Guest Blogger: How to Prepare for a DIY Painting Project

Guest Blog #70, Entry #513, May 3, 2011

One of the most affordable DIY (do it yourself) projects is painting. Whether you are painting walls, or furniture, painting is a relatively easy project to learn, as well as less time consuming than many other DIY projects that homeowners take on.

Getting ready for a DIY painting project, here are tips to help!

Today, our Guest Blogger, shows you how to prepare for a DIY painting project, to help save you money, time, and frustration!

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There are two things you need to consider before picking up your paintbrush to begin a new home painting project. The first is determining how much paint you will need to complete the project, and the second is deciding whether a primer is needed to get the correct coverage on your walls.

The easiest part is deciding how much paint you will need, while figuring out the primer situation is a little more involved. We will guide you through the steps so that you can get started quickly!

To begin calculating the quantity of paint needed, you will first need to measure all of the surfaces to be painted (height and width). Once you have the measurements written down, go to the paint calculator and enter in your wall measurements, the number of doors in the room, the number of windows in the room and the ceiling height. Then click on “compute” and you will see in the “output” section of the calculator the “wall gallons” amount. Now, armed with the amount of paint that you will need, you can next decide if you will need a primer applied to your walls before actually painting them with a color.

Make your life easier with preparation and helpful tips

To find out if you need a primer, look at the condition of your walls. If they are new, unpainted drywall, you will always need to apply a coat of primer first – otherwise the paint won’t stick and/or look blotchy.

If you see a coat or two of previously applied paint on the walls, consider the new paint color that you are choosing to paint over the current color. If your new paint color is dramatically lighter or darker than the current paint color, then you will want a primer to cover up the existing paint first.

The primer application will actually save you money because it will allow you to use much less of your new colored paint (primer is usually cheaper than paint). The paint will also go on much smoother and the finish will look much more even when completed. You will need to purchase the same amount of primer gallons as your colored paint quantity.

The only thing left to determine before you go to buy paint and/or primer is to decide on the color of primer to purchase. This will also depend on your new paint color. As a rule of thumb, if your new paint is a light color, then purchase a regular white primer. If the new paint color is dark and saturated, have the primer tinted to blend with your new paint color (this won’t cost you anything, all you have to do is ask).

And if you need help choosing interior paint colors see this list of best paint colors for your home.

Watch Stagetecture’s You Tube Channel for more DIY ideas