Are you considering updating the colour in your home in Surrey, BC, or the Lower Mainland? Are you wanting to paint a room but not sure how to go about it? At Blue Chip Painting, our interior painters in Surrey have a proven process to follow. If you are unfamiliar with how to go about tackling the project, let me give you a few pointers.
First of all, before you paint a room, consider which surfaces you would like to paint. There are walls, ceilings, baseboards, doors, door trim, window trim, and sometimes crown molding and paneling. Before getting started, consider which surfaces you would like to paint. Interior painters in Surrey find it much easier to paint the surfaces in a specific order.
For our example, let’s assume that you will be painting the ceiling, walls, window and door trim, baseboards, and doors. We will leave out the crown moldings and paneling because they are less common, however, if you do need to paint those surfaces, then paint them at the same stage as the rest of the trim.
How To Prep A Room For Painting
- Prepare The Room
Before you paint a room in your house, you need to get the room ready. The best scenario is to remove everything from the room and give yourself the maximum amount of space to work in. If that is not possible, then move the furniture to the middle of the room and cover it with clean plastic, old bed sheets, or whatever you have around the house that you are willing to sacrifice. At a minimum, you need enough room to access all four walls. Try to give yourself at least three feet between the furniture and each wall.
Next, put down some tape where the baseboard meets the floor. Use Frog Tape for this and seal it down well.
And Finally, put drop sheets down around the circumference of the room.
- Removal
Remove everything that is attached to the surfaces that you are going to paint. This includes, drapes, blinds, door handles, outlet plates on the walls. It is possible to tape some of the items off, but if possible remove them. Put them in a box so that you don’t lose any of the screws.
- Patching, Sanding, Caulking
To which level of perfection you want to take your project, it will greatly be impacted here. This is the step that is often overlooked. Professional interior painters in Surrey know that this step is key and is the first corner that some will often cut.
Inspect your walls and other surfaces thoroughly for nicks, dings, and holes. Holding a light, like the one on your phone, at an angle to the wall will help to reveal any deficiencies. With a putty knife apply filler to the imperfections.
Once the patches are dry, sand them with a sanding sponge or sandpaper until they are flush with the wall. Bigger patches may need to be filled a second time.
Next, wherever you see a crack between the moldings and the walls, apply some caulk. Also, if you see any cracks in the moldings themselves, apply some caulk there as well. Remove any excess caulk with a wet rag.
Lastly, lightly sand every surface. This is called scuff-sanding. This will remove light texture and give the surfaces a profile for the new paint to bond to.
For further information check out our guide on How to Prep Your Walls Like a Pro.
If you think hiring painters to do the work is right for you, refer to our in-depth guide on How To Prepare For Your Interior Painters.
How To Paint A Room Like Interior Painters In Surrey
- Ceilings
To paint a room, the best painters will always paint the ceiling first. There are a few reasons for this. One of them is that paint will sometimes spray from the roller, and you don’t want to get ceiling paint on other freshly painted surfaces.
The other reason, as you will see in step 3, is that it is much easier to cut the wall paint with a brush into the ceiling, than the other way around.
Step by step ceiling painting guide.
- Trim and Doors
Next, paint your window trim, door trim, baseboards, and doors. If you are not overly proficient with a paint brush, then tape off the trim once it has fully dried. I repeat, fully dried. Don’t put it on too early, because it will peel off the paint and ruin the work that you just did. I recommend using Frog Tape for this. It has a powder coating on the edge, so the wall paint won’t bleed onto the trim. Professional interior painters in Surrey will often skip the taping step because they are able to cut a straight line by hand, but unless you are up for the challenge, I recommend taping. Seal the edge down well.
For a deep dive on trim and baseboard painting, see our article.
- Walls
The last thing to paint is the walls. If everything else went well and you were successful at the taping, then the rest should be easy. Walls have the most surface area, but because of the large roller, they can be relatively quick to paint.
The most challenging part in painting a room is the cutting, this is where professional interior painters in Surrey shine. Brushwork takes practice if you want to get good at it, but with Frog Tape, you can make it look like the pros did it.
Cut in your edges first then roll the fields of the walls second.
If you are painting over a dark colour with a white or off-white, I recommend applying a coat of primer on the walls first. If you don’t want to purchase any primer then you can put on a third coat of paint instead, if necessary.
For a more in depth look at wall painting, see our guide.
- Tidy Up
Once the paint has completely dried, gently pull up the tape. If it pulls up any of the paint on the trim, then you’ll need to do some touch-up work. If you sealed the edge of the tape down really well, then you should see a nice clean line after you pull if off. If not, you can always touch that up too.
Pour the rest of the paint in your tray back into the can.
Next, pick up your drop sheets and shake them out outside. Fold them up put them away.
Reinstall all of the door handles, blinds, drapes, and outlet plates.
Remove the plastic from the furniture and do as you please with it. Throw it away or save it for a other project.
Push your furniture back, decorate the room, and voila! Well done. You painted a room. Feel good about your work! 🙂 I hope you picked some nice colours. And know that you also saved yourself a fair bit of money doing all that yourself.
If this seems a little overwhelming to paint a room, and you would like help from some professional interior painters in Surrey, give us a call! Check out our interior painting services.
Trying to determine who to hire to paint your home can be daunting. Check out or guide What Makes For The Best House Painters in Surrey, BC to help you narrow down your search.