A new coat of paint can do a lot for a room! Make your job look like a professional one with a few easy tips. L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc. have prepared a helpful interior painting preparation guide below.

Interior House Painting Preparation Checklist, Steps & Tips

1. Don’t try to work around furniture. If you have a lot of furniture, consider renting a storage container or move it out into the garage. Shoving it into the hallway just makes things difficult and can cause potential accidents or damage. Items that are just too big to move out of the room can be moved into the middle of the room and covered with plastic to protect it.
2. If you are keeping your existing flooring, then you’ll need to protect it. Use drop cloths through the entire room and not just a few sheets of newspaper under the paint tray. Drop cloths are better as plastic can get holes in it and move around as you work. The right drop cloth will protect your flooring from spills and if you step on paint that has dripped, the cloth drop cloth will absorb it before you walk through the rest of your home where plastic will not. Butyl-backed drop cloths are soak proof too, so paint won’t seep through to your floor.
3. It’s just silly to leave pictures on the wall. After your room is painted a different color you may want to change the pictures anyway, so take everything off the walls and store them in another room before you start painting. If you think you may want to change where the pictures are then remove the nails and fill the holes before painting.
4. It important to clean the walls before you start painting them. You will get smooth results when the dust and dirt have been wiped off and smudges can’t show through a coat of paint. Use a mixture of warm water and a mild detergent to clean them. Tougher stains may need a stronger solution. Trisodium phosphate works great and will also remove mildew stains. Just make sure the walls are rinsed and given enough time to dry before you start to paint.
5. Many people will cut corners and leave outlet covers and switch plates in place. It looks unprofessional when outlet covers and switch plates have paint on them so remove them and be careful not to get any paint on the actual sockets or the switches themselves. If you are painting the ceiling, you should remove the light fixtures beforehand.
6. To avoid smearing paint on your baseboards and trim, you need to tape them. It looks sloppy if you don’t. Make sure you use painters tape as it’s designed differently than regular tape. While this step is time consuming, you’ll be so glad you did when you see the nice sharp lines you’ve created.
7. Set up an area where you will have all your supplies so that everything is at the ready. This will help prevent spills and accidents and everything will be in one place, saving you time as you won’t be searching for tools and supplies. Use an old folding table covered with plastic in the center of the room.

Professional Interior Painting in Amagansett, East Hampton, Southampton, Wainscott, Bridgehampton, Montauk, Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Watermill, Westhampton & The Hamptons New York

When you’re ready to change your home up a little with a fresh coat of new paint, call L.W. Winslow Painting, Inc. We’ll take care of everything from color consulting to preparation and painting to ensuring you are ecstatic with the end result!