Painting a Bedroom: Step-by-Step Guide

Painting a bedroom can be a rewarding and creative experience. With the right preparation and supplies, anyone can create a beautiful space in their home. Before taking on a painting project, it is important to understand the steps involved and the supplies needed to complete the job. In this article, we will discuss the essential steps for painting a bedroom, from choosing a color to the final inspection.

Choosing a Color

First things first, you need to pick a color for the bedroom. This is a critical step, because the color you choose will set the mood for the bedroom. If you want a more relaxing feeling in the room, go with a softer shade. Perhaps you want a more stimulating paint color like red or maroon. It can be difficult to find the color that is right for your bedroom, but there are many useful tools out there that can help. Here are just a few that can help you get on the right path to choosing the color that will set the perfect mood for your bedroom.

Color Inspiration – Sherwin-Williams
Paint Color Selector – The Home Depot
Personal Color Viewer – Benjamin Moore

Paint Supplies

Once you have picked out the perfect color, it is time to gather the supplies. Here is a list of the essential items needed for painting a bedroom:

Angled paintbrush – Used to Cut in between any corner and joining edges.
Roller – Rollers cover more surface when painting the walls than a brush would.
Roller Tray – Carry with a small amount of paint and roll out the roller.
Five Gallon Bucket – Bucket used to mix paint.
Roller Grid – Use a grid to provide even paint coverage on your roller.
Paint Mixer or Stirrer – When painting you will often need a mixer or stirrer to mix paint.
Masking Tape – Masking tape is great for creating straight edges between ceiling, walls, and trim.
Drop Cloths/Plastic – Use Drop Cloths and Plastic to cover floors and furniture.
Spackle – Spackle will Seal any small holes and imperfections on the walls.
Screwdriver – You never know when you will need a handy screwdriver to take any light panels or outlet panels off.
Putty Knife – Used to Scrape of any bumps and use to spread spackle on holes.
Blade – You may need to use a blade to cut between tape and adjacent wall if masking tape is stuck.
Paint – Well of Course!

Latex or Oil Paint

Choosing between latex and oil paints is an important choice as they both have different characteristics. Latex paints are environment friendly and you can clean latex paint with soap and water. Latex paint is fade resistant and dries quickly. Oil based paints are good to use on wood moldings and trim. When working with oil-base paint make sure to keep in mind it will take longer to dry. You will get more coverage from one coat of oil paint than you would with latex. Oil based paints are good to use in high traffic areas. The clean up process takes longer, as you have to use turpentine or paint thinner. Brushes should be cleaned with turpentine or paint thinner. Use gloves when cleaning as these contain hazardous chemicals. The fumes in oil-base paints can be overwhelming as they are very strong.

Painting Prep

Before you start painting, it is important to prepare the room. Here are some steps to take for painting prep:

Clean up! Make sure that the room is clear of any clutter that could get in the way. Safety first. Any toys or knick knacks should be put away so that they do not break. Move all of the furniture to the middle of the room so that you have space between yourself and the walls.
Cover the floor with protective plastic or tarp. Nothing is more frustrating than getting paint stuck in your new carpet.
Cover up all the furniture with some form of plastic or tarp. You don’t want to get any paint on your california king size bed.
Cover trim, outlets, and door knobs with protective paint tape. This will prevent you from getting paint on any of the areas that you do not intend to.
Locate and scrape any defects on the walls. This is a critical prepping step. Sometimes defects are hard to find. It is helpful to turn off all the lights in the room and close the shades. Then take a trouble light and scan the walls for imperfections. If you find any bumps, or nail debris you will want to scrape them down.
Cover up imperfections with spackle or joint compound. Go through with your trouble light and mark any areas with tape so that you know where each spot is. Then take your spackling compound for the smaller holes and fill them. Joint compound is better for larger holes. Make sure to give some time to dry for your compound. It typical takes 2-3 hours for the compound to dry.

Time to Paint!

Once the prep is complete, it‘s time to start painting. Here are some tips for painting a bedroom:

Ceiling

After you have prepped your room and the compound has dried, your room is ready to be painted. If you are painting your ceiling start with that. A roller is best for painting a ceiling so that you can paint those hard to reach areas. After you have applied the first layer wait for paint to dry, then apply your second coat. Latex paints take about an hour to dry and are ready to re-coat in four hours. Oil base paints take 6-8 hours to dry. To apply another coat you may have to wait up to 24 hours. Read about the Mistakes you should not make when painting a ceiling.

Walls

After you have painted the ceiling, you are ready for the walls.

Start off by masking of the edges with masking tape. To paint the edges grab your angled brush and dip it 1/3 of the way in the paint. Tap your brush to eliminate excess paint and make sure not scrape. Grab your brush like you would a pencil and make smooth strokes, that way it prevents the paint from running down. Paint as close as you can down to the trim. If you get some on the trim don’t worry as you will be painting it later.
Now grab your roller and damp it with a damp cloth. Dip roller a little into the paint and roll it out until you have a full roller. Paint in a zig zag pattern to get good coverage. Avoid pressing or squeezing the roller and move slow to avoid paint splatter. To get close to the ceiling and baseboards turn the roller sideways to make it easier on you.
After your done painting the wall, roll down the painted area to avoid build up and runs. Once the walls are completely dry, place masking tape between the trim edge and wall. Make sure to press down with a putty knife.
Paint trim with a brush.
Remove masking tape right after finishing trim.
Caulk between trim and wall that way you have no visible gaps.

Inspection

When the painting is complete, it is important to inspect the job. Here are some steps to take for inspection:

Make sure you turn on all the lights and your room is well lit.
Sand down any paint drips you find and touch up the paint.
Check for even coverage, around doors, windows, corners, and trim.
Make sure the previous color is not bleeding through. If you see any make sure to touch it up with your roller.
Check for even straight lines where your ceiling meets the wall also were it meets the trim. Check that your trim was caulked, so no gaps can be seen. Do this also with switch plates and outlets covers. After all check the paint job as a whole in daylight and artificial lighting.

Clean Up

Once the inspection is complete, it is time to clean up the area. Make sure to remove the drop cloths, tape and plastic, and clean up any paint spills or splatters.

You are Done

When you are done cleaning up and you have given the paint some time to dry you can move the furniture back into place. Of course make sure that you are happy with the color before you do so. If not time to start over with a new color!

If you have taken your time and followed the important steps, job well done. Enjoy your new room! Nothing sets the mood for a room like a quality paint job and the right color. Sit back and enjoy that new paint color and that fulfilling feeling of painting your own room.