Top Four Painting Tips from an Amateur DIY Painter

Oh, the crazy ideas I get when I am trying to save a few dollars!

You know the drill. You would love the luxury of paying someone to do the things that you dislike, but then you realize you are not independently wealthy and you would like to be able to buy groceries or get a haircut or maybe even buy a new pair of shoes now and then. So when I knew my house needed its walls painted, I decided I was up for the task. Not a room, mind you, but all the rooms. Yep, all of them.

The jury is still out on whether this was a wise decision. I’ll let you know.

In my over excited mind, I somehow thought this would only take about a week of my summer off. Wrong. I forgot that with painting comes prepping the surfaces, removing plug and light switch covers, cleaning up after each day’s accomplishments, and other various interruptions, like eating and sleeping!

So, about halfway through this self-inflicted torture, I thought I would pause to help your painting venture go a little more smoothly than mine! Here are my top four tips to tackle your torture.

Don’t underestimate the time you will need to complete the task. By the time you have cleaned all your surfaces, removed the plug and light switch covers, moved the furniture to the middle of the room and gathered your supplies, you may be ready for a nap! Resist the urge to take a break. Keep plugging along so you can see some results quickly.

Block large segments of time to work. Once you have poured your paint to start, it’s a bit of a chore to clean up. Since I am not teaching during the day this summer, I challenged myself to put in at least a 7-8 hour painting day.

Watch or listen to something that inspires you or gets you moving. Maybe it’s music or a great audio book you can lose yourself in. I looked for a podcast to pass the time and found this teacher podcast. I have binge listened for two days so far. It has helped the time fly by, but most importantly it is helping me mentally prepare for a new school year. It’s like I’m getting my professional development with my paint clothes on and my hair in a ponytail! (Don’t believe anyone who says teachers don’t work in the summer!)

Choose good paint and even better painting supplies. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Sherwin Williams Ovation paint and primer – My favorite shade is Perfect Greige!

• Shur-Line silicon paint can lid – This works wonders for pouring and storing. I can’t believe I have never used these before. So many regrets.

• Wooster Angled paint brush – I get the smallest one so that trim work is easy. I also used it for cutting in around ceilings and baseboards. So much control when using this that I used ZERO painters tape. Yes, you heard that right. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Spend a little more for this great brush. It’s worth time and time is money, right?

• Wooster rollers in both small and regular sizes – Believe me, you will need the smaller roller for quick runs over smaller spaces. It’s also great to use to touch up those obnoxious super bumpy spots on the walls that you missed because you were deliriously tired.

• Canvas drop cloth – ALWAYS – In my early days as an even more inexperienced amateur painter, I thought I was saving myself some money by using those cheap plastic drop cloths while painting. Unfortunately, those nasty things stick to your feet or your legs when you are sitting on them working tediously on baseboards. It’s so unfortunate to drag a paint-drip-laden plastic piece or nuisance with you around the room when you just needed to take a bathroom break. Plus they get holes in them and paint gets on your floor anyway. Waste of money. Invest in a canvas drop cloth and you can use it every time you torture yourself with a painting task!

 

There you have it. Everything I would suggest from my own half-completed experience.

Enjoy the “fun” and let me know what other tidbits you would add to help someone else.

Gotta go finish painting. I would love to hear from you!

 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, remembering that as members of the same body you are called to live in harmony, and never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you.

Colossians 3:15