Painting and decorating: what you need to consider for your next DIY project
Are you renovating, freshening up a room or breathing new life into a piece of old furniture? Painting and decorating can be rewarding if you follow some important trade tips. Who hasn’t experienced that feeling of satisfaction when standing back from a wall you’ve just painted and thinking, “I did that!” Tips for successful DIY painting and decorating include preparation, quality products and easy access to your tools and materials.
Painting and decorating: preparation makes perfect
Spend a few hours ensuring you have all the materials that you’ll need for your painting and decorating DIY project. Having all tools and materials at hand will help you keep things organised, simple and ensure you do the neatest job in the most time efficient manner. If you’re not sure what you’ll need, chat to a professional and take notes. This will help you avoid the frustration of forgetting an important tip when you’re in the middle of a project. A visit to a specialised hardware store such as Garlick’s H Hardware can be more productive than getting lost in the aisles of a large chain outlet.
Painting and decorating: invest in a kit for small areas
You can prevent a DIY disaster with an ‘All Round All Finish’ kit. Available at Garlick’s H Hardware, it is an ideal kit for trim work, doors, cupboards and small areas. The kit includes a tray, cage frame, mohair sleeve for gloss and semi-gloss and a fabric roller for low sheen and flat paints.
Painting and decorating: invest in a brush set
Use quality brushes in different sizes. We recommend investing in a (5cm) synthetic bristle brush for cutting in the edges of the room you are combating. Compare individual brush prices to handy bulk packs.
Painting and decorating: how to avoid drips and splatters
The only thing worse than drips and splatter is drips that dry, creating unsightly lumps and unwanted effects on your walls. To avoid a DIY renovating disaster, use the “W/M” technique to distribute the bulk of the paint. This means painting the letter M, followed by W with the roller to fill in the empty area with a proper paint job. This ensures you get even paint coverage.
Painting and decorating: choose quality paint
It’s worth investing in high quality paint. For ceilings, high opacity architectural paint is specially formulated to reduce drip and splatter during application. The ultra-flat finish hides imperfections.
Painting and decorating: leave the windows for later
If you end up splashing the windows with paint, you should wait until it’s dry and remove it later with a paint scraper.
Here at Garlick’s H Hardware in Muswellbrook, we regularly assist customers who are looking to take on DIY painting and decorating projects and we would like to share some of our top tips with you.
Stop by our Sydney Street shop today to browse our product range or ask our friendly team a question. Phone our store on 02 6543 2139.