Painting Tips for the Do-It-Yourself-Her

One of my current projects involves renovating a master suite at my parents' home. They've taken up two closets to add a completely new master bathroom and will be converting the old master bath into a walk-in closet and laundry room. Since the closets were only standard closet depth (roughly a couple of feet) they didn't exactly provide adequate space for a bathroom, which meant that more space needed to be taken from the room on the other side of the wall--in this case, the dining room. So while Dad is handling the addition of the bathroom, my task has been preparing the dining room wall to well... be a wall again. As with most renovation projects, the more we do, the more we see that needs to be done. Looking at the dining room from a new perspective, Mom realized that perhaps the old curtains needed to go.... And so begins a complete renovation for the dining room as well. New curtains, new cushions for the dining room chairs, and definitely a fresh coat of paint.

All of this reminded me that there are some very simple, practical tips to painting at home which bear repeating.

#1: Invest in good quality supplies. The quality of your paint brush really does make a difference. The cheap, synthetic brushes have a tendency to lose bristles, lose their shape, and end up posing more problems than they're worth. For my money, I like a natural hair or high quality synthetic angled brush with a very short handle. I have one that actually nestles in the palm of my hand and drastically reduces hand fatigue. The quality of your roller covers makes a difference, too, although not to as great an extent as the brush. If you're painting a particularly bumpy surface (like brick) make sure your roller cover has a long nap. This will enable you to get paint into the crevices more easily than a typical roller cover designed for flat walls.

#2: Prime. For new or repaired walls, or for painting over stains, priming is a must. If your paint color is dark or otherwise significantly different from the current wall color, I highly recommend having your primer tinted a color similar to your paint color. (For example, if your walls are currently taupe and you're painting them red, have your primer tinted as dark a pink as possible.) Most paint suppliers will do this free of charge, and it saves you having to put 3 coats of paint on your wall.

#3: Technique. Painting the right way will actually save you lots of time that you would otherwise spend putting up and taking down masking tape. This is where that angled brush really comes in handy. Wet your brush with the paint about 1/2 inch, then wipe about half of it off onto your paint can or roller pan. Starting in the corner, carefully wiggle your brush into the corner of the wall where it meets the ceiling or  trim. Slowly and steadily drag the brush along the seam, reapplying paint to the brush as necessary. A little practice, and this technique will be faster and cleaner than putting up tape and simply painting over it.  Just keep in mind that you want to do your brush painting before the roller painting, so that you can use the roller over and onto the places where you've painted with the brush, giving you a smoother look on your walls.

A good technique for rolling is to saturate the roller, roll off the excess in the roller pan (so that it doesn't drip when you hold it up--otherwise the paint will run on the walls) and roll the paint onto the wall in a V or X-shaped pattern. This spreads the paint more evenly than a simple  up and down pattern.

#4: Have fun! A really dramatic color on the walls can completely change the tone of a room, but if your taste is more subtle, consider adding drama through the use of faux finishes, stencils, or stripes and other patterns. Some options to consider include tonal horizontal or vertical stripes (which can be achieved either with two different but related paint colors, or the same color in eggshell and glossy finishes), a stenciled border (or a larger all-over pattern if you like the look of wallpaper but not the hassle of changing it), or a marble faux finish. This last option is actually much easier than it sounds. Start by painting your wall the base color. Once that layer is dry, mix equal parts paint (a different color from the base coat) and clear glazing medium (available at your paint store.) With your roller brush, roll this mixture onto a 2-3ft section of the wall, from floor to ceiling. Now press some thin plastic (cheap painter's drop cloth works really well) onto the portion of the wall you've just painted. Smear it around with your fingers to make "veins" of paint and leave it up for about 10-15 minutes. While that's still up, go ahead and get started on the next section of wall. When you pull down the plastic, start at the bottom and just slowly pull it off in one controlled movement. Try not to let it stick back onto the wall, but you can wad it up as you remove it. (You do not want to reuse the plastic. It just doesn't work right.) We painted our bedroom this way and the result was breathtaking.