Some DIY Painting Tips

April 2, 2015 0 By EngineerMommy

Ok, so I promise to give you guys a tour of the new house one of these days- maybe tomorrow! But for today, I wanted to talk about paint. Specifically, painting a room. It seems fairly straightforward, but I have some tips that will make DIY painting a breeze, and also save you some cash in the process! I know friends who will hire painters to paint their house, and I never understand why they don’t just do it themselves!? You can save so much money (hundreds? thousands?) to paint your own home. And it’s really not that difficult, either!

Ok, so we plan on basically painting every single wall in the house. Even some walls where we actually like the color already! I know, I know- strange! Before you have me committed, let me just preface this by saying the CONDITION of those walls isn’t fabulous. In other words, even though we might like the color, the walls are marked with scuffs, scratches, pencils, markers, etc. And we just want freshly painted walls. So here are our tips to save time & money when painting your own house!

Some DIY Painting Tips

DIY Painting Tips

DIY Painting Tips


1. Go to your local home improvement store, and find their “Oops” counter! That’s what it’s called at my local store, and it’s basically the pre-mixed paint that someone requested but never picked up (or sometimes bought and returned). These paints are usually offered at a very steep discount. So if you are absolutely married to a specific shade and hue of lilac, this probably is not the most time-efficient route for you. But if you are just interested in a great deal and have some flexibility with your color preferences, it’s probably worth a shot! I picked up this gorgeous purple at the Oops counter. And will use it as an accent color in Sophia’s room. I bought a beautiful platinum silver to be the main background color in her room!

DIY Painting Tips

DIY Painting Tips

Check out the price on this can- $2!

DIY Painting Tips

DIY Painting Tips

And this huge can for only $20. Normal price around $30!

DIY Painting Tips

DIY Painting Tips

2. If you know you want a light shade of blue for a room but simply cannot decide in the store which shade will be best for your room and your furniture and your decor, bring home several sample cards and tape them to the wall. This way, you can spend a few days casually looking at the colors IN THE ACTUAL SPACE THEY WILL EXIST- on your walls. It will be easier to select your favorite color this way! By the way, I may or may not have a series of sample color cards like this in almost every room of our house! 😉

DIY Painting Tips

DIY Painting Tips

3. Invest in good brushes. I find a high-quality brush for “cutting in” is essential to a professional-looking paint job. For those not in the know, cutting in is the process in which you paint along trim & corners, so that you can later fill in large areas with the roller and maintain a wet paint edge. I find that the cheap brushes has bristles that fall off or leave more noticeable brush marks! Yuck!

4. Take your time! Don’t paint a room if you’re tired, overworked or otherwise fed up. Ahem… I may be talking to myself here! Painting requires a steady hand. Many professional painters never even use “painter’s tape” along the edges of the wall- they simply maintain a steady hand and create a pretty straight line! You can do the same thing if you just go slow enough. So paint only when you have time and when you don’t feel rushed!

I hope some of these tips help you make your DIY Painting adventure more fun & more efficient. I will be posting soon about the specific paint patterns (yes, I said patterns) I’m planning for the different rooms! Good night, friends!


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