Painting and Decorating Tips

How to Paint a Room Like a Pro

Fantastic Team
Published: Jul 19/2019
Last update: Jun 14/2022
6min read
Views: 531

Painting a room is the most common home improvement project. It’s not a hard task and you don’t need special certification to do it. But, it would surely help if you knew a few tips and tricks of the trade. This know-how will not only improve the quality of the end result but also decrease the time you spend on it.

The professional painters from the Fantastic Services team are here to explain in great detail how to paint a room professionally. Follow this easy guide and your walls will be your masterpieces.

This article is for those who:

Learn more about paint colours and how do they go with each other;
Want to paint a room by themselves;
Want to boast to others with their amazing paint job.

Quick disclaimer: Always make sure the plaster is completely dry before applying any paint. The best way to tell is by looking at the colour. It should be light and not dark. The drying time will depend on a great many factors and can take from a few days to few weeks. Check our post on how long to leave new plaster before painting to learn more.

Table of Contents:

Choose you colour
Tools you need
Prepare the room
Prime the surfaces
Paint the room
Consider professionals

What colour should you paint your room?

Choosing the right colour for your room is an important first step and not at all a small matter. Using the right colour can make a small room look bigger, or, give a dark hallway a fresh, new life. To nail the colour from the first time, bear in mind the following:

Red

Adventurous people tend to choose this colour for the bedroom. It makes the room feel exciting, especially during the day on natural light. It stimulates conversations, and… other things we tend to do in the bedroom. The colour red is known to raise blood pressure and heart rate, however, if you combine it with softer light, it won’t seem intrusive. If you already have red curtains, flooring or bedspread, choose another colour for the walls, otherwise, it would get overwhelming.

Blue

The colour blue is known to lower blood pressure and heart rate, however darker blue evokes melancholy, so our advice is to go for lighter shades. Blue promotes relaxation, but it’s also a cool colour, so it’s advisable to be combined with warm colours, like brown. A combination of blue and red, depending on the shades, could become too intense on the eyes, so we recommend to add the red sparingly.

Green

Green promotes peace and relaxation, which is why many use it for the bedroom. However, it’s also a popular choice for kitchen walls. Green is a cool colour, so it combines perfectly with yellow, brown, and pink. Different shades of green in the same room go well together as well.

Yellow

Yellow is uplifting and energetic. It promotes joy. Yellow also tends to expand the room and creates the illusion of more space. It’s a popular choice for living rooms, dining rooms, sitting rooms and generally rooms where lots of people get together. Yellow is also known to stimulate the nerves and make babies cry, but the effect is smaller when combined with light blue, turquoise and aquamarine.

Purple

For some reason, there’s an overwhelming amount of people who say purple is their favourite colour. So, if they decide to paint their room purple, it’s not just one shade, but a pallet of creative combinations of dark and light hues. It can get overwhelming but also gives off an aristocratic feel of the room.

Orange

Just like yellow, orange promotes energy and joy. Though, should you choose a darker shade, it makes the room feel warm. It can give off the feel of a constant sunset, especially when combined with warm brown.

Pink

Pink is a popular choice for a baby girl’s room. It’s known to promote relaxation and evokes feelings of joy and happiness. A lot of artists say that pink gets their creative juices flowing. Pink is basically a very light shade of red, so people associate it with romance and flirtation. The colour also brings in the feeling of spring into the room, especially if you have potted plants or a vase with freshly picked flowers. Pink also combines great with white and grey.

Black, white, grey

Black, white and grey usually aim to accentuate or subdue the more vibrant colours in the room. They are great in combinations. For example, grey walls could go amazing with white and pink furniture or flooring. A combination of black and white in a room gives a modern feel to any room.

If you aren’t sure which colour to pick for your home, read our helpful post on how to choose paint colours. You know what colour to use? Great! But what about the tools? Let’s see what tools do you need.

Tools you need

Paint in the colours you have chosen;
Paint rollers, along with an extension handle;
Paintbrushes;
Rags for cleaning the brushes;
Ladder for the ceiling;
Sandpaper for primer treatment;
Painter’s tape to cover edges and lighting bodies;
Paint bucket with a roller screen to refill the rollers and brushes;
Soft cloth or nylon to cover furniture from accidental spills;
X-acto knife and artist’s brush for the finishing touches.

How to prepare the room for painting

Before paint your room professionally, you have to prepare the room, so it would be comfortable for you to work in.

Remove light switch and outlet covers. Unscrew all electrical outlets and light switches, so they don’t get in the way. Place them all in one spot in a different room so they’re not in the way and you don’t lose any.
Move the furniture out of the way. The more space you have, the easier you will work. If you have helpers who can assist taking the furniture out of the room, do so. If not, opt for moving the furniture into the centre of the room. This way you will have the freedom to work on each wall. Use large cloth coverings to protect it.
Protect the floor, doors and windows. Lay most cloths on the floor so no drops of paint could stain it. Next, apply painter’s tape around the door and window frames, so they don’t get stained while you paint the wall around them.
Open doors and windows. Since you’ll be handling paint, make sure to ventilate the room while you work, otherwise, you might get lightheaded. The draft will also help with the drying of the paint. If you happen to know somebody who has a respirator, ask them to lend it to you.

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How to prime all surfaces for painting

Now is the time to prepare the walls and ceiling for the main job. Depending on the condition of your wall and your goals, you might have to spend some time on this step, but it’s worth it for a professional look later on. It’s time to prepare your primer.

Fix imperfections in the walls and ceiling. First, if your walls or ceiling have sustained damage over the years (for example holes from nails), you can fill the holes with a patching compound. Follow the manufacturer’s directions. Then, proceed to fill in the patched areas. Finally, dust the walls with a damp cloth.
Clean the walls, so you wouldn’t be painting over dust. Use a mixture of lukewarm water and mild soap. Rub this solution in a circular motion and rinse with a slightly dampened sponge. For oils or wax stains, add some grease-cutting detergent to the water. Afterwards, rinse with clean water to remove any residue. For more in-depth information, read our post on how to clean walls before painting.
Tint the primer. Priming is important, as it blocks stains from bleeding through, and improves paint adhesion, which reduces the possibility of blisters and peeling. It’s also advisable to tint the primer toward the finished colour by mixing in a small amount of paint. This way you’ll get a better colour faster while you paint.
Paint primer around the edges and corners. An angle brush is the best tool for that. Dip the brush in your prepared tinted primer and paint a strip along the edges and corners of all your surfaces. Maintain a wet edge as you go.
Fill the primer around the painted edges. Next, run the roller in a zig-zag motion and work across the walls and ceiling lengthwise. Then, fill in the empty space again with zig-zags. Continue painting the primer like this, until the entire space is filled. Let the primer dry and watch for any discolouration. If you see any, you might have to apply a second coat.
Sand the primer. Once the second coat of the primer has dried completely, sand over it with sandpaper. Don’t sand away everything, but just enough to make a slightly rough surface. This will help the paint to bond to the wall better.

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How to paint a room professionally

Finally, it’s time to do the paint job. After you’ve cleared the imperfections from your walls and ceiling, and painted them with primer, you can finally fill in the colour you’ve always wanted.

Purchase quality tools. Premium rollers absorb and transfer paint with consistency and premium blushes won’t shed bristles all over the wall.
Prepare the paint. Share the can vigorously, before opening it to ensure proper distribution of the colour through all the contents. Then, open the can and stir the paint with a wooden stick. Make sure you have enough cans for the entire room. Then, pour all the cans into a bucket. This is called “boxing” and it’s very important for consistent colour. Paint always varies slightly from one can to the next. Rookies often make the mistake of painting directly from cans and then, when the paint is dried up, they discover one part of the wall has a slightly different nuance.
Remove hard paint chunks. When you open the cans you always see small strands around the edge. These would look bad if they get on your wall. You can easily stop them from going into the bucket by running all the paint through a paint strainer. It will catch all those hard pieces, so you don’t have to deal with them afterwards.
Use extenders to avoid lap marks. Lap marks are the dark lines you get when going over paint that has already dried. That’s why it’s important to keep the paint wet as long as possible while working. Purchase an extender of your choice and add it to the paint before you start.
Work from top to bottom. That way you will avoid drips. If you do get any, you will just paint over them as you go. Going the other way around means you’d have to re brush some areas which are already painted. That will result in wasted time, efforts and paint.
Use an angle brush on the edges. Just like with the primer, dip your angle brush into the bucket and tap it to remove any excess paint. Then, carefully run the paintbrush along with the trim where you want the paint to stop. It’s advisable to start with the ceiling, and the ceiling is usually a different colour from the walls. So make sure not to get any paint on the walls.
Paint the walls in zig-zag. Once you’re done with the ceiling, do the same for the walls. Work on one wall at a time. Start with an angle brush to make sure you won’t stain the ceiling with your wall colour. Then, use the roller in a zig-zag motion to paint the walls. Wait for the first coat of paint to dry before applying the second.
Paint the ceiling in zig-zag. Soak the roller into the bucket and then roll it across the screen to remove excess paint. Don’t use a ladder for this one. Use an extension handle for the roller instead, and you can easily work from your spot on the floor. Just make sure the handle is metal and not plastic. Plastic handles are too flexible, which makes them hard to control. Wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second.
Add the finishing touches. Once the second coat is finished, you might still notice one or two imperfections. If you notice visible excess paint somewhere, you can use an x-acto knife to gently remove it. Or if there is any seepage, use the artist brush to fill it with colour.
Dispose of paint cans in an environmentally-friendly way. Contact your local household waste recycling center to verify if they accept paint cans. For more information, head over to our helpful post on the topic.

Professional painters can do this job faster

Not everyone is able to paint like a pro. Very often when one attempts a project for the first time, they won’t do the best job and it will take too much time. If you don’t want to bother with the job yourself, or you simply don’t have the time, you can always opt for professional painters and decorators. Fantastic Services employs a reliable team that is ready to take up this job and offer you a neat and tidy painting service.

Takeaways

The proper combination of neutral colours (black, grey, white) with one or maybe two vibrant colours can bring your room to life.
Caulking, trimming and priming the walls before painting is the recipe for a good paint job;
Instead of using a ladder for the ceiling, use a roller extension;
Give time for the paint to dry before adding the finishing touches.

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Did you paint your room using our advice? Did you get the results you’re looking for? Let us know by commenting!

Image source: Syda Productions/shutterstock.com