Interior Painting Tips

Brush up

Whether it’s time to paint your new home, or re-paint your current home, there are a few tips and techniques that will make the job much easier. If you’re getting ready to sell your home, a fresh coat of neutral colors will let potential buyers get a nice mental image of how their furniture will look in the house. Following are a few helpful painting tips and techniques to ensure a beautifully-painted interior in no time.

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The primer coat

Unless your current color is flat, it’s important to apply a primer coat to make the new paint adhere better. On flat-painted walls that need only small repairs, you might simply want to spot prime.

For walls with big areas of patching plaster, it’s a good idea to use a sealer or primer/sealer combo. Priming doesn’t require as much attention as painting, but it’s done the same way as painting-with brushes and rollers.

Ceiling and wall painting

You’ll always want to start with the ceiling if you’re painting an entire room. First, cover the perimeter and unpainted areas around the fixtures. Painter’s tape is excellent for covering. It’s generally a trademark blue color and sold at any hardware store.

Start with the ceiling (moving widthwise), in sections by about six feet square. Employ a series of overlapping “W” strokes, moving from right to left, then back from left to right.

If you’re using a finish other than flat, be sure to go over the whole ceiling once again with one-directional, overlapping, and non-diagonal strokes. This will ensure the paint is blended correctly. Then repeat the exact same steps with the walls, painting up to an inch or so next to edges and trimmings. The last non-diagonal strokes should be from top to bottom.

Using a paintbrush

Unless you have a very steady and skilled hand, or you have an edging tool, be sure to mask the perimeter of the ceiling with painting tape. Then paint the upper perimeter of the walls, and all the areas that you weren’t able to cover with a roller.

Final tipsroom5

If the ceiling or walls require a second coat, only start painting after the first coat dries. Always check the paint’s label for specific recoating and drying instructions. Generally, you will always get a better second coat if the first coat is allowed to fully dry.

To paint trim, baseboards, windows, and doors, use painting tape or a paint edger to protect your freshly painted walls. You can wedge doors open with a rolled-up newspaper, but always place a drop cloth underneath to protect tile or carpet.

A roller is the quickest way to paint a flat door. For doors with panels, you will most likely have to use a large brush. For double-hung windows, first pull the top sash down and paint the bottom area, then push it back up and paint the top area. Next, paint the bottom sash, and then the jambs and frame.

Posted in Interior Decoration |

Solve Room decor Problem

Room Décor is not as easy as it seems at the first sight. You may fancy that glamorous room in the home décor magazine but you may find it almost impossible to translate into a reality because of the simple reason that the construction of your home and measurement of your rooms is entirely different. You may be renting an apartment where you cannot redo the positioning of walls, doors and windows or have a large large hall you do not seem to put to best use. Color, lines and furniture arrangement can make a huge difference to your room décor. We have identified the five most common problems that people often face while doing room décor and have come up with the possible solutions. I still remember my last visit using car hire Shannon Airport to one of the local hotel’s room interior design.
These are:

1. Very Long Room

  • The best way to deal with a very long room is to split it into two using screens and room dividers that you may use as study area, living area, dining room, personal gym or just entertainment room.
  • Use warm dark colors on shorter walls to make them advance and give the room a balanced look.
  • You may also define separate areas by using different area rugs.

2. Low Ceiling

  • Long curtains that can be draped from above the door level and window level all the way to the floor, add height to the room.
  • Paint ceiling in light cool color to make it recede and add light to the room.
  • Tall accessories such as lamps look good and make room look taller too.
  • You can add height to a room by installing vertical and tall cabinets or bookcases in the room.

3. Narrow Room

  • Any linear arrangement on shorter walls such as placement of shelves, art pieces or rugs, will make them look wider.
  • Diagonal arrangement of furniture looks better.
  • You can also fool the eye by painting your longer walls in cool light colors to make them recede.

    • 4. Tall Room

    • Horizontally placed shelves, crown mouldings and art pieces cut off the height of the room.
    • In such rooms, ceilings should have a warm dark color.
    • You can also play the visual trick of installing the mouldings or chair rails to one half to three quarters of the way up the walls.

    5. Very Big Room

    • Experiment with warm and dark colors on your wall to make the room look cozier and friendlier.
    • Group furniture pieces into two or more separate seating arrangements.
    • Like long rooms, big rooms can also be divided into smaller areas using screens and room dividers and can be used for better purposes and will make the room look cozier too.

    Posted in Interior Decoration |

    Decoration Trends

    Decoration and design trends and themes keep changing with times, as do the facilities and appliances one uses in the home. It plays quiet an important role in almost all of the decorating decisions. The three most talked about and basic decoration trends are:

    • Country or rustic look;
    • Casual or contemporary décor; and
    • Traditional and classic look.

    While most prefer to decorate their homes in contemporary style, traditional styles bring back nostalgic memories to many. There are some others who feel that country and rustic style home put us closer to nature. All the other themes are considered secondary in nature and are developed on one of these themes as the foundation. Such as country style is said to provide the base for Country French or Mission-style home decoration. We can see that in some regions, one style dominated others while in another region, some other style or trend may have the upper hand.

    The decoration style preferred by a person usually depends on individual taste, age and color combinations. Casual home décor is usually guided by home decorating magazines and may range from black plastic to chrome and glass combinations. These days, people are going for clean, simple and minimalist décor with occasional geometric patterns. Colors most preferred these days beige, white and gray with light wood furniture and accessories such as those made from natural maple to match.

    The traditional style of course uses rich and ornate designs that reflect grandeur and opulence and deep and dark colors with jewel tones such as emerald green, burgundy and navy blue. The details are often in polished brass and gold work while woodwork is generally of cherry wood and has dark stains. Leather furniture is also common in such décor.

    The country style keeps changing too. While plaids, fruity and birdy patterns have long gone out of style; baby boomers love to be ‘cool and trendy’. Bright color combinations are quite common with ample use of lime green, bright blue and red that are muted down using the soft pastels and earthy tones here and there. Sturdy, overstuffed, nostalgic furniture is a common sight in this style with an antique look enhanced by crackled or distressed paint finish. They are meant to be very very comfortable, warm and cozy.

    While decorating homes in a particular style, you do not only pay attention to family rooms, kitchens or dining areas only but also extend it to the master and guest bathrooms and powder rooms for the complete effect. Chrome and brushed nickel are the most popular bath accessory finishes closely followed by oil-rubbed bronze and wrought iron looks. These bath accessories can also be categorized under the heads of country, casual or contemporary, and classic or traditional. New trends include ‘retro-style’ designs and wood finishes such as that of maple and oak along with constant influx of new simple, creative and innovative designs such as open towel ring or stylish glass shelf that add new dimension to bath décor and complement the overall bath designs.

    There are faucets and showerheads that should be chosen according to the decoration style that you choose and accessories should match the finish of faucets. Use traditional accessories in non-traditional ways such as placing small votive candles in existing soap tumbler holders for a soft glow or tall tapers in a large bath to add the dramatic and romantic touch. Decorative shelves can be used to place fresh flowers or family photos for that special touch. You may also add color and texture to the bath by using towels and napkins of all sizes to match your chosen decoration style without having to spend big bucks for enhancing the character of your home.

    Posted in Interior Decoration |

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