Amy’s Painted House

Painting a room is a great way to give it an almost an entirely new look. When done properly it can look fantastic. When done improperly, however, it can look like a giant mess. This is a guide to common interior painting mistakes that, when avoided, will help your room look like the former and not the latter.

Preparation

Inadequate preparation ensures that no matter what you do during the painting process, the result will always turn out badly. Adequately prepare your walls for their makeover by cleaning them, removing dirt and mildew, removing any paint that’s old and peeling, and applying a general amount of primer to them.

Rushing

Impatient people aren’t going to like this one, but when you’re painting you have to take your time. Rushing to get the job done will only show your shoddy workmanship. The only positive thing about rushing is that it means that less time will have passed before the paint dries and it reveals that you did not apply the proper amount of coats, neglected some spots, and applied some too heavily. Streaks can appear and your former paint job, no matter how old, will look like a palace in comparison. Instead, take your time and slowly apply even codes. You might think you’re wasting time, but going slowly is nothing compared to having to do everything over!

Painter’s Tape

Repeat after me: painter’s tape is my friend; painter’s tape is my friend. One of the most common mistakes in painting is the failure to apply painter’s tape around those edges that you don’t want to see covered in paint such as light switches, electric outlets, and ceilings. One stray swipe of the paintbrush can create an eyesore that will draw anyone’s eyes away from your beautiful wall color to the careless mistake you made. Applying a strip of painter’s tape as a border between that which should be painted and that which shouldn’t is an expensive way to prevent an annoying mistake.

The Right Tools

Another common interior painting mistake that many people make is to use the wrong tools for the job. Unfortunately, there’s no one magical tool for all your painting needs, so two or three will have to suffice. For painting the majority of the wall, the tall and wide areas, use a roller with a small handle. When applying paint to the edges and other hard to paint places, use a small, delicate paint brush. There are also angled trim brushes for curves and angles. Every room is different, so make sure you find the tools that are right for you.…

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To some people, it looks like an ordinary picture that could be done by a Kindergartener. To others, it looks like an inviting, bright painting. To the more cultured type, it would immediately be recognized as a painting by famed abstract artist, Mark Rothko. And to one art connoisseur on May 16th, the painting, White Center, looked like an essential piece to his collection.

Mark Rothko painted White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender Rose) in 1950. This painting set the precedent for this artist's work. Rothko's artwork that followed was consistent with his style of numerous variations of color and tone. Painted during Rothko's most productive period, it measures at 81 inches by 55.5 inches. The background is a mix of red, pink and orange. Three broad bands of yellow, white and lavender paint dominate this background. These colors are divided by thin strokes of green stripes. Don't be fooled by its chaotic sound. Rothko carefully organizes the colors into an optimistic arrangement.

White Center first garnered headlines earlier in April when David Rockefeller decided to sell the painting he first bought in 1960 for $10,000. Auction sites, Christine's and Sotheby's, began an intense bidding war until the painting eventually went to Sotheby's. Oliver Barker of the auction house described the painting as a masterpiece. Excited by their new acquisition, Barker reported that the auction house had never shown such a promising contemporary art lot in its history.

Because sending paintings to auction can be risky, Sotheby's offered to guarantee a minimum price that Rockefeller would receive, no matter how much the painting received in the sale. While Sotheby's refuses to reveal the amount of the minimum payment, sources say the auction house guaranteed Rockefeller, one of the richest men in America, at least $46 million. Rockefeller, already valued at almost $2.5 billion, did not need to worry about being stiffed with a low auction price. White Center became the most expensive contemporary work to sell at an auction after fetching $72.8 million.

Those in the auction industry continue to look for reasons why the painting left several records in the dust. Some believe Rockefeller's impressive credentials drove the painting's price so high. It hung in his office at the Chase Manhattan Bank. Furthermore, Rockefeller is recognized as a great collector of modern art. Sotheby's also promoted the painting through advertising, international tours, and allowing potential buyers to hang it in their homes temporarily.

The eventual buyer, who requested to remain anonymous, was described as a small, bearded man. He held off five others during the bidding war.…

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The idea of completely remodeling your home is rather exciting. After all, you are looking forward to creating a completely new look for your home, and the sheer anticipating of waiting on all of the work to be done is rather exciting. Yet there are sometimes problems with ensuring that all of the work is organized in a logical manner that works out best. After all, scheduling work in the wrong order can cause delays, as well as problems in your freshly painted walls being damaged or your fresh floors being damaged. Ensuring you avoid these problems is essential to having the best experience possible.

Typically, it is best to schedule painting on a day when the temperatures are not very cold. This will allow the paint to dry much faster. If possible, you should try to schedule painting on a day that has very little if any humidity and is at least a warm temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. This provides the optimal circumstances for paint to dry and will allow it to dry much faster with fewer complications.

Once you have the best temperatures possible to work with you can feel free to move onto determining exactly where in the process to schedule the painters. Typically, the best advice is to hire a general contractor who will be responsible for coordinating everyone to ensure that all of the appropriate tasks are followed. However, if you are doing this part yourself you are not completely without hope. The first step is ensure that all work to the walls is finished before scheduling the painters. This will allow you to ensure that the painters are not trying to paint walls that are not completed yet.

You should in an ideal world schedule the painters as the very last group of contractors to come into your home. If you take the time to put the painters last, you will not have to worry about dust or debris that is in the air floating around getting stuck in the paint and causing a strange appearance, nor will you have to worry about other crews accidently bumping into the wet paint and causing problems. However, worst case scenario you could also schedule the painters to come a few days before the floors were finished.

If possible doing floors before painting is best since the painters can easily cover the floors, but the floor crew cannot easily cover the walls. It is sometimes not always possible to have work done in the perfect order, but if possible you should strive for this order to ensure that your finished home looks the best possible. With some coordination ahead of time, you should not have many difficulties in working to organize all of your contractors, this leaves you with more time to ensure you have selected the best paint colors for your needs, as well as keep the entire project running as smoothly as possible.…

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Another in my faux finish painting series is the dragging technique. This technique will create a streaked effect that looks and feels like elegant wallpaper. It is very important to choose your paint colors carefully. Your base coat is going to be the stripes in your new wall. I recommend using a lighter color as your base coat and a darker color as your top coat. Some suggestions would be a gold shade for the base coat and a rich brown for your top coat; or a silvery blue for the base coat and burgundy for the top coat. Either of these will lend the elegant look you are going for.

This is a fun project to do but if you are doing it alone then you must move quickly when doing the top coat or the paint will set and not give you the effect you desire.

For this project you will need the following things: low tack tape, paint tray, paint roller, disposable latex gloves, a dry brush or other combing device (such as a broom), paper towels, and 2 colors of either flat or satin paint. Semi-gloss paint is not a good choice for this technique.

Start with prepping your walls. Repair any damage done such as holes or cracks with spackling, then lightly sand. Next, tape off areas that you don't want painted; like the baseboards, crown molding, door jams and window seals and frames.

Paint the entire room in your base coat and let it dry for 2-4 hours. I usually let it dry overnight. Doing this ensures that the base coat is completely dry. Factors such as room temperature and humidity will affect the drying time of paint. Therefore, waiting till the next day is always a safe bet.

Brush on the top coat in a 3 foot wide section going from top to bottom. The top coat should be dragged immediately. Start at the top and pull the broom or combing device down to the bottom. This must be done without lifting the device from the surface. Immediately after dragging the first set; clean the broom or combing device on a paper towel and continue dragging the section. Overlap this one a little bit with the first dragging so that there are no breaks in it.

It's much easier if you can get a partner to do the dragging as you do the rolling. This will ensure that the work goes smoothly without you having to rush before the top coat sets.

Now you have a beautifully painted wall that, without close inspection, appears as elegant wallpaper.…

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