What Is a Flex Room?
Everyone loves the difference fresh paint can make in a room, but when the time comes to paint the walls, it can be a daunting task. Below are some tips on how to make the process hopefully a little less overwhelming and achieve an outcome you will love and enjoy in your space for years to come.
Choose a Paint Color
Painting a room in your home consists of more than selecting your favorite color and applying it to the interior of your home. The colors you choose can create a certain theme and feeling within your home.
The paint we chose for our owner's bedroom is calming and makes the space an oasis for us to escape to after a long day.
The paint in the game room is drastic, making the space have a more modern feel to it.
The paint in our guest room makes the space exciting and unexpected and gives the room a luxurious feel for guests.
The paint on the pantry ceiling is contrasting to all the white shelves and walls and adds a totally new element to the pantry when you walk in.
TIP: When finalizing your paint color, it is important to test out your paint swatches in the space so that you can see what the colors look like with natural light during the day as well as in the evening with the lights on in the room. Make sure you like the way the color looks in both settings.
Gather Painting Supplies
All of the painting projects we have done in our home so far have been accent walls or ceilings. This shopping list may look like it contains extra items, but I will explain why we purchase these:
- Stud finder
- Nail gun
- Wood trim
- Wall paneling (Eucaboard)
- 1 1/2-inch trim/finish nails
- 90-degree square
- Liquid nail
- Wood filler
- Sandpaper
- Paintable caulk
- Painter’s tape
- Plastic drop cloth
- Paint spray gun
- Primer and paint of your choice
TIPS: For our board and batten walls, we found it helpful to purchase wood trim that was already primed for the accent pieces. Make sure you carefully examine the boards in the store before buying to ensure that they are straight and do not have any blemishes in the wood. We also purchased 4x8 sheets of Eucaboard from Lowe's to cover the textured wall.
Prep the Walls
Before you can begin anything, you will need to remove outlet covers and light switches.
For our projects we quickly realized original walls have a textured finish, so we used the lightweight Eucaboard wall panel to attach to the wall using liquid nail, finishing nails and a nail gun to provide us with the smooth wall we desired.
We filled in any holes or cracks in the surface that we would be painting with caulk or wood filler.
Once that had dried, we used sandpaper to smooth out any bumps.
Lastly, we wiped down the surface so that there was no dust on the walls, or else the paint would not stick to it.
Decide on Your Paint Application Method
When you consider painting a wall, what do you first think of? A paint brush or roller? While that may be the first think that comes to mind, I want to introduce you to our favorite painting tool: the HomeRight C800971 Paint Sprayer!
This paint sprayer will not only help you paint walls like a pro, but also finish the job in a fraction of the time. We have done several accent walls in our home and used this paint sprayer for all of them. Another advantage of using this paint sprayer is the smooth finish. Using a paint brush or roller will give you a textured finish.
Prep the Room
Because we used the paint sprayer inside the house, we prepped the walls by taping off the entire area. We literally made another room within the room out of painter’s tape and plastic drop cloth to ensure the paint did not spread all over our house. We also always wear a respirator while using the paint sprayer.
Paint!
When using the Paint Sprayer, it is important to keep it level with the floor so that (1) the paint comes out evenly, and (2) you apply a thin first coat so that the paint does not drip down the wall.
Start painting at the top corner, paint all the way across horizontally, and then start the next row. Continue to do this until you reach the bottom.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure the paint is not too thick, or it will start to drip before it even dries. You will most likely to apply more than one layer of paint to achieve the color you want.
TIP: If you are painting over dark walls make sure to use a coat of primer before you begin painting with your accent color, as this will reduce the number of coats of paint you will need to apply.
Allow the paint to completely dry before removing the painters tape and plastic drop cloth. Place your outlet covers back on the wall and move any furniture back. At this point, your wall is DONE! Sit back and enjoy your hard work!
Looking for even more home projects to tackle? Check out our other home maintenance tips!
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