Monday, June 10, 2013

How to Paint a Room

It's been much to long since I've written, and as any card carrying sloth can tell you, I have a million excuses.  Some really good ones too.  But, an excuse is just that regardless of how well honed.

My muse shook me today, and while I was sorting through a basket, notes I'd written a while back on painting, I did find.

Many of us sloths (I'm told it's not really about being lazy it's about being terrified) start a project expecting to be complete by the end of the day.  We get up early, have an energizing breakfast and get to work.  I was no different with painting and was wrong, wrong, wrong.  My mistakes are fodder for a short story, but I can condense the "take away" into four, somewhat brief, instructions.

1) Buy painter's tape (I prefer the green Frog Tape, frogtape.com), plastic to cover the floor, good rollers and brushes (Purdy, purdy.com,  are my favorite.  Make sure to check the nap before you purchase any rollers.  The wrong nap will cause you more work.  Also, this website has some excellent video tips), caulking (you can also buy a caulking tool but I think using your index finger works the best).  If your budget allows, you can purchase some smaller art brushes for both hard to get to spaces and to gently cover your mistakes.  Also buy a few disposable paint trays.  They're inexpensive and well worth it.

2)  Go home and do all the "prep" work (WARNING, this takes longer than the actual painting).  Clean your walls which can consist of getting out the broom and "sweep" them the same way you would your kitchen walls. Cover your baseboards as evenly as possible to prevent paint spills.  Also tape along the line where the ceiling meets the wall, along the ceiling side.  These borders will keep paint off, but still be careful not to put too thick a coat around the areas as it will seep through.  Cover your floor with plastic, taping about every two feet or so to keep your floor cover from slipping.

3) Paint.  Be prepared to paint an entire wall before you decide that you hate the color.  Paint chips give an idea of what the color will be.  It's not gospel.

4)  Caulk.  The last step is to caulk the baseboards and around your windows.  It's good preventive maintenance and it gives all your hard work a finished look.

As motivation, please keep in mind that you'll have an amazing sense of accomplish when your friends come over and say, "Really, you did this?"