When I talk to do it yourselfers about painting, one of the most common problems with interior Atlanta painting concerns color. I am not going to discuss choosing colors in this article because that is very subjective.
I am going to discuss how to make sure that your paint touches up and doesn’t “picture frame.”
Most problems concerning paint touch-ups and picture framing involve dark colors and higher sheens. However, since many people enjoy the warmth of dark colors and the durability of satin finishes, this is a common problem.
Picture Framing – When the cut in areas around the edges of a wall don’t blend in with the large areas of the wall. Also called “Hat-Banding.”
If paint touch up is very important to you, I recommend using light colors with a flat finish. This system is the most forgiving.
If you want to use a dark color, a flat finish is going to be the easiest to touch up. If you use a dark color and a finish with a sheen keep reading.
Atlanta Painting Pro Tip: The following information is a good practice to use with all painting scenarios. This is a “best practices” tip. You can get away by not doing this, but you could end up painting the walls more than you want to.
To ensure proper color distribution and to avoid picture framing, the first thing you should do is “box” your paint.
Boxing – Mixing all of your paints to ensure that you have a uniform color.
Although the paint stores have expensive equipment that formulate colors, they are not perfect. If you take a sample of 4 different cans of the same color, you will have 4 different colors. Usually, the differences are so slight that our eyes can’t see them. BUT – when you use darker colors, any variation is more noticable. This is when boxing is important. For instance, if you are painting your dining room red, and you are going to use 4 gallons of paint, mix all 4 gallons into a 5 gallon bucket. Now you know that you have 1 color for all of your paint.
The second thing that you can do to get a better finish is paint into a wet edge.
This means exactly like what it sounds like. Here is how 1 person can always paint using a wet edge.
- Paint 1 wall at a time. First roll the big part of the wall, then cut in with a brush before moving to the next wall.
- When you are not using your brush/roller, wrap it in a plastic bag. This keeps the paint from drying and you don’t have to keep washing everything.
- Get a friend. Have 1 person roll and the other brush.
- Call GreenWave Solutions for a free estimate and have our pros come do it right the first time.
This free tip is brought to you by GreenWave Solutions. We are Atlanta’s first “green”contractor. We have green Atlanta Painters, Alpharetta painters, Buckhead Painters, Sandy Springs Painters, Dunwoody Painters, Duluth Painters and More! We specialize in Atlanta Painting, Alpharetta painting, and Marietta painting and serve most of Metro Atlanta. GreenWave Solutions also offers Atlanta Solar Systems, Rain Harvest Systems, Atlanta Rain Barrels, Radiant Heat Barrier coating, Low-e glass, cool roofs, Atlanta LEED Consulting, and Green Atlanta Roofing.
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