Paint Your Home, Paint Your Dreams

I went to my Uncle’s home for a summer vacation. Well, the word ‘vacation’ itself brings me joy, where I can relax from my daily chores. It's a great time to hang out with my family, friends, relatives, traveling to my homeland, exploring new things, trying new hobbies, and learning my inner self. I was excited and thrilled to travel to my Uncle’s home which was 6000 miles away from my place. My Uncle picked me up from the airport and it's a happy moment to see my Uncle’s family after a long time. The next day, my Uncle told me that we are going to paint our home as the summer is the perfect season because it's dry and warm as painting in the winter / rainy season will make us redo the work often. I was thinking of helping my Uncle, amusing him with my pattern designs and the explosion of fun colors. But in reality, a lot more goes into the painting than I might guess. I decided to take up a new hobby of painting with tips, Ideas, and Instructions from my Uncle. Are you a Self Painter? If yes, travel along with me till the end of this blog so we learn and have fun together.

As a painting and a decorating enthusiast, my Uncle shared some ideas and instructions from his experience which helps all new painters to avoid the steep learning curve, giving a perfect finish as a newly built home. The main purpose / The Need for painting is

• To sell our homes faster to the prospective buyers by improving the curb appeal, thereby increasing the value of the house.
• Can manipulate dimensions of the ceiling height or to hide any structural flaws with paints if we know how it can be done.
• Can help to restore, protect or to extend the life of damaged surfaces, we prefer painting as more economical.
• If we love the look of a decorative and more appealing home, we can paint with fun colors and patterns making a home a brighter space to live in.

His Useful Tips and Tricks include,

• Planning a Painting Project: Before picking up a paintbrush, it's good to have a rough plan about the condition of the room/house, our personal preference about paint colors, the overall budget, choosing the right time of the year probably summer or early fall, etc., This helps to ensure that our painting project leads to a happy and satisfactory finished painting.
• Gathering the right materials: Using the right materials for house painting makes the job easier, fun, and enjoyable. Most painters prefer Quality Paints ( 100% acrylic latex ), painter tapes, Paintbrushes of different sizes, drop cloth fo easy cleanup, Paint tray / Paint buckets, Ladder, Paint rollers and its extension poles, sandpaper, Wall preparation supplies, Primers, etc.
• Wall Preparation: Cleaning the surface to be painted is very important for a neat painting. The holes, cracks are patched up with caulks and the dirt are easily cleaned up with damp cloth for interior or pressure washer for exterior and using sandpaper for even surfaces. This helps to clean up all spiderwebs, wasp nests, or the leaves in the exterior for a smooth and easy painting.
• Testing paint swatches: As the paint color changes completely depending on the light in each part of the room/house, its better to test sample of paints using a poster board or a foam sheet instead of directly on the wall, so that you can move it around the home for greater visualization.
• Priming the wall: Priming is mandatory to new dry walls or painting over a dark color. It helps to block stains, giving a nice one-coat coverage and paint adhesion to the walls and ceilings. If you feel it's a time-consuming process, you can prime the areas like Bare spots, Bare wood, wood filler, or the rust-stained area. Some prefer self - priming paint as a time-saving option.
• Mixing the paint: Though paint mixing is an optional thing, it's important to give a quick stir as it is a Pro method called boxing the paint, and straining the paint helps to get rid of impurities on the walls for smooth and neat finishing.
• Get Rolled on walls: If you are painting a room with two colors, use painter tapes between lighter and darker colors. If you are painting a room with one color, You can use a brush and a roller for small flat surfaces or the paint sprayer for larger areas.
• Finishing touches and a cleanup: Uncovering the furniture, ground areas, and other items at home, cleaning the brushes with the paint brushing combs for quick and easy cleanup, restoring all the leftover paints by transferring from tray or grid to the paint boxes and sealing it tightly.

Finally, I and my Uncle painted the whole building which gives life to our home. Though it was fun and enjoyable, I understood that it takes a considerable amount of work and time to brighten up our space which is worth it. After all, if we are equipped with the Right supplies and having a handle on the basics, it will help us paint like a Pro.