Painting a wall is a relatively quick, easy and inexpensive way to update the look and feel of a room. So it makes sense that painting a room is the most commonly undertaken do-it-yourself project, or so says This Old House magazine. Ready to jazz things up? Join the colorful crowd and head to your local hardware store for the essentials you'll need to paint an indoor wall.
Instructions
Prepare
1. Remove wall adornments and hardware, and clear the room of furniture, if possible, to avoid splashing them with paint. If you're short on space, simply move the furniture as far away as possible from the wall you will paint (often to the center of the room) and cover it with a drop cloth. The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America suggests securing drop cloths around furniture with spray adhesive.
2. Cover your flooring from wall to wall, if possible, securing with painter's tape or masking tape. This will ensure the inevitable spill or drip doesn't ruin your flooring and makes for easier cleanup later.
3. Fill any nail holes with putty and smooth with a trowel. In a pinch, white toothpaste substitutes for nail hole filler. Allow to dry.
4. Place painter's tape or masking tape along the baseboards, molding, door frames and window frames, taking care to get the tape as straight as possible. It's often easier to use sections of tape about 12 inches long. Take care to overlap and line them up properly.
Prime
5. Paint a 2-inch band of primer along the borders of the wall, following the tape lines you created so that you don't have to rely on a less-precise roller to get that close.
6. Fill in the rest of the unpainted wall by rolling on primer using the paint roller, dipping it into the tray to add more paint as needed. Take care to roll the roller a few times on the tray to remove excess paint before applying it to the wall each time. According to This Old House, you should apply the paint in a "W" or "M" pattern, overlapping until the wall is covered with primer.
7. Allow the primer coat to dry according to the product's instructions.
Paint
8. Repeat the last three steps with the paint you've chosen for the room, and allow to dry according to the product's instructions.
9. Touch up any light spots with a paintbrush or roll on another coat, if needed.
10. Allow to dry according to instructions on paint.
Clean up
11. Remove the tape carefully and touch up any missed spots or jagged edges with a little paint on a 1/4-inch paintbrush or watercolor brush.
12. Clean up all supplies, using soap and water for latex primer and paint or mineral spirits for oil-based paints.
13. Reaffix hardware and wall adornments.
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