How to Paint Your House Like a Pro

A house is not complete without color. Whether you’re thinking of doing a home makeover or just selling your house, it’s worth your money and time to dabble on some good paints to make your home warm and attractive to look at.

Painting a home is not as easy as it may look. Painting is a skill that takes time and effort to develop. Professional painters are there to make things easier for you, although they don’t come cheap. When embarking on a painting project, you should ask yourself if you have enough time (and budget) to hire someone to paint your house for you. If your answer is no, then maybe you should take things in your own hands and do it yourself.

Are you ready to do a paint job? Here are some tips to help you get started:

 Doing the Preliminaries

Choose the right colors.The process of painting starts with choosing the right colors for your home. One way to make it easier for you is to use a color wheel. This handy tool will help you find the right colors that work well together, and it even guides you on how to unify your color scheme to achieve the best results. A color wheel can show you what colors compliment your main color choice.

Using a color wheel will help you avoid the common pitfalls of most beginning painters: picking the wrong color. Often, this involves choosing too many saturated colors (such as the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow). It’s always best to use saturated colors sparingly.

Understanding the Basics

Choose the right finish.Did you know that there are around 5 or 6 paint finishes to choose from? They include Matte, Flat Enamel, Eggshell, Satin, Semi-Gloss, and Glossy Finishes. Do you know enough about them so you can use them confidently when needed?

According to Barry Abraham of Pure Home, a low-gloss flat finish is your best bet if you need to cover imperfections in your exterior wall. Use paint with a semi-gloss finish if you need to paint high-traffic areas like hallways and bathrooms, while satin or eggshell finishes will be durable without being too glossy. These paints are your best bet for interior walls.

Painting Essentials

Paint the edges first.The number one reason why a homeowner would want to paint his own house is to save money while making it look like a professional painter did the whole house. This can be a tough juggling act, especially if you don’t know what you’re really doing.

You can take the advice of Shannon Kaye, a paint color expert and consultant for CertaPro Painters: “The best tip for making your paint project look like a professional job is to cut in (painting along the trim) the edges first and then use a roller to paint the rest, while making sure to roll as close to the edges to cover the brush marks from cutting in.”

Match the paints. You might think that you can get away with just painting one area of your wall and leaving out the rest. And while this can give you the satisfaction of knowing you saved a few dollars up your sleeve, think again: it’s almost impossible to match the paint that’s on the wall, because the paint has already been subjected to outside elements. A pure white paint that has been standing there for eight years has a different shade of white to the same paint you’ve purchased in Home Depot yesterday. And you can see the difference on the wall after it dries.

The solution: paint the entire wall and not just one area. And while you’re at it, why not paint the entire room so everything else looks uniform as well?

Painting your house may take some time to master, but learning the basics and applying them can hasten the process tremendously. One of the benefits of painting on your own is the sense of achievement that comes from using a new skill while adding some personal touches as well. As with any skill, being a painter becomes easier with practice.

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