One of the most budget friendly ways to update a room is with a little paint. But sometimes, painting SUCKS. Removing all the furniture, taping off all the edges, priming… you get it- it’s a pain. I just painted three rooms and two hallways this past week so I’m sharing my tips for painting a room that makes the process not so painful!
You can change the whole look of a room just by switching up colors. Trust me, I just did that to our house, and it’s so refreshing to see how much the rooms have changed!
Check out my master bedroom makeover and how I modernized my hallways with paint!
We had a tan color running on the walls of our kitchen that led down two hallways and into our master bedroom. It was a neutral color and didn’t look bad, but it was so BORING.
I wanted the walls to be more inviting and I was hoping that just a switch in color would do the trick.
You can have beautiful decor throughout your house, but if you have boring and bland paint colors on your walls, then things won’t flow or look quite as beautiful as you want them to.
My husband HATES painting so when I mentioned I wanted to paint most of our house, he gladly let me take this project for myself. Painting isn’t my favorite thing either, but it desperately had to be done.
Knowing I had a lot of painting to do and I was tackling this project by myself, I wanted to make sure I had the right tools to make this process as easy as possible.
So, here are my favorite tools and tips for painting a room from this past week!
5 Tips for Painting a Room
1. Pick the Right Colors
I had a LOT of painting to do and I knew I needed to make sure I had the right colors. When painting as much as I painted, the last thing you want to do is buy all the paint, paint the walls, then realize that you don’t like the color.
I painted my kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and two small hallways. All those rooms are somewhat connected. So when I looked at paint, I ideally wanted a color that would work for all those rooms.
The color I was searching for was a light neutral that was so light that it looked white by itself, but when you looked at it next to the white trim or baseboard it looked darker. I didn’t want to whitewash my whole house, but I wanted my decor to work with the walls and brighten up the rooms.
I went through SEVEN paint samples… It’s so funny how perfect a color can look in the hardware store and then when you get it on your walls, it looks NOTHING like that.
I’m pretty sure the people at Lowes and Home Depot knew I was struggling, and they were probably getting tired of me ordering sample after sample.
Finally, I settled on a Behr Marquee color called Dove.
It was my perfect neutral!
I also painted all our interior doors! It only took me two samples to find that color (thankfully).
I went for a more modern look for our hallways and since I went so light on the walls, I chose a darker color for the doors. The color I chose is Sherwin William’s Obsidian Glass.
I’m so thankful I bought samples instead of just buying paint because I didn’t go with any of my first choice colors.
Always try out the paint on your walls first! Lighting can change a color so much. I found out that my kitchen made a lot of colors look like they had a yellow tint and my bathroom made the same colors look pinkish/purple.
So always experiment with samples before buying!
2. Buy Paint with a Primer
When you’re painting as much as I was or if you’re a lazy painter like me, get good, quality paint.
I had a lot of painting to do and I did not want to prime all the walls and then paint several coats on as well.
So, I opted for the more expensive paints that were one-coat and had a primer included.
Behr Marquee at Home Depot is typically my go-to. They have a wide variety of colors and I love how easily their paint goes on my walls. I usually can do one coat with just a few next day touch ups.
I went for their premium plus paint. It’s a little more expensive, but if it prevents me from using twice as much paint (only need one coat), I don’t have to buy a separate primer, and it saves so much time. The extra money is way worth it for me.
Behr Marquee does have a wide variety of colors, but they didn’t have the exact color I was looking for for the interior doors. So, my next go-to is Sherwin Williams. I got their showcase paint and only needed one coat with some next day touch ups as well.
Buying the right paint is such a time and money saver. Plus, I have two large dogs, so I want paint that is going to hold up to a lot and last me a long time.
3. Protect your floors
No matter how careful you think you’ll be, always protect your floors! I may or may not be speaking from experience…
Paint tends to drip and splatter especially with rollers so protecting your floors is a must. Better safe than sorry!
I found a budget friendly option at Home Depot that made it easy to cover our floors and select a size that worked for each space. It was more than enough for our space!
Check it out HERE!
My dog liked it just as much as I did and I couldn’t seem to keep him off of it!
4. Use this MAGIC Tool
Out of all the tips for painting a room I have for you today, this one is by far my favorite.
I’m so thankful I stumbled across this MAGIC painting tool in Lowes! It’s called an Edger Painter and because of this tool, I never had to tape one bit of any room I took on! I am so very thankful for it because taping is my LEAST favorite part of painting a room.
The Edger Painter is so inexpensive and so easy to use!
All you do is lightly dip it in the paint and glide it along the edges of your room. I used it around windows and doorways, next to the ceilings and around outlets. It has wheels on the edge of it that help it glide along and create perfect lines between the wall and whatever you’re trying not to get paint on.
I even used it in our master bedroom in the corners when I did one accent wall and the lines came out so smooth and finished so well. You would never know I didn’t use tape!
This tool even has a spot to add a pole extender if you have tall ceilings so you can easily get in higher spots. It also has inexpensive replacement pads so you can switch colors and clean the used ones.
Check it all out!
This tool was definitely worth it!
5. Paint Around the Edges of the Room
I will say, as much as I love the Edger Painter, there’s of course spots that it couldn’t squeeze into. For those spots, I like to have a small paintbrush that flattens easily to make a straight line and can also squeeze into tight spots.
I used a brush similar to this one and the paint went on so well. I have a hard time with some brushes because they tend to leave brushstrokes. It’s not my favorite thing when I can see the difference between where I rolled paint and where I brushed.
I like to have smooth lines all around and this brush really did the trick. I also used it for touch ups on the second day.
Use the small brush to paint around all the edges, corners or around any fixtures that a roller can’t get to easily. Once you’ve painted all that, then go in with a roller and finish the larger parts of the walls.
The most time-consuming part is going around all the edges. But once you start rolling paint on, it doesn’t take much longer before you’re done.
Round-up of My Favorites Painting Tools
Builder’s Paper (floor protector)
Conclusion
Painting can be stressful and not a ton of fun. But I hope you use these tips for painting a room to help you make the process easier for yourself.
Put on your favorite tunes (or I like to play a movie in the background) and find joy in this task!
Remember that it will all be worth it in the end when you see the finish product. I had a few days of a somewhat annoying task, but I’m still so pleased with the difference it has made in our house a week later.
Push through, you’ve got this my friend!
Let me know if you try any of these tips, especially number 4! I’m interested to see how you might like that tool or if you know of one similar.