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Why Make Painting A Room Difficult?

Author: sharecropperbob
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After having had such a great time on my fourth mini vacation of the year, my wife must have decided that I'd had just too much fun and I was going to have to do penance. Her method of torture was to make me paint a couple of rooms that were, in her eyes, becoming dull and in dire need of paint!

I approach painting a room as I do almost everything; why make work of something that could be fun if you give it half a chance? Painting is such a project. I pretend that I'm creating a masterpiece that will be praised by all. At the same time I put as little effort into painting as I possibly can. If you don't watch it, you can make painting seem like work!

We want a stress free painting experience so we'll only buy a few things we need instead of spending a lot of money. Spending money to most of us is stressful so we'll do as little of that as possible. You'll need a good paintbrush, probably one that will use latex paints, since that's the overwhelming choice today for paints. You will also need a roller and a roller handle along with a paint tray.

Since you will always have holes in the wall, you'll also need a small can of spackling paste and a putty knife. Other than some kind of drop cloths to cover the floor and furniture, that's all you need to buy! I didn't mention a step ladder because you can find one of those small 2 step ladders in most homes today.

I don't have to paint the ceiling which is wonderful, because they're really a pain in the neck! Literally, because you have to keep looking up and straining your neck! One of my rules is "If you don't want to put it back together, don't take it apart!" Just paint around electrical outlets, wall lighting and such. Of course you have to take pictures and stuff off the wall, just get someone else to put them back.

Move furniture to the middle of the room. There's no need to empty the room unless you just want the extra work. You now have the walls almost ready to paint, but before we start, check them to see if there are any holes that need filled. Only use a small amount of spackling for each hole, and then scrape most of it off with your putty knife. After it dries, sand it down and put another thin layer over the first.

Scrape it off again and sand it a few strokes with sandpaper after the last coat dries and you're ready to paint! See how easy that is? Feel the stress beginning to fade? You've already saved yourself a lot of work just on filling nail holes. Most people put in a tremendous amount of unnecessary work on wall preparation because they use an excessive amount of spackling. Then they're faced with sanding all that mess off!

Always paint the trim work first, because it's easy to hide mistakes with wall paint later. There'll be four doors and three windows this time around. I've long ago determined that it's going to take about 30 minutes each to paint these, so I don't try to rush because I know it's going to take 3-4 hours to do the work. Just before I get out the paint brush, I wipe the wood with a deglosser to make the paint adhere easily.

After the trim work, you're ready to paint the walls! Just do it! It's really pretty hard to do a bad job if you use enough paint. For some folks, squeezing every drop of paint out a roller seems to be an obsession. The old adage, "You can't paint with a dry brush!" also applies to a roller. Don't be afraid to use enough paint and you'll do a fantastic job!

By nature I'm a lazy man, so I don't believe in making an easy job difficult. I don't bother trimming around windows and doors as I paint the walls, because I'll wipe down any spatters I may have with a wet cloth and keep painting. Depending on the size of the room, I'll be through with the walls in 1-2 hours.

By the time I've pushed the furniture back against the wall, I find I've spent most of the day painting and I'm sure it will have been an enjoyable day. I'll really feel like I have accomplished something. I'll paint the other room the next day and then it will be time to go fishing.

Life is too short and time is too important to waste it making easy jobs hard. If it were an electrical or roofing project, I wouldn't tackle those. I'd just hire someone who knows more about those projects than me! Then I'd go fishing!

About the Author

Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:
http://www.redfishbob.com
http://www.bluemarlinbob.com