Painting Tips: How to Paint Your Home

By Sarah Carrillo
www.SavvyMiss.com

Need a change in your home? Want some new energy or just a new look? Well, there is no better-or cheaper-way than with paint. We asked Matt Fox and Shari Hiller from HGTV's Room By Room for tips on painting, from the gear to creative ways to dress up your walls. Here's what you need to know before picking up that paint brush.

What tools do I need to paint a room?

• Drop cloths
• A paint roller and frames
• A 1" paint brush (for those hard-to-reach places)
• A paint bucket opener
• Paint tray and liner
• Flush spackle (for any holes in the wall)
• Painter's tape (the blue stuff, not masking tape, which is too sticky)

I'm so confused by the different paints: gloss, semi-gloss, flat. What do I use to paint a room? The type of paint you use depends on what room you are painting.
Here's a breakdown:

Gloss: The shiniest and easiest to clean. It's good for painting bathrooms and other high traffic areas.
Semi-gloss: The next step down in sheen. Good for painting high-traffic areas, like kitchens and hallways.
Satin: Hiller and Fox's favorite, they use it almost everywhere because it's easy to clean and moderately shiny.
Flat: Basically no sheen, it's good for painting large wall and ceiling areas. It's also good at hiding cracks or blemishes.

How can I choose a color? I'm afraid what I love on the paint sample will look awful on my wall.
"Use color. I can't stress that enough," Hiller says. Fox and Hiller offer an easy painting tip to find colors you like. Go through design magazines and pull out pictures you like and look for similarities. "I found I really liked rooms with blue in them, but I don't have any blue walls in my house," Hiller says. "Now I'm going to change that."

When buying paint, be aware that the color on the sample will be darker when you paint a whole wall with it, so Hiller suggests going one shade lighter. Fox and Hiller also use sample boards-pieces of cardboard they've painted to see how it will look on a larger scale. Hiller says many companies sell sample sizes of paint for this.

What is the current style when it comes to paint colors for a home?
"Red is one, from tomato red to burgundy. If people are willing to try a bold color, a lot of them will paint that in a dining room or kitchen with light cabinets," Hiller says. She suggests trying a bold paint color in an entry way or room you don't spend a lot of time in to see if you like it.

Fox and Hiller say the idea that certain colors will affect your mood is almost a myth. While it's a good idea to paint a kid's bedroom a calming color, the general rule is to go with whatever colors you like.

How can I make sure my painting project goes smoothly? Last time I ended up with paint all over my baseboards (and my hair)! Fox says the prep work you do before picking up a brush is key for a professional-looking paint job. Painting tip: Use tape so the paint doesn't smudge onto the ceiling or baseboards and fill in holes with spackle.

After you've taped, use a 1-inch brush for "cutting in," which means painting around the edges of a wall so you don't have to roll all the way to the tape (that would also put a mark on the adjacent wall or ceiling). Do this one wall at a time, or start with the ceiling if you're painting it.

After cutting in, start from the top with your roller and work down. Don't put too much paint on the roller-that's the biggest mistake people make. Fox suggests doing two coats, especially for darker colors.

When you're done, take off the tape while the paint is still wet; if you wait until it's dry you'll take paint off with it. For touch-ups, use a foam brush to blend the paint in-a roller will look blotchy.

I want to do more than just paint my wall a solid color. Any tips?
There are many techniques to give your walls some texture.

Striping mimics the look of wallpaper and can be done using blue painter's tape, a long level and patience. Hiller says to first measure the wall to figure out where you want your stripes to go. (This should be well thought out!) Then tape where you want the stripes, paint the blank spaces and remove the tape while the paint is still damp. She recommends using paint in the same color family (like beige and cream stripes) to make the look more subtle.

Fox has also come up with a "ragging" technique that looks like crushed fabric. To do it, take shamy cloths and cut them into 3-inch squares. Staple them, in the center of the square, to a paint roller at random intervals, covering most, but not all, of the roller. Then, after the base coat is dry, roll glaze and then the moistened shamy roller over the glaze.

If you follow Fox and Hiller's painting tips you should end up with a beautifully painted room or home. Now if you could just find some furniture to put in it ...

For more information about painting and decorating, visit MattandShari.com. Photo © istockphoto