6 Steps to Prepare Your Home for Interior Paint Job

Most experts recommend having your house painted every five years. However, this only applies to the exterior of your home.

Since your home interior is not exposed to sun, water, and other elements, you can have it repainted every six or seven years.

However, you may still have to invest in a professional paint job for your interior without waiting for five or six years. When the paint starts to fade, bubble or crack, peel or chalk, you’ll need to have your home repainted.

Getting Ready for a Major Professional Interior Paint Job

Knowing when to schedule a paint job is crucial to get the most out of this project.

Choosing the right interior decorative paints can also affect the condition and longevity of your spruced-up walls.

Good-quality paint looks better on walls and ceilings. They are also less prone to defects and cover surfaces well.

Moreover, they last longer since they are more resistant to UV light and humidity, preventing them from peeling and flaking prematurely.

Additionally, there are key steps you can take to prepare your home to ensure your painting project goes well.

Without proper interior paint preparation, your newly-painted walls and ceiling won’t look as sharp and well-done as they should.

Below are the six key prep tips:

Move and Cover All Furniture

Painting contractors want to finish their job as soon as possible while avoiding disturbing your daily home routine. As such, you want to help them start and complete their project without delay.

One way of doing this is moving the furniture away from the walls and to the middle of the room before the painting contractors arrive. 

Also, cover all furniture with plastic to avoid getting them splattered with paint. 

If you skip these steps, you’ll end up having damaged furniture that you might not be able to use again. In case you have a vacant room that won’t be painted, consider putting the furniture in there in the meantime.

Move and Cover Appliances

Aside from the furniture, you should also move and cover all electronic items and appliances, including your LED TV, sound and gaming systems, refrigerator, stove, and desktops.

These items will likely be splattered with paint when you leave them as they are when the contractors start working. So, move them to the middle of the room or in another area and cover them with plastic as well.

If you don’t have enough plastic to cover the furniture, electronics, and appliances, ask your contractor to bring pieces of large cloth to spread over these big-ticket items.

Make sure you unplug any appliances that you can’t move. If there are any that need to be kept plugged in, mark the cords and instruct the contractors to avoid unplugging them.

Remove Wall Hangings, Cords, and Lighting Fixtures

Taking off all paintings, clocks, and decorative items from the walls can also speed up the painters’ work. Since they won’t have to remove these hanging ornaments themselves, they can proceed to do the painting job right away.

After removing the wall hangings, keep them protected by covering them with bubble wrap and putting them in storage bins. Place them in a safe area where they won’t cause tripping accidents.

If you’re having the ceiling painted, remove all removable light fixtures and ceiling medallions.

Hide Curtains, Rugs, and Other Soft Furnishings

Remove all window treatments from each room to be painted beforehand. Whether you have curtains, drapes, or blinds, take those off before your contractors arrive.

Also, remove soft furnishings such as rugs, mats, throw pillows, and sofa covers and slips.

Roll the rugs and mats cover them with plastic for additional protection.

This step is crucial even if your ceiling won’t be painted since it will ensure these soft furnishings won’t be damaged during the home improvement project and you can use them again once the work is done.

Cover the Floor

Whether you have tiled, hardwood, or carpet flooring, cover it with cloth during the painting project.

Butyl-backed and heavy canvas drop cloths are the best materials to use for covering the floors.

Doing so allows you to protect your floor from paint splatters, drips, and spills. It also prevents the workers from tracking paint that they may accidentally step on and spread around.

Another benefit of using a butyl-backed and heavy canvas drop cloth for covering the floor during this home improvement project is that these materials keep spilled paint from soaking to the flooring below.

These floor covering materials also help prevent ladders from slipping and sliding on carpets and other floor coverings.

Butyl-backed and heavy canvas drop cloth can be pretty expensive. You’ll end up spending a fortune on buying enough to cover your floor.

If you don’t have the budget to buy these, ask your contractor if they have these materials and coordinate with them regarding their placement on the floors.

Clear Out the Cabinets and Closets

If your kitchen and bathroom cabinets also need to be painted, remove all glasses, cups, plates, pots, pans, medications, toiletries, and other items inside them. Find a place where you can store these items temporarily, such as a different room.

Make sure you pack these carefully if you plan to put them in storage containers.

Do the same for all closets that need to be painted. Remove all clothes, hangers, bags, and other accessories you keep in them before the contractors arrive.

Look for a place where you can store these items safely temporarily as well.

Ensuring a Smooth Start to Your Home Interior Painting Project

Professional interior home painting contractors appreciate it when their clients make preparations to get their property ready before the paintwork starts.

Aside from following these steps, you can ask your contractor if there are other things you can do to help make their work go smoothly. Doing so will help reduce the time they need to complete the project.

You will also save time cleaning your home and avoid unnecessary expenses to replace damaged or defaced valuables after the project.

So, remember to lend your contractors a hand before they start painting your home by following these steps and tips.