The best paint supplies and tools: From brushes to tape
To help DIY painters do things right, Hamberg put together a foolproof shopping list of the essential supplies. Here you’ll find a good starting point for the average interior paint job that doesn’t require too much damage control or problem solving for difficult surfaces. Many of these products will be found at independent paint specialty stores, as opposed to big box home improvement centers.
Wall preparation supplies
After thoroughly cleaning the surface you’ll be painting, it may need a little TLC. “If you have holes and cracks, you have to use the right patching material,” Hamberg says.
There are many different caulks, spackles, and compounds to treat the potential surface problems. Make sure that the one you choose is appropriate, paintable, and also fairly fresh
“Don’t use stuff that’s been sitting around for years,” Hamberg says, cautioning that expired products won’t perform well. He’s had good experiences using the 3M Patch plus primer, as well as Tower products, such as the Tech2 sealant
Tape
When Hamberg first started his painting business, he remembers there being only three or four types of tape on the market. “Now it’s just tape overload,” he says. “Tape for every type of surface, every type of paint, and every type of application.”
Options for Temporary Wall Coverings
There are still options to decorate your walls even if your property manager won’t let you paint
Use items on the walls to bring a room together, enhancing the color palette and making bold statements
Many wall decorating options stick on and easily peel off
You’re reviewing your lease as you begin thinking about decorating your apartment. You’ve already made a wish list of what you want to buy and picked up a few paint chips from your local hardware store.
Doing your due diligence, you’re checking the language in your rental agreement for any restrictions that might impact your plans for how to decorate a wall, and realize you can’t paint. A little panic sets in as you keep reading. Then, relief.
You can’t paint but you can use nails to hang items, as long as you fill them in before moving out. There’s still hope for how you envisioned your apartment looking. Now, to find the best way to make your apartment decor pop without paint.
Bringing a room together
The furniture and accessories you put into a room only half complete it. The decorative elements you add finish the job, bringing the room together. Whether purchasing throw pillows, rugs, small display items or deciding what to put up on your walls, consider the overall aesthetic of the room
Things You Need to Know About Interior Painting
Preparing the work
Just as with other projects, house interior painting also requires preparation. This entails moving table, furniture and blinds to areas that you won’t be painting. If there is something that you can’t move, make sure that you cover it completely with a plastic sheet.
Prepare the surface you want to paint
Besides moving out furniture and other objects, you should also prepare the interior surface you want to paint. Seal up the window frames, door jambs and baseboard using sealant. Ensure the surface is free of oil or dirt.
Clean walls with water and soap
Paint cannot adhere properly to dirty, sticky walls regardless of how high quality or thick the paint is. Let the wall to dry completely before you paint.
Use eco-friendly paint
Paint with VOCs (Volatile Organic Chemicals) is suitable for residential places. It is safe and has low levels of toxins. You can also get zero-VOC paints.
Useful tip
Amateurs hardly know how to get clean lines. Well, you should tape all the edges and baseboards to do so. At Newline Painting, we use a handful of painting tricks that only the pros use such as “cutting in” technique to achieve a perfect finish.
Ideas to Use Paint to Restore Worn-Out Things in Your Home
Paint Door, Drawer, and Cabinet Hardware
Spray paint can turn builder-grade brass locks and hinges into fashion-forward hardware with an oil-rubbed bronze, pewter, or stainless look
Insert the door lock’s spindle into a square of Styrofoam, which will hold it upright while you spray around the knob.
Before you paint, insert a tiny strip of painter’s tape into the keyhole to make sure paint doesn’t gunk it up.
Prime with a metallic primer, then paint with metallic spray paint
When you paint your red brick fireplace, you transform the entire room. But beware! Once you paint brick, it’s nearly impossible to return it to the original brick color. (And you should probably never paint your home’s brick siding)
You can paint brick a single color, or achieve some variation — like the variations in real brick — by sponging on slightly lighter and darker hues.
Paint with a semigloss latex.
Brick is porous and drinks paint, so buy twice what you think you’ll need.
Wear safety glasses and gloves when cleaning anything with a metal brush
Ceramic Tile
Imagine how sweet it is to update ceramic tile without having to bust up and cart away tons of old tile.
Things Nobody Tells You About Painting a Room White
Painting a room white can make it feel open, clean, spacious, quiet, or simple, and it’s always the go-to when it comes time for us to paint our interiors. But there’s more to white paint than you think. For example: tiny variations between white paints can give a vastly different effect on your space. Here are 10 things to know before you paint a room white.
Only a few white paints are actually pure white
Many people mistakenly believe that all white paints are pretty much the same—and that are all devoid of color. Not the case: “White paints can come with bluish, reddish, yellowish, and even greenish undertones,” says architect Amy Alper in Remodeling 101: How to Choose the Perfect White Paint. To see the differences, follow the suggestion of interior designer Ellen Hamilton and hold the samples against a sheet of white paper. Suddenly you’ll notice the many differences and complexities in what, at first glance, seems like plain white.
The same white paint will look different
Ever notice that your eye color changes slightly depending on what you have on? The same rule applies to white paints. A white paint on a wall will look very different depending on where in the world you live, on what sort of light your room gets (north-facing looks entirely different than west-facing), even on what else is in the room: dark wood molding vs. white molding, or a red couch vs. a blue couch.
A fresh coat of white paint is the cheapest way to make over a room
Can’t take on a full renovation? “Paint is well-known as the cheapest and quickest way to make over a room,”
It takes 570 gallons of white paint to paint the exterior of the White House
The most iconic house in the U.S. is, you guessed it, white, and it takes quite a bit of paint to keep it looking fresh year after year.