7 Tips To Prepare To Paint Your Living Room in Denver Metro, CO
Your living room can be one of the most important rooms in your room, depending on the extent to which you have people over – even if it’s just having a couple of family members over now and then to enjoy a cup of tea and a board game.
Of course, a well painted living room is going to look significantly better than a living room that has been allowed to have its walls fade to the point where you wonder if the walls had ever gotten painted properly.
When you do paint your living room walls, it’s a good idea to prepare for the painting work that you will have ahead of you – and in preparing for the project you have ahead of you.
Bearing that in mind, let’s have a look at seven tips to prepare to paint your living room in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Knowing When You Will Paint
One important thing that you’re going to have to do in order to prepare for the painting process is to know well when you are going to be painting.
This may seem trivial of course but it’s not – by knowing when you’re going to be painting you can plan out for such things as the actual painting of the surfaces as well as the time that you’re going to need to spend waiting for the surfaces to dry – and plenty of time will be spent doing just that.
2. Measuring Your Living Room Walls
Another key thing that you’re going to want to do when you’re looking to get ready for your living room walls painted is a measurement of the walls themselves, the sort of information that you’re going to find quite invaluable when you’re making plans.
Specifically, this is the case because you’ll be able to determine how much paint you’re going to need (so that you don’t blow the entire paint budget on buying way more paint than you actually need) and you will be able to easily determine how long the project will take.
3. Assessing What Furniture Can Be Removed
If you look around a typical living room, you may think you know what’s in there and what might potentially get in your way when you want to paint the walls.
Though it may seem like you can leave in most of the furniture, bear in mind that the more furniture you have in there, the tougher it will be to get around and so it is well advised that you should remove more if you can… and so also avoid getting paint on it!
4. Removing Electrical Outlet Covers And Light Switch Covers
A fairly simple thing that people will sometimes forget to do is to remove the covers to their electrical outlets and light switches.
Doing this will ensure that these covers will not get paint on them – easier to put on some paint tape and then remove it when you’re done than to try to clean a paint covered light switch cover.
5. Get The Right Kind Of Paint
Not just any kind of interior paint is going to be adequate for your living room — depending on what kind of traffic you’re expecting to get to your living room, that is.
If you expect quite a bit of living room traffic, you’re going to be better off making use of a paint that is glossy, as that is easier to clean.
A low traffic room, however, would do quite well with a flatter paint — and it might even look better in some ways.
6. Choose Your Color Or Colors With Care
It’s a good idea to know what color or colors you’re going to paint, and one of the best ways you can do this is by getting a couple of paint samples and using them to paint small squares in the room.
By doing this you’ll see how the colors fare in a number of different light conditions.
7. Be Ready To Sand Properly
Lastly, remember that you are going to want to sand the surfaces that you’ll be painting. as having a smooth surface is pretty much always going to be better for you when you’re painting than not.
Be sure to remove the sanding dust when you have finished sanding, however – you don’t want sanding dust on your painted walls!
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
5 Questions to Ask Yourself Prior To Buying Paint in Denver Metro, CO
In any given painting project when you are painting, you are going to need to make use of paint – of course you are, it is a painting project after all.
When you are looking to purchase paint, you should of course not just go with the very first paint that you see, and naturally you aren’t going to want to just choose a paint purely on its price – there are many other variables that go into such a major decision.
With that being the case, let’s look at five questions to ask yourself prior to buying paint in Denver Metro, CO
1. Is This Being Used Outside Or Inside?
One of the most fundamental questions that you’re going to be asking yourself or rather that you should ask yourself prior to purchasing your paint is the question of whether you’re going to be making use of the paint on the outside of the inside of your house.
The reason that this question is so important is that there’s a world of difference between the paint that you use on the inside of your home and the outside starting from the kind of protection that you can expect to get when you use an exterior paint – being that the exterior paints that you use can have such qualities as being strong against weather elements whereas interior paints are not going to have them.
By contrast, exterior paints are not going to have some of the important qualities that you will find in interior paints, such as the kinds of paint you might want to use in a dining room that will be easier to clean than paints that you will be using in other rooms (more on this later.
For this reason, you should stick to picking interior paints for your interior paint jobs and exterior paints for your exterior paint jobs.
2. For What Room Is This Going To Be Used?
It’s important to know what room your paint is going to be used to paint, as there are various kinds of paint used for interior painting and you are going to want to make use of the appropriate one depending on the room.
A bathroom, for example, is typically going to be a bit more humid than other rooms in the house and so you have to take that into consideration when choosing your paint – will the paint you use be good against humidity and therefore not allow mildew and mold to grow?
If not, you should reconsider that particular paint for the room.
3. Will There Be A Lot Of Traffic?
An important question to ask yourself when you’re looking to paint a room is if you’re going to see a lot of traffic hit that room.
If you aren’t and therefore won’t have to do a lot of cleaning to the room, you may want to make use of flat paint.
If you are, however, a glossier paint is going to be your friend as it will be easier to clean – wipe with a cloth that’s moist, in some cases.
4. Am I Sensitive To VOC’s?
As you are going to be making use of the rooms being painted, you should ask yourself if you are particularly sensitive to volatile organic compounds, which are present in a lot of paints.
If it turns out that you are sensitive, you may want to consider switching to a paint that is low in containing these VOC’s.
5. What Colors Would Work Well?
Lastly, one of the biggest questions that you’re going to have to answer in painting whether you are painting the exterior or interior of your home is this – what color or colors are going to work well?
This is something we could easily explore in a number of articles on the subject of colors in painting and we shall return to it again.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
5 Tips For Reducing The Mess When Painting Your Kitchen in Denver Metro, CO
You may have a very good idea in the form of painting your kitchen — it’s one of the most important rooms in the house to paint, in terms of how frequently the room is used and the amount of time that people spend in the room.
Of course, you may want to think about the kinds of messes that can be quite easily brought about when you’re painting – the kind of messes that can be easily avoided if you take care during the painting process.
With that being the case, let’s now look at and consider five tips for reducing the mess when painting your kitchen in Denver Metro, CO
1. Planning Out Your Painting Project
One way that you are going to be able to reduce the mess that you are going to possibly make in your kitchen during the course of your painting project is to first make sure that you fully plan it out in advance.
The reason that this is so important is that planning for your painting project ensures that you do all kinds of preparatory steps that are going to be quite helpful for your painting project, some of which are going to enumerate below.
Additionally, by preparing for the project you are going to have all of the paint that you’re going to need ahead of time so you don’t run out of paint in the middle of the project and end up doing something possibly disastrous, such as getting the wrong kind of paint!
2. Using Better Paint Brushes And Paint Rollers
One thing that people will not realize can be quite detrimental to their painting project is the quality of their paint brushes and their paint rollers.
The extent to which the brushes and rollers can be bad indeed — when you use inexpensive brushes, you can sometimes find yourself having a much more hard time applying paint (which in itself can make for a mess) but on top of this, you can sometimes find bits of the brushes and rollers breaking off into the paint is applied, which can make for a much worse look.
On top of that, you will have to then remove the bits of brush (the bristles) before the paint dries, which can then make the painted surface look less than good.
3. Paint More Slowly And Carefully
It’s quite understandable that anyone wanting to paint will want to get their painting project done in a more timely manner but this doesn’t mean that you should paint quickly – this is not the way to get you a well-painted kitchen.
Instead, by painting quickly you’re going to end up making fundamental painting errors that then have to be corrected – and in a lot of cases, these painting errors will make for a bigger mess than if you had just taken the time to paint slowly and carefully in the first place.
4. Use Protective Things On Areas Not Being Painted
There are a lot of areas in your kitchen that isn’t going to get painted, and it’s important that you isolate those areas and figure out how you are going to best protect them from the paint that you’re going to apply to your walls.
These could be things like using painter’s tape to protect switches (or where you remove switch plates) or even using a drop cloth to protect the floor.
5. Use Primer Before You Paint
Lastly, you should remember that you are going to make for a better painting project if you make sure to apply a coat of primer before you apply the first coat of paint.
Primer will help to keep the paint on the surface being painted and it is quite a bit smoother than just the surface alone, even if you have sanded it well (which you should do in any case!)
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
Which Roller is Right for Your Paint Job in Denver Metro, CO.
Have you ever stood in front of the display of rollers in your local paint store as the associate was mixing your colors and blanked on which to buy — the varying sizes and materials not making sense?
For first time painters, choosing the tool for the job can be a daunting task and, while you do get things done, another choice might have given you either a quicker or smoother finish.
Avoiding mistakes is a great way to lengthen the life of the paint and save you money in the long run by needing less maintenance or less fixing before the next time you decide to change colors.
Read on to find out which roller is right for your paint job in Denver Metro, CO.
Start With the Size
The basic beginning when choosing a good roller is to get the right size for the job you are doing — too much roller can actually be a bad thing when used in the wrong space.
For anything with an open area such as walls and ceilings, the standard 9-inch roller is your perfect pal and these can be used on a variety of handle lengths to keep you from breaking your back during the painting process.
While those rollers can paint things such as trim, corners, or furnishings, it’s best to spend the extra couple bucks on the 4-inch rollers to ensure a more even coat with less saturation or dripping in those spaces.
This is the simplest choice to make — big roller for big jobs and a small roller for small jobs.
Choose an Appropriate Material
Once you have your roller handles in hand it’s time to grab the cover that will give you stunning results.
If you’re in a pinch or don’t need rollers and covers for any length of time, picking up foam covers can be doable for a one-off job but you want to check out other options if you’d like to have these tools on hand for the future.
Wool covers pick up more product and will give you better coverage in one coat, making these excellent choices for oil-based paints.
Synthetic covers provide a smooth coat for latex paints and will last a bit longer but be sure to check your surface after each coat to be sure you have the color saturation you were looking for before assuming that coat is enough.
Microfiber and wool blend covers give you more versatility in terms of the paint you choose as they work well with either base — however, microfiber covers haven’t been on the painting scene long so be sure to practice with it before using it in a permanent spot.
Decide on a Texture
All of the mentioned rollers will do beautifully to add a smooth coat to most surfaces but there are options if you’d like to add some pizzazz to your project.
If you have chosen a paint designed to offer a finish with more character such as plaster or stone, you want to use the roller covers recommended or provided by the manufacturers to avoid the mess that can accompany these fun finish options.
If you want to add texture on your own, there are roller covers designed to do just that and can give you the look of wood grain, brick, or even lay out a pattern on your wall.
Mind the Nap
Finally, after choosing your materials and textures, use those decisions to guide you on which nap (or fiber length) you will need.
Before you head to the store, make note of the textiles included in your project such as drywall, stucco, masonry, etc. as the porous qualities of the surface will determine the length of nap you need for better coverage.
As you go up in porousness, you should go up in the length of the nap on your roller covers to ensure that your strokes are getting into all the nooks and crannies for a beautiful finish.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO.
Call us today to speak with one of our professionals.
7 Window Installation Tips for Homeowners in Denver Metro, CO.
When moving into a new home, it is normal to have things you want to change in order to suit your personality — or if you’ve lived in your home long enough and either want a new look or need to replace outdated windows.
While it may seem like window installation is fairly straightforward, you want to be sure it is done right to avoid a costly fix on recent work especially since windows generally require that you make new cuts into the existing siding.
Don’t worry because we have seven window installation tips for homeowners in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Take it a Couple Windows at a Time
There are a few things more nerve-wracking for a homeowner like having open points of entry into your home — whether for weather or intruders.
Taking out and immediately replacing only a couple of windows in one move gives you time to get the new windows in and fully functioning before the day turns dark and you do not have to spend the night worrying about whatever has access to your home.
2. Consider Your Style Options
Windows don’t just come in a variety of shapes but also materials and finishes, giving you a wide array of options when selecting a new piece.
Take a look around your home and try to match the existing hardware inside in order to help the windows blend seamlessly into your design scheme — this makes a difference when deciding whether or not to have gridding in your panels as well.
For example, a classic colonial style with a four-grid pane might take a modern home back in time in terms of style and the windows might stick out like a sore thumb.
3. Choose Your Glass Type
Thankfully, leaded glass is a thing of the past and the worry that there will be sickness from a cut on a broken window isn’t valid anymore but that doesn’t mean there is only one type of glass that has replaced them.
If you are looking for something a little flashy, you can opt for tinted or textured glass for your accent windows.
Or, if you have children or live in a neighborhood with many kids, opting for laminated glass panels prevents the shattered glass from falling into your home after an accident — or if there is an attempted break-in.
4. Shoot for Maximum Efficiency
In addition to choosing glass types based on their look, there are also different options that cut down on energy costs and help to maintain your home’s climate.
If you want to research which glass is right for you, be sure to check the Energy Star lists before purchasing.
5. Select the Function that Suits Your Needs
I’m sure there are folks who love the idea of getting on a tall, rickety ladder to clean their upper-story windows when the weather is nice… right?
For the rest of us, you can choose windows that tilt inside when opened to easily clean them from the safety of your room.
These windows are also easier to open for folks with physical limitations.
6. Be Sure to Replace the Frames
Drafts coming in around older windows aren’t always caused solely by the seams around the windows but could also be the result of the damage brought on by rot or pests.
Installing new windows without checking the existing frames first might not solve the issue and you would need to do the work over again in order to find the reason for the draft that failed to get fixed the first time around.
7. Always Check for Warranties
Finally, never sell yourself short by failing to look for warranties on your home improvement materials, windows included.
There are many accidents and factory issues that can cause a window to become useless before you are ready to replace it and a warranty may cover the cost of installing new windows without coming out of pocket.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
