Today’s post contains the most important lessons I can impart on you. Prep work is 80% of a professional paint job. If you take the time to prep your room, it will make your paint job look flawless.

If you’re just popping in, welcome to Paint Week!

If you missed any of paint week, here’s the recap:

• Monday: How to Pick Your Paint Color
• Tuesday: How to Pick the Paint Sheens and Paint Types
• Wednesday: Prepping to Paint Your Room Like a Pro
• Thursday: How to Paint Your Room Like a Pro
• Friday: Top 15 Must Have Paint Tools

Today’s post will be about properly prepping your room before painting.

Clear the room:

Start by removing everything from your room that isn’t bolted down to the floor. The less you have to paint and maneuver around the better. Next remove anything on the walls. This includes towel bars, TP holders, pictures, outlet covers and switch plate covers. If you decide to leave a wall sconce, just know that if you ever put in a new light, you might have a spot that is unpainted.

Toilet paper holders and towel rods are easy to remove. Look underneath for  the hidden location of a screw that attaches the fixture to the mounting bracket. Inside that hole is usually either a hex screw or a flat head screw. Turn the screw until you can pull the fixture off the mounting bracket.

Cover Everything Else:

Once the room has been emptied, bring in the tarps and dropcloths. Cover anything that is left in the room. Put an old towel or doormat in the entrance of the room to wipe your feet off should you step in any drips.

Even the neatest painter will drip paint! And if you are a klutz like me, you may even step in the paint tray. (Not a good thing.)

Patch Imperfections Now: Read more

After painting every room in two houses (trim, windows and doors included), I’ve amassed a bunch of tips and tricks for achieving the perfect paint job. This week will be devoted exclusively to painting your home. Five Days with five different lessons to help you perfect your painting skills. Ready to jump into this (into the lesson, not the paint, that is.)

If you missed any of paint week, here’s the recap:

• Monday: How to Pick Your Paint Color
• Tuesday: How to Pick the Paint Sheens and Paint Types
• Wednesday: Prepping to Paint Your Room Like a Pro
• Thursday: How to Paint Your Room Like a Pro
• Friday: Top 15 Must Have Paint Tools

Grab your white pants and painter’s caps and join me today to learn how to pick the perfect paint color!

Choosing paint colors can be a daunting task. Looking at small paint chips at your local paint store can be a bit overwhelming. Especially because there are so many colors to choose from! (That can be a good thing too, in my opinion.) I can’t tell you how many times I picked up a few paint swatches of what I considered to be the perfect color, only to get home and wonder, “Who the heck picked out these ugly colors?” That’s because a color will look different in your home compared to that evenly lit display at the store.

You may think that the difference happens based on what light bulbs you use. That is one factor, but there are other factors at play. Do you have windows in your room? What direction do they face? Do you have a lot of trees outside? What season is it? Believe it or not, the light that is being reflected from outside your window will change the color on your walls. If you have a lot of leafy green trees, this will cast a green hue on your walls. Or if you live ocean side with a beautiful view of the water (you lucky duck) this can change your wall colors too. For the same reason, if you are picking a color in the winter and it’s stark white outside, know that when the trees fill out your color will look very different. This is why I rarely choose a paint color in the winter. 3/4 of the year we have lots of foliage on our trees.

With all these factors at play, it may seem impossible to choose a color. Rest assured, I have a sure fire way to choose a paint color you will love!

1. Pick Colors that are Less Bold

Almost every time I pick a color that I think looks amazing in person, when it’s enlarged to cover an entire wall, it ends up being too bold. For that reason, I know to chose paint swatches that are more muted. They may look dull on the chip, but in mass it will look more pleasing to the eye.

2. Create Larger Paint Chips. Looking at tiny paint chips won’t help you conceptualize that color over the entire wall. Making large paint swatches using foam board and sample paints is easy and can save you time when choosing the ideal paint color. I put together this short video to show you how I helped the school librarian select a paint color for the school library. Read more