Recently I started a painting project. I asked my husband to grab me a few things I needed on his way home from work, I was suprised that he had no clue what I needed, he was more then willing to go with a specific list, but wouldn’t be able to walk in to Home Depot and get what I needed. So here is a post created for those of you who need a list to get you started.

Choosing the Colors

Choosing colours for your home can be overwhelming. Even myself as a decorator can find it hard to get started on a project, there is just so much to choose from.

I like to start with a little research. There are tons and tons of images online of rooms and decor ideas you can look at to get your creative juices going. Look for images that depict the look you are wanting to achieve. Once you have found one take that image with you to the hardware store to find colors that corespondent with that look. If you need someone to bounce ideas from, sometimes you can find some good people in the paint department to talk to.

Make sure you take samples home. One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is falling in love with a colour at the hardware store, not checking the colour in their own day and night lighting at home, and then taking that colour home to start painting. It’s important to remember that colors change in different lighting. Natural light and artificial light will effect paint colors along with the colors of other finishes and decor items in the home. My advise, pick your colors and take paint ships home to see what they look like, if the paint chip is too small, you can also buy small sample post of paint for about $4.99 and then use that to paint a sample swatch on your wall. I don’t believe all colors can be done in a sample pot, so just check at the store before you decide you want to do that.

The Type of Paint

Not to make things more complicated… But once you have chosen your colors you need to choose your finish. My go to paint is Behr, I use it all the time and I find it a reliable paint at a good price. Behr has three levels of paint, there is the base paint that is the least expensive, it’s still a good paint but it marks up easier and doesn’t clean the best if you are planning on scrubbing or washing your walls.

The next level up is a good middle paint, it’s the one I use most often. It covers very well even when using darker bolder colors that typically require multiple coats. And it also is a pretty durable paint for a home that has pets and kids and require something that can hold up to the abuse of day to day living.

Behr also has a premium paint called Marquis. This is considered their top of the line paint, it even has its own line of colors to choose from. The paint itself covers very well and is also very durable, it runs at about $58 a gallon.

Once you choose your paint, you then need to choose your finish. At Home Depot they have samples available for you to look at to decide what finish you want. When I talk about finish I mean the finished look of the pain once it is dry. There are many different levels of ‘shine’ that you can have for your paint. Rule of thumb is typically you want a matte finish  livingfor say living rooms, family rooms and bedrooms. For bathrooms or rooms that will have higher moisture you want a semi gloss. Trims and baseboards are typically semi gloss to gloss finish making them easier to clean and capable of taking a bit more of a beating in high traffic areas. And of course there are a few other finishes in between that you can choose from depending on your decorating needs.

Below are examples of finishes…

Once I chose my finsh. my paint and my colors I was reay to place my order. Sometimes the paint department is crazy busy, other times its not so bad. I try to place my paint order first, then do my shopping or other matrials while I wait. Typically your looking at 10-15min to fill a request for multiple gallons.

Other Materials You May Need

When you area starting a painting project you will want to get make sure you have a few assentials.

• wracks
• trays
• paint brushes
• rollers
• ladder
• extention pole
• drop sheets
• plastic wrap

Most paint jobs require multiple colors of paint. Brushes can be washed and reused, I dont suggest the same for rollers as no matter how good you clean them they always seem to still hold some trace of the previous color. When I start a new paint job, if I don’t have any extra brushes I will make sure I have one brush and one roller for every color of paint im using.

When choosing a paint brush, you want one with an engled brush head, this makes cutting in around the walls much easier. When choosing rollers you want to look for one that says its anti shed, nothing worse then a roller sheding little ieces of lint allover your wall trapped under the paint.

Once you have your rollers and paint prushes you ill want to get yourself a tray and some replacement slips. Yoou want to make sure you have enough slips for every color you are using. The slips are reusable once the left over paint in the tray is comepletly dry, until that time it isonly good for the color that is currently in it. Somtimes you can find a good dealon a kit that has rollers, wrack, slips and trays. All you will need to do is get the extra paint rollers, slips and a couple brushes.

I always just use one wrack, you can get extras for your other colros but I find it just as easy to ue plastic wrap to remove the roller from the wrack, rap it up and then on to the next color.

Some people who arnt confident enough to cut in the rooms without getting paint on the baseboads, trims and ceiling will want to use tape to tape everything off first. If this is something you would want to do, make sure you get the green tape, it is tacky enough to stick to walls but wont stick so good that is starts to peel back paint on the walls. 

There are a few different widths vailableto you, some of it is to assist with differnt decorative finishes, but you can choose what ever thinkness you think you will need to feel comfotable with. I like to use an extention pole forwhen it come to rolling, it makes it easier so you dont have to get up and down a ladder in order to roll from the top of the wall to the bottom.

For most of your painting jobs a basic 2 step ladder is all you will need. As for the drop sheets, you can buy them if you like or use old bed sheets from your linen closet. For the plastic wrap to cover the rollers and brushes between coats and colors I just use plastic wrap from the kitchen. Works well and almost everyone already has some in their home.

A painting project can really transform your home. It is amazing what a new color palate can do. The iage example shows the trasnformation from the two pics on the left to the new color palate on the right.

If you are someone who likes to shop at Home Depot, click on any of the images orlinks in the article and it will take you directly to their site. If you are like me and time is money, then I would consider their pay on-line and pick up in store option. Saves you from wondering around Home Depot struggling to find what your looking for. I tried it recently, loved the the quick and easy way in and out…

I would love to hear about your painting project, if you need some advise I may be able to help with that too. Drop a comment below and let’s talk about it…