To paint a bedroom by yourself could be a really frustrating and a hardcore experience if you try to do it just because you have seen others doing it and it seems simple. Of course, if others can do it, so do you, but as everything in life, to paint a bedroom by yourself requires more than desire and motivation.
You can paint a bedroom by yourself without feeling overwhelmed and frustrated and you will have the satisfaction of achievement by doing this with your own hands, especially when the results are good.
In this article you’ll see everything you need to know to paint a bedroom by yourself. What tools you need to do it? How long does it take to paint a bedroom by yourself? Some ideas to paint a bedroom by yourself and a Beginners guide as a Summary.
This post it’s all about the things you should know before you start to paint a bedroom by yourself.
Can you paint a bedroom by yourself?
Of course you do. Giving a room a fresh coat of paint is one of the first steps to a home transformation/decoration that you can do by yourself whether you’re a homeowner or renting.
Since it’s not a structural renovation, or represent a significant alteration you probably won’t have much problems with changing your wall colors (always check your lease first and make sure you’re following your landlord conditions, when in doubt always contact them and ask).
“Of course, it doesn’t mean it’s an easy job, it requires strength, patience and dedication. But once you finish the work you’ll feel accomplished and rewarded by your great results”.
What do you need to paint a bedroom by yourself?
The more basics instruments you’ll need to paint a bedroom by yourself are:
- Paint
- Brushes
- Roller (Frame and Cover)
- Paint Pan/Tray
And you’re ready to go! BUT, since you’re a beginner and want everything to look perfect as a professional would do, there are a few more items to add to the list, that will not only help you get better results but will make the work easier for you.
- Tape: Use tape to mark the lines you don’t want to cross, that way you don’t have to worry about been too precise with the roller or the brush. Just take your time to place the tape in a good straight line and you’re good to go. Tape is also good when paint next a wall with a different color, or even to use right in between the floor and the wall.
- Drop Cloths or Newspaper: Use whichever you have on hand to cover anything you don’t want to paint. If possible take out of the room all the furniture’s on the way, if not cover them up.
- Putty knife: This will help you scrape off any lose paint from the color before, so that you can have a better result.
- Spackle: Use it to repair any defects on the surface or to fill in cracks and holes on the wall.
- Roller extension pole: This will help you get to higher areas of the wall, but you’ll also realize it’ll be a lot easier to use a roller with the extension pole, try it.
- Plastic paint container: Or any other can you could use to pour paint and use it when painting with a brush on smaller areas.
- Primer: Use primer for a better looking result or if you are painting on top of a darker wall color.
How long does it take to paint a bedroom by yourself?
Diana Heckler the creator of InMyOwnStyle.com a blog full of DIY ideas on an interview to Glidden said to paint a bedroom by yourself could take you up to 9:30 hours max, considering prep work, doing cuts along in ceiling, windows, floors, doorways and corners, painting trims and clean up.
Another article on the page thisoldhouse.com says that to paint a room professionally “Painters spent two to four days on an average-size room”.
On the other hand, propertyclub.nyc on their article “How long does it takes to paint a room” stablish that although the amount of time painting will depend on how detailed the painting job must be, the room size and how many coats to apply; based on their experience, “it takes anywhere between 4-6 hours to paint an average-sized room”.
Taking in consideration all of the above, we may confidently say that you can paint a bedroom by yourself in one day!
About coats, consider the following, using as a reference paint companies like PPG or Sherwin Williams CO, their products and most paints in the market last 1 to 2 hours dry to recoat time, keep in mind that high humidity and cool temperatures prolongs drying time, so you know what may happen if it’s raining, right?
Also, if you choose to use a primer they tend to dries to the touch within 30 to 1 hours and some can even last 3 hours to dries completely.
Most of this paint companies have “very fast dry” products that take only 15 minutes to dries to the touch and can be recoated in 2 hours, which is great for high traffic areas where someone could get stain by wet paint.
Always check on your paint specifications, they usually tell you how long will it dry and when should you recoat.
What is the correct order to paint a room?
Order matters because it’s simplify your work and help you save time. The correct order is:
- Ceiling
- Walls
- Trims
But there are a few things you should do first to prepare the surface for the paint.
- Use the putty knife to scrape off any loose paint from the surface.
- Fill all the holes with Spackle to create a nice smooth surface. (Spackle shrank a bit as it dried, so be aware if some holes will need a second coat of the paste)
- Once dried, sand the spackle surface area with fine-grit sandpaper until it’s flush with the surrounding wall.
- Wipe away any dust.
- Use the tape to cover the trims and any other limit area you don’t want to paint
- Use the cloths to cover any thing that you don’t want to paint
How much paint will you need?
You need to know the measurements of your bedroom first. Due to experience contractors often know just by looking at the space how many gallons they’ll need and we can do the same with the help of some online tools so that you know exactly how many paint you should buy.
Online Paint Calculators considering measurements, number of windows and doors these online calculators give you a number of gallons you will need to apply one coat of paint to the calculated area, considering that 1 gallon of paint covers around 400 square feet or up 30 to 35 square meters.
You can even to the math by yourself know that 1 gallons serves you for 30 m2, but you will find it very helpful to do it with one of these online calculators:
How to paint a wall?
There are a lot of options and different ideas when it comes to how apply paint and how to use paint instruments like brushes or rollers. So, I’ve dig a little and found the most common advice from the very best at the subjects.
Dulux and PPGpaints recommendations:
When painting with a brush
- Use a 2-inch angles paint brush along the edges of the walls to begin. Work from a small bucket of paint, holding the brush like a pen.
- Flick the bristles back and forth to remove dust.
- Make sure you remove excess liquid before painting
- Start in edges or corners of the room that will be difficult to reach with a roller
- Be sure to paint your ceiling first if your project includes the ceiling.
When painting with a roller
- Fit the roller to the frame
- Put enough paint in your tray to cover your roller. Do not overfill.
- Dip the roller lightly into the paint. The roll it backwards and forwards on the ramp of the tray to evenly distribute the paint on the roller cover.
- Roll your paint on in a “W” pattern starting in the upper left corner of the wall.
- Remember to work in sections at a time.
- When you start to hearing a noise like tape pulling off of the wall, re-load your roller.
Checkout this Beginner’s Guide…
