What Is The Best Order To Paint A Room?

A quality paint job is one of the least expensive ways to transform for home and make any room look good. If you’re a beginner and wondering “what is the best order to paint a room”, here is the guide:

Prep Work

I understand how excited it is when talking about repairing your room.

You just want to jump in, roll up the sleeves, and start it right now BUT believe me, spending a couple of extra minutes on prepping will change a lot in the final painting results.

Remove Furniture And Cover Anything Needed

Start with covering your ceiling fan with plastic, moving other furniture to the center and have them carefully covered.

Ah, don’t forget to cover the doorknob and the floor as well. Between plastic and canvas drop cloths, I prefer to choose the second because it’s better in slip resistance.

With the circuit breakers, shut them off, disassemble the cover plates and tape them.

Remove Flaking Paint And Old Wallpaper

No need to scrape off the entire old paint, you just need to remove the loose stuff using a putty knife. For old wallpaper, use removal tools and a paper remover.

Dings Or Holes

Worry-free! Dings are very easy to fix.

Step 1: Use a brush to clean them thoroughly.

Step 2: Paste wood filler or spackle to trim it off and let dry

Step 3: San smoothly and prime

Vacuuming

Or using a broom to clean off all dust and webbings from the walls. A clean wall will help your painting chore a lot more successful.

To deal with stubborn stains or oil residue, use TSP for a more extensive cleaning, then wash it with water.

Priming

If you’re about to paint over drastic color changes, high-gloss finishes, repaired or stained spots, or bare drywall, priming is paramount.

Firstly, you should check if you can paint the wall with latex by rubbing its surface with alcohol. After a few seconds, if the old painting doesn’t peel off, that is oil. Conversely, it is latex.

If your wall falls into the first case, use a bonding primer (remember to sand the wall’s surface slightly beforehand).

To save time and effort, use primer-in-one products.

Prepare The Right Amount Of Paint

Following this basic rule of thumb: For a 400-square-foot area, use one gallon of paint. If you have to use over one gallon, mix the paint in a bucket of 5 gallons to make sure the color is consistent.

To calculate the area needed for the trim, utilize 0.5 for the width and length – in feet. For painting, utilize the old length times height equation.

Painting

Start from the top to bottom

That means you should beginner the paint job from the ceiling, down to the walls, and finally is trimming.

Paint The Edges First.

Start with dipping your brush around 1/3 of the way into the paint bucket then tap it against the sides. The right technique for edge painting with no runs is to hold the brush like you’re holding a pen and do the smooth stroke motion to feather out these edges.

How To Use A Roller Grid

After brushing all edges of the ceiling, it’s time to roll the remaining area. You’ll need a roller grid and dampen it over with a wet rag to help the paint load.

Remember to only dip it a bit way into the paint, don’t submerge, then roll several times to spread it out evenly. Start rolling near the edge in slow zig-zag motions, top then, the bottom, to cover thoroughly over the walls.

Note:

• Do NOT press and squeeze the roller.
• Do NOT roll too quickly to avoid paint spatter.

Use a liner to paint the pans so that the latter cleanup tasks will be easier.

Don’t worry if you get a little bit on the trim because you’ll paint that later. However, avoid making a big mess.

Now, wait until the walls are completely dried.

Now, use tape to cover all edges and move on to the wall painting section.

Extra bonus:

• For each coat, paint one wall at once while for the room, apply two coats. This is called laying off.
• Roll down a little bit over the painted areas to remove runs and buildup
• To get closer to the baseboards and ceiling, turn the roller sideways

How To Maintain The Paint During Your Break Time

Use a lid or something like that to cover the paint bucket. Wrap up the roller grids and brushes. If you intend to use them on the next day, place all of them in shades or the refrigerator.

Trimwork

Grab a few painter’s tapes to trim the edges after all walls are dried out already.

Run the tape against those edges that need trimming and use a plastic putty knife to press it down to get straight lines for the trim work.

Cut along areas in which it gets stuck when removing the tape for trim painting.

After drying completely, shortly undone it to avoid unwanted peeling.

Ensure to check the recommended removal time on of these tapes before pulling them out.

Cleanup

Soak all brushes in the water. Use a cleaning brush to remove the residue paint from your painting brushes’ bristles. For extensive cleaning, you can apply hand cleaner on them then wash with clean water again.

Reshape your brushes.

Conclusion

Above is the best order to paint a room as fast and less messy as possible that beginners should follow.

That’s all for this guide.

Thanks for reading!