Painting Questions?

My husband and I have painted almost EVERY room in our house... And his old house.

Behr paint is the only one I will use. If you want a good neutral tone, I really like the 'Raffia Creme' by Behr. We ALWAYS prime the walls first with Kilz latex primer. The latex primer will have 'give' so during any temp changes through the seasons, it won't crack and look terrible.

The only other paint brand that I've found even remotely close to Behr's superiority is American Tradition, but I don't have a paint name for that neutral tone.

I forgot to add all of the tools, but Bethany covered it. : )

We have never hired a professional painter, we always do it ourselves. We don't like to spend a lot of money on it, so here's what we use...

Roller brush and good rollers
Paint trays
Edging tool (a square brush thingy that works for trimming around the cieling, windows, baseboards, etc.)
Blue painters tape
Drop Cloth for covering floor or furniture
Ladder

When you take a break, wrap your wet brushes in a plastic bag so they won't dry out. You don't need a drop cloth (or multiple drop cloths) to cover the whole floor, you can use a smaller one and move it when you move to another wall.

For a neutral color I would do a warm caramel/mocha color. I know people say to go light for a small room, but if you go too light there's not a point in painting.

Good luck and have fun :)

I have lived in 9 houses and painted them all,
get some drywall mud and fill in all the dents, holes in you walls and sand them down smooth with a sanding sponge- if your walls are textured buy the texture in a can and match it the best you can.
Use a neutral color and if you decide to one small wall a brighter color.
Get the paint samples paint swatches on your wall and leave them for a day or so to see what the colors look like in different light-
Get a tinted primer the paint counter will tint it for you- Make sure you prime or your paint will look terrible
Use an eggshell or matte finish the shinier your paint the more defects you can see- and ALWAYS paint two coats
Tape your baseboards- I always paint my base bright white it looks cleaner and your walls will look better.
You dont need to put drop clothes over everything just the floor by the wall you are painting.
You need Rollers- I always buy the nappier ones I think they leave a better texture
A good paint brush to cut in your edges
Blue painters tape- to tape off anything you dont want paint on
paint trays
an edge tool
Remove all your switch and plug covers
Always wash your brushes and rollers out immediately after with hot water so they don't gum up.

Have Fun- I say that with love because I hate hate to paint!

I like Behr paint from Home Depot. It's the only paint I use because it's a smooth thick paint. Plus, Home Depot can color match to just about any color you need. For example, if you want to choose a color from a pillow you have, bring in the pillow and they can color match to the color you want from your pillow. Very cool! I don't know if other places can do the same but I only buy paint from Home Depot and they have a very large collection of color samples to choose from as well.

If your room is small, I would stick with a lighter color, nothing dark as dark tends to make a room smaller. My great room is a sage green. It's not dark at all! It's very peaceful and serene and my furniture is mixed with lights and darks so it all blends and compliments very nicely.

Supplies you need:
paint (bathrooms and trim, I use semi gloss or gloss but other rooms, I like to use satin and only flat on the ceiling)
Drop cloth to protect your carpet/flooring
Blue painters tape to use along your base boards (trim), windows
roller brush for the type of walls you have
small paint tray (for trimming along the corners, edges, ceiling, trim)
large paint tray for your roller brush
an extension pole for your roller brush
ladder (so you can reach along your ceiling)
a nice angled brush for trimming

I have painted all the walls in my house and although it's hard work and I grumble before I start, I really do enjoy it and love the results when I'm done. Make sure you make repairs to your walls (if you have any) with drywall compound, sand lightly, then use primer over any repairs made. You should count on doing 2 coats of paint. I always find after one coat has dried that I missed some areas or didn't cover an area very well. Always keep your roller wet and never roll over an area you already covered. When it dries, you will be able to tell where you over-rolled an area...it will be obvious. Good luck on your project!

I'd go with a nice tan color for the walls or an soft olive green if your furniture will be natural colors.
As far as paint, I'd stick with a satin instead of semi-gloss. It's a tad more expensive, but looks much nicer and will still wipe off easily if the boys get something on it.
You'll need brushes, rollers, a corner tool (saved me!), painters tape for the edges, plastic for the floor and furniture, and lots and lots of patience. I hate painting, but it sure does feel good when it's all done and pretty! :)

You will need rollers and handles, plastic drop clothes to cover the carpet, 2-3 inch wide angled paint brush, paint trays. Check out painting instructions/demos online, such as HVTG's web site. I would recommend low or no VOC. Sherwin Williams has 2 excellent paint - Harmony, a no VOC paint and Duration, a very low VOC paint. VOC stands for Volital Organic Compound, these are the things that make paint and carpet smelly and are carcinogens. If anyone in your home has respiratory problems (such as asthma, colds, allergies) VOC's can aggrevate their condtions.

We painted every room and ceiling in our home last year, would never do it that way again! I suggest you look at the walls for holes or places you want to patch up before painting. It is better to fix them up,sand smooth and prime before painting. Before you choose a color, have a look at furniture first, you may be able to pick a good color (even if you choose a neutral one) based on the color of the furniture. For example, if you choose grey as the wall color, you may regret it if you find furniture you love but won't match. We had white walls for many years, you will LOVE having color on them.

S.
www.LiveYourDreamsAtHome.com

Don't use Valspar... It's so expensive and it took my parents over 4 coats to get their walls right AFTER priming! If you want a super lazy way, get a paint/primer. I've even taken Kilz (mold proof primer) and had it tinted. That worked beautifully. I've had good luck with Behr and Dutch Boy too.

Do yourself a favor and prep. your walls with paint tape (get the baseboards and the ceiling... you will thank yourself later............) Also- they make neat corner rollers that make your corners look perfect.

Anything will warm up your walls from white... If you like neutral there's a pretty color called 'Philadelphia Cream' by Benjamin Moore... You can get paint chips for free at Home Depot...they even make sample sizes to try out on your walls. And- now most of the websites have options to upload a picture of your room and 'try out' paint colors.

Good luck!

You've gotten good advice so far. When we put our house on the market our agent recommended Sherwin William Latte. It's a nice neutral Khaki color. We just painted our guest bedroom Buckwheat (Martha Stewart) from Home Depot. I really like it. Also, get an eggshell finish. Do not get a satin. It shows every roller mark. Try to finish your roller stroke on 2nd coat on the downward motion. If you go all directions, sometimes it can show. Get a good quality nap roller. If you buy a cheap one, it leaves fibers on the wall. I like an angled brush for baseboards and ceiling. Go to home depot or Lowes on a weeknight and just ask a lot of questions. They won't be as busy as on a weekend.

Good advice so far. I'll add that you should look at color swatches from all brands of paint before you decide on one, and possibly get one of the paint samples and paint a small part of your wall, let it dry, and check out how that color looks in your room with your lighting. At the very least, bring the swatches home and look at them under your lighting, because the store lighting makes the colors look different. Then, when you find a color you like, select the type and brand of paint you want and get it tinted to your color choice. In stores like Home Depot, or even WalMart, they will tint the paint base to your color choice, you don't have to buy the same brand of paint that the swatch is from. For example, if you like a color swatch of a name brand, but can't afford that brand of paint, just buy a less expensive brand and they will still match the color swatch from the more expensive brand. Good luck with your project!

Ive painted my entire house, almost twice, lol. I love fresh new walls. if you want to go with a nuetral color you cannot go wrong with beige, gold, creme, offwhite or light gray. You dont even have to paint the whole room, just one wall or two makes a perfect accent for the room. I like home depots paint, lowes is pretty good too. walmarts brand "color place " is terrible and watery. Youll need a drop cloth, some old clothes and painters tape to tape off your edges. Most of painting for most people is preparation. I paint without a net though i dont put anything up or down, i ve had to get out the carpet cleaner often. Youll need a roller and pan, perhaps and extention for the roller, a stepstool, and an edger.

keep a stir stick handy and spackle to cover any holes you might need to spackle first

I always do the painting. I'm kind of a fanatic and paint at other people's homes too. It's fun and theraputic for me.

I prefer the paint at Lowes over Home Depot because it has better coverage but my favorite paint is Benjamin Moore.

Try to get a paint with primer already in it so you won't have to paint it twice. A small room can handle a few choice big pieces. You will also need to think about building up and making certain what ever furniture you choose has legs where you can see under that piece of furniture (no skirts). Skirts on furniture give it a weighted feeling in the room.

I choose my colors based on the colors I like. Neutrals come in many colors and hues. Right now my bedroom is chocolate brown. It gets loads of light. I have had beige rooms, yellow, green, red, pink, various shades of blue, purple, and of course whites. I would say go with some version of your favorite color. It will make you feel good everytime you enter the room. If the room gets loads of light, you can go with a deeper or richer color. We have done ceilings in white, light blue, toffee, and butter colors for various rooms but these themes would work well in any room.

Other ladies have given your some great suggestions on supplies and especially the drop clothe thing. Most rooms take about 1 gallon of paint. Your roller doesn't need to be dripping with paint before it hits the walls but should have been loaded with paint so it is covered but not dripping. Applying the paint in a huge W pattern to start on the wall and then filling in the missing areas works best. Make certain you tape off everything that needs tape first, then paint, the remove the tape while the paint is still wet.

Have fun with it. I'll be doing some painting in the next few weeks. I believe I'm going to do some shade of yellow because this space is kind of dark and needs some brightening up.