Things You Need to Know When Repainting Your Home Exterior
June 10, 2020
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Home Painting Shelby County, KY: Tips for Perfect Interior Painting
How do you breathe new life into your home or office space without having to spend a fortune on fancy remodeling and decorating?
Simple: with a fresh coat of paint.
Interior painting can be an overwhelming project, which is why we always recommend hiring a professional painting contractor.
However, if you want to give DIY interior painting a try for small projects, here is what you should know:
Understand Your Finishes
Glossy, flat, satin, matte, eggshell. Who knew that the world of paints was so complicated?
While you don’t need to learn a lot about paints, it does help to understand that different finishes are suited for various purposes.
Gloss paint, for example, is great for highlighting areas like doors and wood trim.
Semi-gloss is ideal for those areas that you need to clean a lot, like kitchens and bathrooms, while a satin finish also helps to hide all the smudges and fingerprints that come with highly trafficked areas like hallways and kids’ rooms.
On the other hand, if your painting surfaces have roughness or imperfections, you’re better off opting for a matte finish: it’ll help to smooth things out.
Invest In Quality Paint
All paints are not created equal. Quality paints are known to provide better coverage, to be more lasting and durable, and to provide better protection for the walls and trims underneath.
Many good paint brands will also offer specialized paints that are designed to fit your exact needs, like easy-to-clean coatings and anti-bacterial or anti-mold paints.
Ultimately, shopping for quality is worth it because it will save you money in the long run.
Experiment with color
Are you a free soul, or do you tend to play it safe?
When it comes to color, sometimes you just have to dare yourself and go bold if you want to make your space stand out and have some design flair.
Now that’s not to say that bold has to equate to glaring hot pink or eye-watering fluorescent orange.
It may just mean adding in some darker accents or opting for a feature wall. You can also consider mood and color psychology. For example, if you find blue calming, choose it for your bedroom, while perhaps yellow accents will make your office feel energetic and optimistic.
Use paint to make a room seem bigger.
The interior painting also allows you to do some nifty little optical illusion tricks, like making a room seem bigger or more spacious.
One way to do this is to pick one color family and paint the whole room in different shades of it.
That means painting the trims and details in the same color (but different shade) as the walls.
To make ceilings seem higher, paint them a lighter color than the walls. And if in doubt, you can always go for a full white scenario: a white-washed room will still feel bright, open, and airy.
Use samples
Most good paint brands will offer samples that you can use to test on your own walls. The benefit of doing a live test is that you’ll get to see exactly how the shade looks in person, in the unique lighting situation of your space.
Often, paint shades can look different from what we expect once they’ve dried. Similarly, contrasts and reflections from objects in the room can change the way we perceive them. Starting with a sample lets you know for sure that you like the color before you commit to buying.
Prep properly
Ever painted the walls blue only to find your beautiful wooden floorboards were splattered with it too?
If you answered “no,” then good: let’s keep it that way!
Prepping your space before you paint means getting furniture out the way, covering the floor properly, covering or removing door handles, and sticking painting tape to any exposed areas you don’t want the paint to splash to (like trims, window frames, light switch covers, skirting boards, etc.).
Be sure to wipe these areas clean of dust first, or the tape won’t stick properly, and for the best results, invest in specialty painting tape rather than all-purpose masking tape.
Bottom Line
Residential painting is a major project that should preferably only be left to experienced painting contractors.
If you don’t have the skills, tools, and experience, you might end up with a colorful mess that can be quite expensive to resolve.
Hiring a painting contractor will save you money, time and frustration, and ensure quality and long-lasting results.
If you need professional assistance repainting the exterior of your home, our team can help. We have years of experience servicing the areas of Louisville, Shelby County, Oldham County, Anchorage, Prospect, and Jefferson Town, Kentucky.
