DIY Projects brings you a step-by-step article on how to paint a room. Any proficient painter will tell you that the most important thing to a perfect paint finish is the preparations. We’ve already shown you in this do-it-yourself tutorial, how to prepare your walls for painting the right way. Please study that article before you read this one. That home improvement article also shows you how to first remove your wallpaper before any of the work starts. For the wooden parts of your room (like your door frames and skirting boards etc, how to paint wood will show you exactly what you need to do. 

Now let’s show you how to paint a room

You will need:

Paint tray

Masking tape

Paint roller

Brush

Wet cloth to wipe spills (wet wipes will do).

Painting made easy

The primer should take a couple of hours to dry. At this point, you’ve removed the wall paper (and wallpaper lining where applicable), cleaned the glue off the wall, filled the holes and gaps, sanded the filler, dusted the wall (for loose sandy particles), primed the wall and sealed the edges. Now your wall is ready to take your nice, expensive paint you’ve spent so much money on. These easy steps will help your painting go more smoothly. (Remember to read the article linked above before you start painting or you’ll waste your time, money on effort if the right preparations aren’t met before painting starts).

1. Put masking tape at the edge of the ceiling (like in the picture below), at the top of  the skirting board (the wooden bit at the bottom of your wall), around all door and window frames, and at the edges of your wall. If you’re painting the entire room the same colour, you don’t need to worry about applying masking tape at the edges (like in the middle of the picture below). The top, bottom and around door/window frames will do.

how-to-paint-a-room

carefully put masking tape as directed above

2. Paint the top of the wall (horizontal edge – between the ceiling and wall) with a paint brush. Also, use your brush to apply paint at the left corner (vertical edge) of the wall. Don’t do the entire horizontal and vertical edges before you start painting with the roller. Half of each is okay. You want these brush-applied paint (different texture) to still be wet before you use the roller. You want to be able to blend these two textures of paint. 

3. Use your roller to apply paint onto the wall. Paint in all directions, but make sure your last strokes are up-down (for uniformity). Make sure your roller touches and covers/blends the paint you applied  with the brush. Don’t leave brush strokes. If you can see the strokes when the paint is wet, you’ll see them when it’s dry too. Just use your eyes for a nice uniformity.

4. Repeat step 2 (horizontal and vertical edges) for the rest of the wall. Then continue painting with your roller.

5. Cover your entire wall in this manner.

Points to note when painting your room

1. Cover your floor with old sheets or layers of newspapers. No matter how careful you are, paint will spill onto your floor. Same for your clothes.

2. Most paints require at least 2 coats (regardless of what the manufacturers tell you). Emulsion paint (the paint you apply on walls) mostly take about 2 hours between coats. Wood paint will need up to 24 hours before it can be re-coated.

3. Try to paint both coats of paint on the same day. Remove masking tape when second coat of paint is still wet. If you leave it to dry on you run the risk of taking your beautifully applied (new) paint off with the masking tape. Many of them (masking tapes) are good, but always be on the safe side. I’ve had to learn by experience.

4. If you’re painting the wooden bits in your room when doing your home improvement, paint them first. It’s easier to wipe emulsion paint off the wood (use a wet cloth), than it is to wipe oil paint off your freshly painted wall (use white spirit).

5. It’s a good idea to have a wet cloth at hand while painting your room. Drips on the skirting board (for example) can be wiped off straight away to save yourself the trouble of scrubbing later on.

If this ‘How To Paint A Room’ DIY tutorial has helped you please share it with someone else who may benefit from it. We’d also appreciate it if you shared it on your favourite networking site. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment box below. And while you’re here, we’re sure you’ll find the other articles in the diy tutorials series a great help with your diy projects.

Can you share other painting tips you’ve picked up over the years?

What was the last room you painted, and what colour did you use?