Nov 10 2008
Many homeowners plan to spend the upcoming holiday season at home. They will open their doors to celebrate with family and friends. Homeowners can gain big, easy returns with interior paint by adding a colorful touch to their living space with a minimal time investment of one or two weekends.
“By simply painting those dull and out-of-date walls, homes will shine this holiday season. Interior painting remains one of the easy ways to inexpensively update your home,” Debbie Zimmer, paint and color expert with the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute says.
Interior Painting Tips
1. Prepare the Surface
Good preparation requires the surface be clean and sound. Check for handprints, greasy fingerprints, as well as dirt and scuff marks. Lightly sand glossy spots so the new paint will adhere properly.
2. Pick the Correct Tools
For latex paint application, purchase synthetic materials because they will hold their shape and maintain the proper stiffness when used with water-based paints. The general rules for naps are the smoother the surface, the shorter the nap; the rougher the surface, the longer the nap.
3. Decide on the Appropriate Paint Sheen and Color
If you are unsure of which color to use, purchase small quantities of a few you like and try them out in the room you will be painting. It’s important to view the color in both daylight and at night because the color may appear different based on the lighting within the space.
Sheen is another factor. Higher sheen paints tend to offer a bit more durability than flat paints and are appropriate in areas that get a lot of use. Satin or low lustre finishes tend to impart more warmth and depth to a room than a flat paint. The ceiling is a great place to use higher sheen paint for additional lighting reflection.
4. Purchase Quality Paints
Always purchase top quality acrylic latex interior paint. A quality latex paint will go on smoothly and allows easy soap and water clean up for long lasting beauty.
Visit www.paintquality.com to enter the “Spruce Up Your Home” competition. One Grand Prize winner will receive a package valued at more than $20,000, including an exterior home paint job and $8,000 home improvement gift card. Eight first place winners will receive a new paint exterior for their home. In addition to Zimmer, the judging panel includes Doug Wilson, author/designer and host of TLC’s Moving Up and Trading Spaces; Brian Schenk, corporate partnerships manager, Arbor Day Foundation; Liz Robinson, executive director, Energy Coordinating Agency; and Katie Hunt, director of sustainability for Rohm and Haas.