How To Prep A Room For Painting

Planning on painting a room in your home sometime soon? If you need help with that, Groovy Hues Painting Painting & Power Washing of Greater Philadelphia can send some of the top interior painters in Philadelphia, PA, to your location to provide assistance. But if you want to tackle this project on your own, make sure you prep the room to ensure that the walls are the only thing that gets painted!

Use this step-by-step guide as a reference to help you prepare any room in your home for painting:

Step 1: Clear Out the Room

First, you will have to remove any furniture that can be easily lifted — it’s best to have help from a partner, roommate, family member, etc. while moving heavy furniture. Next, take down posters, pictures, paintings, and anything else you have hanging on the walls you plan to paint. Don’t forget about the light switches and outlets — remove their covers with a screwdriver and cover the exposed components with painter’s tape. If you haven’t already removed clothes, accessories, and other personal items from the room, do that before moving on to the next step — everything you can lift should be taken out of the room!

Step 2: Tidy Up the Walls

If there are any holes in the wall, fill them with spackle and come back a day later once everything dries. Once that’s done, you should sand the walls — especially areas you patched with spackle — with a sanding block or 220-grit sandpaper. Sanding will help the walls hold primer and paint better. Lastly, grab a sponge, some dish soap, and a bucket of warm water, and scrub your walls to get rid of any dirty spots you notice. Make sure to wring the sponge out occasionally to ensure that you’re not just smearing the dirt around. Before you start priming or painting, make sure the walls are completely dry.

Step 3: Cover the Floor & Furniture

While your walls are drying, start covering the floor and any furniture you weren’t able to move. For the furniture, you can get plastic covers at almost any local hardware or furniture store. Use tape to ensure that the fixtures are securely covered. And for the floors, you should place drop cloths around the perimeter of the room. Place them right up against the wall and tape them to the floor so they stay in place.

Step 4: Prime the Walls

Applying primer to the walls before painting will ensure that the new color stands out and looks uniform throughout each wall. If you plan to paint your walls with oil-based paint, you will need to use an oil-based primer. Use latex primer for all other types of paint.

Need help with any of these steps? Want to hire professional painters to take care of the job for you? Just call Groovy Hues Painting Painting & Power Washing of Greater Philadelphia. From South Street to Fishtown, our interior painting services have made so many homes more beautiful — contact us today to beautify your home!