A Fresh Coat Can Lead to a Fresh Look

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One of the easiest ways to get a home ready to sell or to personalize a room in your new home is a fresh coat of paint. Here are 10 tips to help ensure a perfect paint job.

  1. Use a small roller to finish edges for consistent texture. After cutting in close with a brush, the rolling will erase all brush marks.
  2. Prime and texture wall patches to avoid a blotchy appearance or use paint with primer. The sheen on the wall will be more consistent. A quick coat of primer will solve your problem quickly and easily.
  3. Cut your painter’s tape first. Once it has been cut, it will come off cleanly without tearing the dry paint.
  4. Avoid lap marks — keep your roller at least half wet and roll the full length of the wall. Finish the stroke and quickly go over any runs and start the next stroke. Professionals say this is one of the biggest but easiest mistakes to fix when painting at home.
  5. Avoid abrupt edges by rolling them with a dryer roller. A thinner coat of paint will not show lap marks. In the second coat, roll in the opposite direction.
  6. Use canvas drop cloths instead of plastic.  Small spills will absorb into canvas, whereas they stay wet (and slippery) on plastic. Pros say to use rosin paper over vinyl, tile, hardwood and other slippery surfaces.
  7. Sand trim between coats with a sanding sponge. This sponge will smooth over fine details more easily than sand paper, giving you a smooth finish without grainy texture. After, vacuum the trim and wipe with a dry cloth to remove the dust.
  8. Mix cans of paint in a 5-gallon bucket to ensure even color throughout the room.
  9. Clean often-touched areas to remove any skin oils. Paint will stick best to just-cleaned walls. Look for wall and woodwork cleaners in hardware stores or home centers.
  10. Follow this order for painting a room: trim first, then ceiling, and then walls. Don’t bother taping off the trim, because any trim paint that ends up on the walls will be covered later.

These simple tips can help make painting a new room a fun, stress-free activity. Enjoy making your new house feel like home or prepping your home for a new family to treasure.

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Categories: Home Buying, Home Improvement, Home Selling

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