Steps to prepare a room before painting

Remove furnishings

A blue armchair with a red x on top of it

1.Before getting started, it is recommeneded that all items and furnishings be removed from the room if possible. This is to prevent them from being accidentally marked by paint. If it is not possible to remove large furnishings from the room, it is recommended to wrap the furnishings in large plastic sheets to prevent damage.

Clean the space

A hand in an orange glove that is holding a bottle of cleaning detergent

2.It is important to remove all dust and cobwebs from the room before you get started. Removing cobwebs stuck to a wet paintbrush or roller is not a fun experience! It will also create an uneven finish. Clean away visible dirt, but don’t fuss so much about stubborn stains- that is what the paint is for!

Loosen and/or remove hardware

A screwdriver and screws

3.Use an appropriate screwdriver to unscrew light switches and sockets so that they are standing out from the wall a little. This is to enable you to paint behind them and not get paint along their edges. Please ensure to do this safely. Turn off the electricity before tampering with electrical appliances. Don’t forget to remove light shades and any door handles or door/cabinet knobs before getting started. It is better to remove them than to waste time and patience trying to carefully outline them with a 1-inch brush.

Cover the floor

A man rolling out plastic covering onto a wooden floor

4.To protect your flooring and to save you from spending hours on your hands and knees scraping speckles of paint off the floor - cover the floor in plastic dust sheets. Tape the sheets down around the perimeter of the room. You will thank me later when you see how much paint gets on the floor…

Mask necessary surfaces

Making tape

5.To mask means to cover areas with a special kind of tape to prevent them from being unintentionally painted. There are painter tapes of different widths. You will see these in the store and can decide on which ones you should buy, depending on what surfaces you are masking. Unlike regular tape, it doesn’t pull paint from the surface upon removing it. It also stops liquid from seeping through. If you are very new to painting, I would advise applying painter tape along all the trimmings in the room.