best wall colours for living room
ready for a change? a quality paint job isone of the least expensive ways to transform your home and make any room look good. the first step, and the key step, is prep.you need to do this. watch our how to prep for paint video. don't run out of paint in the middle of yourproject. the general rule when buying paint is one gallon will cover about 400 squarefeet. use the old length times height equation to get the square footage of each wall. forthe trim, use length—in feet—and .5 for the width. if you're not sure about how muchpaint you'll need, head to lowes.com/calculators for help.
so here's the general plan: work from thetop down. do the ceiling, then the walls, and finish with the trim. if you're using more than one gallon, mixthem in a 5-gallon bucket to ensure color consistency. this is called boxing. a smallercut bucket works great for the edges. painting the ceiling is a similar processto how you'll paint the walls—brush the edges then use a roller. remember--to avoidspatter don't roll too fast. once it's dry you can mask off the edges with painter'stape and start on the walls. to paint the edges, or cutting in, dip thebrush about a third of the way into the paint and tap it against the sides—no scraping.holding the brush like a pencil, paint with
smooth strokes, feathering out the edges toprevent runs. getting a little bit on the trim won't matter since you're painting thatlater, but try not to be super messy. now for the roller. if you're using a bucket,you'll need a roller grid. for pans, use a liner for easy cleanup. to help the paintload, first dampen the roller cover with a wet rag. dip just a little ways into the paintand roll a few times to even it out. resist the urge to submerge the roller. it'll makea mess. (still shot) starting near the edge, roll the paint onin a zig-zag pattern. it helps to roll in several directions to get good coverage, especiallyon textured walls. go slow to avoid paint splatter. and don't press and squeeze theroller to get more paint out of it—just
reload.work in 4-foot sections, top then bottom. once you get going you can go back along theedges. a few tips: turn the roller sideways to get really close to the ceiling and baseboards.and to remove buildup and runs, lightly roll down over the painted areas. this is calledlaying off. paint one wall at a time for each coat, twocoats for the room. if you need to take a break, cover your bucket, and wrap up yourbrush and roller. put them in the fridge if you'll use them the next day. after the walls are completely dry, grab somepainter's tape for the trimwork. run it against the wall-trim edge and press it down witha plastic putty knife. now you'll have straight
lines on your trim. once you've painted thetrim, you'll want to remove the tape. a knife can help cut along spots where it's stuck.remove it shortly after it's dry. this will prevent peeling. some tapes have specificremoval time recommendations, so make sure you check before you pull it off. finally, cleanup. for latex paints, run thebrush under water and use a cleaning brush to clean the paint from the bristles. worksome hand cleaner into it, rinse again and reshape the brush. use a 5-in-1 tool for rollercovers and store upright. how about that for some awesome impact? remember,take your time and enjoy great results. for more help with your paint project, check outlowes.com/paint.
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