Paint The Town

Today, I am off to paint the den at my new place before I move in next week. Painting yourself can save you hundreds of dollars in labor costs and is even fun if you know what tools you need to get the job done properly.

Before you begin, make sure the walls, baseboards and moldings are clean by washing them with a damp rag and mild soap and allow to dry thoroughly. Remove all nails, window coverings and hardware, light switch and electrical outlet covers and use blue painters tape to cover trim not being painted. Fill all nail holes with putty using a putty knife and allow to dry.

Move all furniture out of the room or to the center of the room, if large enough to do so, and cover with a drop cloth. To paint, you will need a roller pan, a roller brush, trim brushes and additional drop cloths for the carpeting or hardwood floors. Prepare the walls first with primer if you are going from a very dark color to a light color or vice-versa. Primer is much cheaper than actual paint, will neutralize stains, will cause the top coat of paint to adhere better and you will use less coats of the more expensive final paint color. Use a white primer when going from darker to lighter colors and a tinted primer when painting light colored walls dark.

If you need to take a break while the paint dries, put the roller or trim brush in a zip bag so the paint does not dry out on the brush. If you need to stop overnight, place the brush in the zip bag into the freezer. Allow the brush to thaw about forty-five minutes before painting again. When you are done with the project, dip a wooden stir stick into the paint and cover most of it to get a good sized color sample. Peel off the mixing sticker from the lid of the paint can and attach to the stick. File the stick away and when you need to do touch ups, you have not only a color swatch but the date you painted, the name of the home improvement store the paint was purchased from and the formula for mixing the exact paint color again.