5 Interior Painting Tips and Techniques for a Professional Finish

Painting a room is a cheap home improvement with a big bang for your buck. It can instantly change the look of a room.

Did you know that color is also linked to our mood? Feeling down and depressed? Brighten things up with a butter yellow room or another fun color.

Are you a weekend DIY warrior? Painting a room can be done in just a few hours, as long as you use these interior painting tips. Read on before you crack open that paint can!

1. Prep, Prep, and More Prep

Prepping your surface and painting area is not the most exciting part of painting, and sometimes it feels like the prep work takes longer than actually painting, but you’ll be glad you took the time to prep when your painting goes smoothly and the finish looks professional.

The first thing to do is to clean your surface. If there is any dirt, hair, dust, or other debris on your walls, clean it before you paint. Use painter’s tape to tape off your trim, windows, and other areas where you need to cut in around.

If you aren’t re-hanging pictures or other items on the wall, patch and sand those holes. If they are large spaces, use primer to ensure that the area doesn’t look different than the other walls.

Remove outlet covers, switchplate covers, and anything else attached to the walls. Make sure you put them in a safe place along with the screws, or else you’ll be searching when its times to put them back.

Finally, cover the floor, furniture, or other items in the area that you are painting. Canvas drop cloths can be washed and reused and are a better option than plastic.

2. Don’t Cheap Out

It’s tempting to keep the cost of your painting project low by purchasing cheap brushes, rollers, and paints. If you can, spend a little more to get high-quality supplies. This is a situation where you really do get what you pay for.

The higher-end brushes and rollers will make a huge difference in how the paint job works. Higher-end paint also goes on smoother and you usually needs less of it, so even though you’re spending more, you don’t need to purchase as much as if you chose cheaper paint.

3. Start at the Top

When it’s time to start painting, start at the top of your wall and paint in a W-shape. Whether you cut in around trim and windows before you do the walls or after, you’ll want to go over that with a small roller after you cut in with a brush.

Brushes and rollers leave different textures, so if you don’t go over the areas that you painted with a brush, you’ll be able to see the difference in brush strokes vs. areas painted with a roller.

4. Maintain a Wet Edge

Keep a wet edge as you paint and work away from the wet edge when you refill your roller with paint. Glossier paint will show overlap marks, so be careful with these types of paints. Flat paints, eggshell, and satin paints won’t show the overlap as much.

5. Wrap Your Rollers and Brushes

If you can’t finish your painting project all in one day, you can save yourself some time by wrapping your brushes and rollers in plastic wrap or a plastic bag. This will keep your brushes and rollers wet. When you’re finished, be sure to clean everything properly so you can use it for your next painting session.

If this all sounds like more than you bargained for with a painting project, leave it to the pros. Companies like A Touch of Color LLC can handle everything for you.

Use These Interior Painting Tips for a Professional-Looking Paint Job

Now that you have these interior painting tips, it’s time to tackle your project. Follow these guidelines so you end up with a finished product that looks like a professional painter did it.

If you found these tips useful, be sure to explore some of our other DIY articles.