sealer use a damp cloth to wipe over any excess filler to give it a smooth finish.
Protect Your Surfaces
This is really important, so you don’t have to run around after you’ve painted your walls and clean up the paint drops and spray from the roller. Choose drop sheets with a plastic backing or if you are buying the plastic drop sheets, tape them down.
Buying enough drop sheets to go around the room you are painting will make it so much easier and faster for you to get the painting done.
If you’re not confident with your cutting in, mask the skirting board to protect it from any unwanted paint where it shouldn’t be.
Where To Start Painting
Cutting in around the top and bottom edge of the wall is where I always start. Use a good brush for cutting in, this is for the places that you can’t get to with a roller. I have found this always needs two coats sometimes three.
Once the cutting in is complete you can start painting the walls with the roller. Before you use the paint roller, dampen it slightly with water and squeeze out so as the roller will not give a fluffy pattern when you first apply the paint to the walls.
You can buy rollers cheaply in packs of three. I used a new one each time I set up to paint the walls.
Tools & Materials
- Caulking gun
- Gloves
- Hand sander
- Ladder
- Paint scraper
- Coveralls
- Drop sheet (plastic backing)
- Gap fillers
- Sandpaper
- Sugar soap
- Water
- Paint
- Paint stick for stirring
- Paint holder
- Brushes for cutting in
- Rollers and attachment
Clean up after you’ve finished painting, clean your brushes and discard the rollers.
When the walls and trim are all dry you can start the fun part and move all of the furniture back into the room. Sit down and enjoy your beautiful new room.
