A lot of homeowners try to paint their homes on their own, because they think that grabbing a brush and stroking it on the walls is all there is to it. However, it’s not true. There are a lot of factors at play that only experts are aware of.
Besides hiring an expert to do the job, here are some tips that can help you pick the right paint for your home:
Do Your Research First
The paint for your home shouldn’t just be there to color the walls, but also to brighten your mood every time you walk into your home. To make this happen, you must choose high quality paint.
The first step towards finding the right paint is to conduct some research.
Find A Reliable Company
The paint you buy should come from a reliable company because quality matters. Buying paints from a trusted paint company will get you high quality paints that are durable and vibrant.
They should be free of hazardous chemicals, because the use of such paints can put you and your family’s health at risk.
Spend some time on the internet looking up several paint companies to see which ones are licensed and have good reviews regarding quality and safety.
Choose The Right Color
The paint for your house needs to blend in with the overall theme of your home, which includes the furniture, wall decor and floors. Bright colors are trending these days, as they literally brighten up the house and your mood as well.
Another thing to consider, is what kind of look you want. If bright colors make you uneasy and make it difficult for you to sleep, then going for dull colors is your best bet.
At the end of the day, we return to our homes to get rest and loosen up, hence, it is better to go for colors that give you a calm feeling, and help you relax when you enter your home.
Hire An Experienced Painter
Last but not the least, hiring an experienced painter is what you need to do next. It does not matter how good the paint is, if it isn’t applied properly, it will not look good on the walls.
The benefit of hiring professionals is that they know how to fix damages and spots. So, it’s wise to spend a few more dollars and have professionals take care of things for you.
If you are not a fan of paint, you may consider wallpapers as they provide the same benefits. A good choice is MuraleDesign, as the company offers a wide range of options. Just pick something that meets your taste.
This is a sponsored guest post, the ideals and views expressed are not necessarily those of Mommy Ramblings.
Winter is a good time to tackle some indoor home improvement projects. You would be surprised at what a fresh coat of paint can do to chase the doldrums of winter away. So, if you are ready to freshen up your walls, check out these 5 helpful painting tips to help you paint like a pro.
Safety First:
Protect your eyes from paint drips or flying debris with a pair of plastic safety glasses or goggles. Make sure your room is adequately ventilated and if you are using any product with strong fumes, wear a respirator.
Prep First:
No matter how excited you are to get that color on the walls, you cannot skip the prep. Check your walls for cracks, holes, dents, stains or other imperfections. For most issues, a lightweight spackling compound and putty knife will be all you need. Just apply the compound and remove the excess. Allow the area to fully dry then sand lightly until the area is smooth and uniform with the rest of the wall.
Remove dirt and debris by washing down the walls. Remove all outlet covers, pictures, hooks, nails etc. Remove as much furniture and belongings as possible. Having a clear space will make painting much easier. Using a painter’s masking tape, tape the room to prevent paint getting on the molding. Cover the floors with drop cloths.
Use Primer:
Primers are developed to help seal your walls, prevent mold and stains and can even be tinted to the color of the paint you are using. Since primer is less expensive than paint, using a tinted primer means you won’t need as many coats of paint and that will save you money. You can buy a paint and primer in one too, but when you are painting on new drywall, you will want to use a primer first no matter what type of paint you are using.
Cut In:
Start by cutting in with the primer or paint/primer. You want to cut in where the ceiling meets the wall, around windows and doors and where the walls meet the baseboard. It is best to do this one wall at a time. You should cut in and paint the wall and then move on to the next for the best looking results.
Load your roller and start at the top, roll a W or a V shape over a section of the wall and continue until the sections is covered. Then move on to the next, reloading your roller as needed. Allow ample time for the first coat to dry before accessing if you need a second coat.
Clean Up:
Remove the painter’s tape, if left on too long it can become difficult to remove. Clean paint brushes, rollers and roller trays per manufacturer’s instructions. Tightly seal paint cans. Before putting outlet covers back on you can put a piece of masking tape to the back and write what paint color you used on it.
I hope this post inspired you to take on those dingy walls in your home. There are so many color options out there and even if you are not ready for a big color change, you could do one accent wall to make the room pop. Let me know if these tips helped you and tell me all about your project in the comments. Happy painting!
The pencils colored so effortlessly and smoothly while the GRIP-Zone provided secure handling which worked especially well, when coloring in narrow lines, and other small detail areas. Using a bit of water on the paint brush, we could create a watercolor paint effect to our designs.
This set is ideal for beginning artists. The kit includes quality art materials and step-by-step illustrated project instructions.
The four Graphite Pencils vary in lead density and the book explains when to use each one. Kit also contains 2 Black Ink pens with varying point sizes, a 24 page Sketchbook, Colored Paper, Tracing Paper, a 20-Page Instruction Booklet, Copy Grid, Pencil Sharpener, Eraser and Clear Zippered Pencil Pouch.
The booklet is very easy to follow and explains art concepts and techniques in terms and images that kids can easily see and understand.
The Watercolor Pencil Art Kit is another beginning art kit with quality art materials and step-by-step illustrated instruction booklet. This kit teaches children to paint with Watercolor EcoPencils and explains the techniques in words and images they can clearly understand and see.
The kit includes 10 Watercolor Pencils, Clear Zippered Pouch, 24 Page Watercolor Paper Pad, 20-Page Instruction Booklet, Pencil Sharpener and Paintbrush.
We love these products so much, you will find them on Mommy Ramblings’ Holiday Gift Guide.
Creativity For Kids is sponsoring a giveaway on Mommy Ramblings. One lucky blog reader will win All Three Creativity For Kids Products and Kits Shown Above! Thank you to Creativity For Kids for the review art kits and products and for sponsoring this amazing giveaway on Mommy Ramblings!!! Open to US residents.
Creativity For Kids Art Kits & GRIP Watercolor Pencil Set Giveaway on Mommy Ramblings Rules:
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A few rocks I made for my daughter.
And that led to this:
I have a neat project I am almost done with and will show you soon, it’s a great idea for someone who loves plants but has a brown thumb.
If you want to try this, it’s easy. Just collect your rocks, paint and seal them with Mod Podge. I just use craft paint you can find in any craft store or even Walmart. Also, for details you can use the Elmer’s Painter Pens. Share with me if you try this, I would love to see your creations!
Happy National Painting Week! Are you working on any painting projects? You know I have a bunch in the works with all the home improvement we are doing. Next on the list for me is to pick the paint color for the new master bath and master bedroom projects. I will update when I make a decision but in the meantime check out Sherwin-Williams helpful tips, color ideas and projects at SWPaintingWeek.com.
Next we really wanted to give our poor tired blue vinyl shutters a big lift. I will tell you all about how we picked the paint and the color and lots of painting tips to make sure you get excellent results. I have so many shutters on my house I am just about halfway through or at least that is what I am telling myself.
So stay tuned for the full posts and reveal of the lights and the shutters and we have so much more we are going to be bringing you. Hope you are in the mood for a bit of spiffing up around the house. For reference all the Curb Appeal posts can be found on the Curb Appeal page of our blog.
I am so excited to announce that Mommy Ramblings will be debuting a brand new series of posts. Our first one will be Curb Appeal. Curb Appeal is going to highlight great DIY projects big and small the homeowner can do to give their home a face-lift and increase its value.
Some projects we will be featuring in the series will be:
We will then have other series featuring interior fixes, decorating, painting, interior lighting upgrades and more. The posts will run with the main posts but will have their own page so they can be referenced easily. We hope you will enjoy this new addition to our blog and we will do our best to give you step by step instructions, full product information and more to help you recreate what you see.
So stay tuned it is going to start very soon!!!
We picked it up and were glad to see all the great features it had. The chair slides forward and back and swivels. The desk has two different upright positions and it was in great shape. Now I just wanted to repaint and refinish the seat so I had to decide on colors. I chose a gloss gray Rustoleum paint in a can and a red gloss Rustoleum paint that I used both spray and paint on versions. For the seat, I sanded and then used a Minwax Polyshades all in one stain and varnish. I love the way it turned out. What do you think?
Here is the picture on Craigslist:
Here I am in the middle of painting, I was painting the inside, which I sprayed.
About the desk:
As I was painting I found the patent in many places and on the portion of the top that holds it in the 2 different upright positions I found this stamped in the metal.
It is from the American Seating Company and is a Model Ten Twenty for which you can see an original ad below. The desk was from the 1950s.
I am almost done with the school desk you will see below. The little chair you see is a chair from my table and chair set as a child I am redoing them again. The picture with the blue paint is when I ripped of the old decals I had on them. I am going to decoupage fabric onto both chairs and then paint the table either a turquoise or grape and put it up in my studio/sewing/craft room.
We also had to take time to play and play we did, I am not afraid to let my kids get dirty climbing and jumping on our land. It’s nothing a hot bath can’t fix. Of course it’s great to end the day as a family seated around our fire pit with our dogs, husband playing the guitar and lots of smores. Truly just a few of my favorite things that I am so blessed to be a part of. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. What have you been up to?
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What I didn’t like about it, was the nearly $600 price tag. I started a search for something else, and in my search, I found an antique vanity for $35 on Craigslist. They also had a $50 antique desk I bought as well, but that’s another post.
Anyway, with the vanity in hand, I needed to learn how to paint, distress and antique it to make it amazing. In my search, I discovered an awesome blog called, Oopsredone. Browsing the site, I saw a few things she did in a turquoise paint called Holiday Cozumel Aqua that she later distressed and antiqued with Minwax stain. I bought a gallon of the paint and started doing some ladder back chairs which will be featured in a future post. However, after painting the chairs, and noticing all the details on the vanity, I wanted to make things easier.
Armed with my paint chip, I found a very close match in a Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X satin spray paint in a color called Lagoon. I bought the Rust-Oleum Painter Touch Ultra Cover 2X Gray spray primer as well and drove home to get to work sanding. I fixed one flaw in the top with Elmer’s Carpenters Max wood fill and then sanded, but since I wanted a distressed look, I decided to keep the edges the way they were.
I primed, sanded with a fine sandpaper and spray painted the vanity. After that dried, I sanded lightly with a fine sandpaper and sprayed on another coat of paint. Next, I used Rust-Oleum Transformations, Decorative Glaze in Java Brown. I had tried the Minwax stain method on the ladder back chairs, but it was harder to work with, and had a tendency to keep the piece sticky for some time.
I am so glad I tried the glaze, I absolutely love the results and the ease of use. You just apply it and then wipe it off using varying pressure. It is specially formulated to give you more time to work, so you can get the results you desire. After that, I applied 2 coats of Minwax Polyurethane Satin to protect the finish. Finally, I added some new hardware, and decoupaged some fun paper in the drawers and on the inside of the cabinet and door back.
The pictures do not do the piece justice. and I will take some more once I get it set up inside, I have some little things I am going to show you in another post about how I am organizing everything. Anyway, If you have any questions on how I did anything. just ask in the comments.