Painting is a good way to stage a property for selling. However, home sellers who paint their home’s interior must take special steps to ensure that the paint is correctly applied. Using good quality materials and preparing the room for paint is important.
Choose Neutral Colors
Neutral colors like beige, gray and brown have universal appeal and can match most furnishings, which makes them the best choice for most home sellers trying to stage their property for buyers. When selecting paint colors for your home, don’t forget to paint samples on the walls before choosing the right shade for your needs.
Prep All Surfaces
Prepping a room for paint can be a lengthy and involved process. Skipping these steps can lead to a sloppy paint job, which can detract from your home staging efforts when buyers come to look at your property.
- Pull all furniture away from the wall, or put all furniture in another room.
- Remove all nails and screws.
- Fill in all holes with spackling.
- Allow the spackling to dry, then sand the surface until it’s smooth.
- Remove other items attached to the wall.
- Wash all walls to remove dust and spider webs.
- Use painter’s tape to secure tarps to the floor.
- Take down all curtains.
Use Tape, But Don’t Rely On It
Painter’s tape can be used to make neat edges and lines. However, paint can run beneath painter’s tape, which means that relying heavily upon this tool can result in bleeds and runs that destroy the straight edge. “Cutting in” is the term that painters use to create straight edges without painter’s tape. DIY painters must practice cutting in before they can do it well. Putting painter’s tape along the edge that you plan to paint can help you create a straight line as you cut in.
Buy Quality Materials
The difference between a good paint job and a so-so paint job is often in the quality of materials. Good paint brushes create smoother lines and provide better coverage, while quality paints requires fewer coats. Even good quality tarps do a better job of protecting floors and furnishings. To make your paint job as good as possible, buy quality paint materials.
Work From the Top Down
Start painting at the ceiling, and work down to the floor. This prevents the paintbrush from picking up dust and grit around the floor and spreading it all over the walls.
Know When to Prime
Primer isn’t always necessary, but there are times when priming your walls can ensure a better finished product.
Prime the walls when:
- The walls are stained.
- The current paint on the walls is very dark or is a color that bleeds (like red).
- There is a patched area on the walls.
- The type of paint being applied to the walls differs from the type of paint that is already on the walls.
Save Time for Touch Ups
When the paint job is finished, it’s likely that there will be some patches that need more paint. Leave your painting materials out for a few days after the paint job is finished, and perform touch ups as necessary. When looking for areas that need to be touched up, view the walls in different qualities of light and at different times of the day.
Performing touch ups, using good quality materials and preparing the surface for paint are all ways to ensure that your home looks the best it can with its new coat of paint. Taking the time to paint your walls right can help you stage your home to sell.
