Making your home a nicer, brighter space is beneficial to you and your family and quite a wonderful thing to do. You’ll feel good when you see new, fresh colours on the wall, and a room can take on a new life as the colours transform it.
With this in mind, and considering that Canadians spend around $40bn a year on home improvements, let’s take a look at decorating tips to get that perfect finish.
Choose your Colours
Once you’ve decided to paint a room, it is time to choose your colours. Colour is powerful and can make spaces seem bigger or cosier than they are, and can accentuate or mask light. A good method to use is to decide what purpose the room serves, and this will steer you towards choosing lighter or darker colours.
Once you have an idea of the colour that will work for the room, you can then refine until you find the perfect shade.
Buy the Essentials
As a general rule, you’ll need to buy the paint and brushes/rollers, but you’ll also need masking tape, sandpaper and a sanding block. You’ll also need sugar soap, a sponge, a decent bucket and paint kettles.
If the walls require work, you’ll need filler to give you an even painting surface, and finally, you may want to apply lining paper to provide you with a smoother surface and better finish. It is a good idea to have a variety of glues; this helps your next project in a variety of ways.
Preparation is Key to a Good Finish
The next step is to prepare. If you are planning to paint the woodwork too, sand and make necessary repairs with fillers and epoxy resin. When the walls are suitable to paint, wash them down with the sugar soap following the instructions on the label. If you need to make repairs to the walls, use filler and sand to create an even surface.
When complete, wash everything down and hang lining paper if you feel that this is needed.
Finally, use sealant where appropriate, and protect parts of the house you don’t want to paint using the masking tape.
The better job you do and the more time you spend on this, the better the finish. So don’t rush the work!
Applying the Paint
Paint ceilings first and using as many coats as needed. When moving to the walls, it is best practice to ‘cut in’ with a brush around light switches and plug sockets, the corners of your room, and around the edge where the skirting board and ceiling meet the walls. Then, use a roller to apply the rest of the paint. Keep repeating until you’re happy with the coverage and finish.
Once complete, break open a bottle of champagne and celebrate. Or at least have a coffee. Now that your room is transformed, you can start thinking about bigger DIY projects or how you’re going to furnish your newly decorated room. Always great fun and an excellent reward for all your hard work.
