Most people start cringing as the time to begin house painting draws near. Artistic expression and creative liberty take a back seat, all the planned ideas start seeming impractical, and what stays afore is the laborious task at hand.

A single mistake can render futile – or at least take all the charm away. But, a smart man still looks ahead at the final result without dreading any careless mistake along the way, because he has at hand a few tips that help him work around any problems.

So when painting your home, don’t fear what may go wrong. Instead, wait eagerly for when it all turns out alright with these smart tips as your guide:

• Painting directly over oily, dirty, surfaces will prove to be fruitless as the paint will easily peel off. Clean grimy areas with a heavy-duty cleaner before painting to solve this problem.

• Mix a few cans of paint beforehand to maintain a consistent colour throughout the room. Opening a new paint can while in the middle of a wall might leave slightly varying shades of the colour. Mixing the same paints together eliminates the problem.

• Paint the trim before the walls and the ceiling. It’s easier to tape off the trim than it is to tape off the walls. While painting the trim, one doesn’t need to be neat either as the paint that gets onto the walls is covered later.

• A single coat of paint isn’t usually able to hide the underlying colour on the trim. To ensure a smooth finish, one must sand the trim before each coat of paint is applied.

• Avoid lap marks by rolling up to the full height of the wall and keeping a wet edge. Lap marks occur when one paints over a part that has partly dried already. Maintain a wet edge by reloading the roller often.

• Treat wall patches with prime and texture to avoid a blotchy finish. Wall patches absorb the paint and dull the surface. Primer seals the patches and blocks the paint from sinking in.

• For a perfect edge, let the paint dry before cutting the tape loose. Since paint forms a film between the tape and the wall, removing the tape also tears a little dried paint off the wall. To avoid this, slice through the film with a sharp knife when the paint is completely dry.

With these few tips ready at your hand and quality house paints ready by your side, your experience at house painting is going to be a memorable one – even if it’s your first try.

Article originally published at Source by Danish Malik