How to Paint a Front Door

If you’re looking for simple ways to beautify the front of your house while also protecting it, painting your front door should be at the top of your list. Whether for resale or for your own enjoyment, a newly painted front door boosts curb appeal and gives the whole house a fresh look. Because front doors bear the brunt of weather extremes, painting the door increases its durability and extends its lifespan.

Basics of Painting a Front Door

Nearly any front door that is made of wood, fibreglass, or steel can be painted. Many exterior front doors are sold unpainted and otherwise unfinished, with the expectation that the owner will paint it. Front doors with peeling, cracking paint can usually be successfully refurbished and re-painted.

Prep Work

The key to an attractive, long-lasting paint job is to thoroughly prepare the door. The door should be cleaned, sanded, patched where needed, primed, and then painted. Painting over peeling paint, dirt, dust, or cracks and holes will significantly reduce the paint job’s lifespan.

Removing the Door

Ensure a great front door paint job by removing the door from the hinges and painting it flat on sawhorses. Painting the door horizontally reduces drips. Additionally, removing the door gives you access to the hinge-side and bottom edges of the door.

Front Door Paint

Oil-based paints take longer to dry than water-based latex paints, stretching this from a one-day to a multi-day project. Plus, oil-based paints and related tools must be cleaned up with paint thinner or mineral spirits. However, oil-based paints are more durable than water-based paints and help to reduce brush marks.

Water-based latex paints are easy to work with and they easily clean up with water. Unlike oil-based paints, latex paints can be found in low- or no-VOC form, making them green and eco-friendly.

Semi-gloss or glossy paint sheens offer better clean ability. If you value the look of flat or matte paint for a more contemporary look, just know that they scuff more readily than glossy paints. For flat/matte doors, it helps to have a can of paint on hand for quick spot touch-ups.

When to Paint Your Front Door?

Schedule your painting project during warm, dry weather since your house will be open and exposed. Start early in the day since you need to lay down a second coat of paint before re-installing the door.

If you want to replace the door the same day, paint the exterior side and the four edges first. Then, if you run out of time to paint the inside of the door horizontally, paint it after it has been re-hung.

Should I use Primer before I paint?

Using a primer before you paint is a great way to improve the quality of your paint job. You don’t need to prime your surface in all situations, but used properly, a primer can make all the difference.

When You Should Use a Primer?

Priming before you paint isn’t always necessary, although there are occasions when priming your surface can help you achieve a perfect, professional finish.

Here’s when you should prime before you paint:

Your walls are brand new. All new plasterboard needs to be sealed with a primer before it is painted.
If your existing paint job is dry and chalky. Paint becomes chalky as it begins to breakdown. In this case, you’ll need to wash the walls thoroughly, and apply a suitable primer to create a smooth surface for the new paint to adhere to.
If you are painting over oil based paint with acrylic paint. Acrylic paint won’t adhere properly to oil based paint unless an acrylic primer is used.
If you have mended cracks or holes. New plasterboard should be sealed with a primer.If you walls are currently dark, and you want to paint them a light colour. The primer will help cover up the dark hue, so your new, light paint will show up brighter.

The Benefits of Using a Primer….

Painting a primer on your surface is a simple way to improve the finish of your paint job, and make it last longer. In most situations you can achieve better results with one coat of primer and one coat of paint, rather than two coats of paint.

Here are few benefits of priming your walls before you paint:

Priming will ensure your colour is rich and vibrant. Primers can hide the colour you are painting over – even dark reds and blues – so the old colour doesn’t alter the new colour.
Priming will create the ideal surface for paint to adhere to. While paints are rich in pigment, primers are rich in resin. This means paint can cling to primer more effectively than old paint. Primer also evens out your surface, so you can achieve a consistent finish.
Primers can prevent stains. Primers seal the surface, and therefore block out stains so they can’t ruin your paint job.
Primers can increase the longevity of your paint. Primers can help prevent peeling, cracking and blistering. They will also ensure the paint colour doesn’t fade.

Christmas 2022

Have you completed your Christmas shopping? Paintway have been “wrapping up” (Pardon the Pun? hehe) all of our Christmas gift shopping over the past week, but I still have a few gifts left on my list. We have been so busy this month, it will feel great to have our shopping and gifts all set to go so we are ready to relax and enjoy time with family and friends.

Paintway would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas 🎄 and would like to take the opportunity to thank you all so much for your business in 2022.

We would like to leave you with one more Painting Tip for the Year.

Thinking of painting your home and want to know the paint colour trends forecasted by the interior design experts for 2023? As professional painters we see the trends and know what works. Trends in interior design are as cyclical as those in clothing and furnishings. The good news is that updating your walls is practically as simple as updating your wardrobe.

Its all about making Changing Colours inside your home can have a great impact on your mood. Which is precisely what is necessary as the world emerges from the pandemic’s gloom. It’s for this reason that one of the new colour palettes has been selected: to give us a much-needed boost of energy and positivity.

If you are planning a house makeover, ensure you hire a QUALIFIED Painter to redecorate the interior paint, if you are trying to decide what colour to repaint your newly constructed or renovated home, Just call us and we can help you with all those decisions.

Merry Christmas Toowoomba 🤶🏻

Common House Painting Mistakes

Do-it-yourself painting can be a way to save money on house painting. But you need to do your homework first. As you want the end result to look like a professional house painters job. Painting is a great way to give your home a face-uplift, and DIY painting is one way to achieve this. We always see the same common mistakes people make when undertaking the house painting themselves.

Most of these mistakes people make during the painting process are avoidable; all you need to do is to pay attention to the small details before starting the paint job and during the painting process.

Below find the DIY mistakes outlined by our experienced painters; they will help in your next DIY paint project.

1. Avoid Choosing the Wrong Colour

Did you know that most of the common painting mistakes happen before you start painting? One of them is picking the wrong colour; it is advisable to choose a paint colour based on a colour swatch. Most clients get frustrated when looking for the best colour. You visit the store and buy your preferred colour, but the final look differs from the colour you initially picked. Light plays a major part when looking at colours!

Always ask the paint store for a mix of the sample paint, take it home, and try it out. Paint experts will advise that you observe it in both artificial and natural light.

2. Over-brushing is not a Good Idea

When undertaking your interior painting on cabinets, doors, or any other woodwork, avoid too much brushwork. This strategy will help achieve the smoothest possible finish. After loading your brush, immediately cover the area with paint. After that, apply one or two strokes to level it off. Avoid brushing the same spot when the paint starts to dry off. That will only cause brush marks and ridges.

3. Extreme Temperatures

Extreme temperatures like Queensland summers or Melbournes winters are not the right atmosphere for any paint job. Avoid any exterior painting during the heat of the day or conversely a cold morning.

Painting on a hot surface is not a good idea; the paint will dry faster before spreading it evenly. Sometimes the colour can slough and bubble off. Always avoid the direct sun when painting and know the best time to paint your home.

4. Cover Everything before Spray Painting

When you decide on DIY, never underestimate the power of sprays from paint sprays and spray cans. Always cover everything with thin plastic. In case you are working outdoors, avoid spraying on a windy day. The spray may end up on the neighbour’s property.

5. Surface Prep

Before you start your DIY paint job, it is crucial to prepare your walls or ceilings. Remember to remove any flaking and peelings surfaces. Scrape any glossy surfaces before applying a fresh coat of paint. It ensures that you end up with an evenly painted surface. Avoid the mistake of painting on unprepared surfaces, and the result will be an uneven paint job.

6. Do not Use the Wrong Finish

When you choose the wrong paint sheen or gloss for your DIY, it will not deliver professional work no matter how good you are. Below are some tips to help avoid that:

When the surfaces are not perfect, avoid using any high sheen. That glossiness will only maximize the problem, and light-reflecting will bring out all the defects. In case you decide to use gloss sheen or semi-gloss, ensure that the surface is well prepared and smooth enough.

If you are using different sheens and the same colour, always label your cans. It will make your DIY easier and avoid any mistakes until the paint dries.

7. Avoid Rookie Mistakes

There are two common mistakes that rookie DIY make:

Leaving the lid off after opening the paint can; the main problem is that anyone can step on the lid and spill paint all over. The other reason to avoid leaving the lid off is to keep the paint clean and prevent it from drying out. You will prevent mixing colours up.

Always lock your pets; if you forget to, they may end knocking the paint cans or putting paintbrushes in their mouth. It is the best trick for any DIY project.

8. Avoiding having your Roller Touch the Floor

In case you are painting new walls before installing the skirting, always leave an unpainted strip that the skirting will cover. When you paint close to the floor, the roller might pick some dirt and spread it across the wall. When painting over any ceiling, test a small section. If the texture looks fine, you can continue with the painting on the whole ceiling.

9. Wash Your Brushes

After the DIY project, you will be exhausted, do not leave the brushes in the garage to clean them later; it is a bad idea. Protect your tools by washing the brushes immediately with water and dish detergent. Ensure you wrap the brushes in airtight aluminium foil or plastic wrap. After cleaning, store them in the original packaging to maintain their shape.

Paintways 7 Simple Steps to Calculate the Amount of Paint Needed for your Painting Project

When wanting to repaint your home, there are a number of things to work out first before that brush ever touches the paint. Once you have found the perfect colour for your living room, the next step in the process is to find what the best paint to use is and how much you will need. Calculating the amount of paint you will need doesn’t have to be difficult, and Paintway’s guide will be able to easily figure out how much you need.

1. Measure up your room

The first thing to do to determine how much paint you will need for your project is to measure all of the walls you want to paint. This is done with a simple calculation to help you quickly find the average amount of paint in litres for a single coat of paint. You will need to measure the surface area of your room, discounting the ceiling and the floor. To do this you should measure all of the walls in your home from ceiling to floor and wall to walls. Add the measurements of the width of your walls multiply them by the height of the room to determine the square metre size of your room.

2. Take into account windows and doors

When measuring the surface area of your room, you may not be painting the ceiling or the windows and the doors, so you need to determine the size of these surface areas and discount them from your calculation. With your square metre number, simply subtract roughly 1.85 square metres from your calculations for your doors, and perform the square metre measurement for your windows to find their size. Simply remove this number from your initial calculation to determine the surface area of your room.

3. Buying the right amount of paint

With your calculation determining the surface area of your room, you are now ready to purchase the right amount of paint – but wait there, it all still depends on how many coats you want to give the walls, as well as the viscosity and type of paint you want to use. On average, a 4 litre bucket of paint will allow you to paint roughly 32 square metres of wall for a single coat.

4. Number of coats
Whilst many people simply paint over the previous colour until it is no longer visible, the best painting services paint has to offer often like to add a primer coat in order to blank the previous pant, as well as paint a tint layer to bring the vibrant colours to life for a more professional look and feel. You will need to calculate how many coats you will need for each room, so test out your walls with a tester pot of the paint of your choice to see how it holds and finishes before purchasing more.

5. Finalising your calculations

When you have determined how many coats of paint you want to put on your walls, and the surface area of your rooms, you will need to divide the paintable surface area of your room by the square metre capacity of a 5 litre tub of paint. If your paint comes in smaller or larger sizes, use this number to determine how many tubs or tins of paint you will require to finish the job properly. If you find that you are short by a little, order a few small tins to make up the difference, but if you find that you will need more, then go for the extra big tub to make sure you can finish with a little spillage into the equation.

6. Using a paint calculator

Using an online paint calculator can be a simple way of quickly getting the amount of paint you will need for the room to be painted. Taking rough guesses is a good way to determine roughly the cost of your painting project, but getting the precise figure is the best way of making sure that you don’t go over budget, or come up short when that special paint you bought at a discount is no longer available.

7. Paint your walls

Painting your walls accordingly will be the best part of your final calculation and will make all of the hard work worth it in the end.

If you are in any doubt about the calculations and price involved in high quality paint, or the types of paint you will need for your particular rooms finishes, don’t hesitate to call Paintway, who will be able to talk you through the process, and give you a solid estimate on the final price for the job done.

We often get asked…”How is the cost of having our House Calculated?” Here is How:

Painting is one of the quickest and easiest ways to give your home’s interior a facelift — and it is one that can produce dramatic results as well. Unfortunately, many homeowners feel overwhelmed when tasked with choosing a lasting color scheme. To avoid getting stuck with a less-than-perfect color choice, they will spend hours studying the subtleties between Smokey Topaz and Roycroft Suede paint swatches, considering the mood they want to create (whimsical? relaxing? modern edge?), and deciding whether to trust their guts or hire an interior decorator to make sure things turn out just right.

Fortunately, interior painting doesn’t have to be that difficult. Most paint stores offer samples that you can take home for a wall test. With these samples, you can paint a few colors in large swaths on your wall to see the how the paint interacts with the room’s natural light. And you can compare it against design elements like pillows or furniture to see whether it will work with your overall decor as well.

Calculating Room Painting Costs

The cost to paint an average size room (10X12) ranges from $380, not including ceilings, trim or cost of the paint. DIY, this can cost between $200-$300. When estimating the cost, Paintway will start with how much paint will be required to complete the job. To know this, we first need to know the size of the area to be covered.

The easiest way to calculate the size of the paintable area is to add together the length of the wall and multiply it by the width of the room from floor to ceiling. The resulting amount is the room’s square footage. This total is a starting point, as it is not all paintable surface. Paintway won’t paint the windows and doors, for example, and they must account for ceiling trim and baseboards as well.

The next step is to subtract the area of the doors and windows — along with the square footage of the trim and baseboards — to get an average. Then, use the same calculation (length x width) on the windows, doors, trim and baseboards, and subtract all of those numbers. The result of this equation is the square footage of the room’s walls. This is your surface area number. We will typically add a little square footage back in to this amount to account for extra paint, which may be required.

Room Painting Cost Factors Here are some other cost factors to consider when it comes to the cost of painting a room:

Size of Room to be Painted

The size of the room to be painted is the most important factor in determining the cost of professional painting. It will take a paintway longer to cover a large room than a small room, and this means higher labor costs in addition to supplies and time. When estimating the paint for such a job, keep in mind that a litre of paint covers about 400 square feet (though the label claims it will cover 450 square feet). You will be charged for the number of paint cans needed, among other factors.

Textured Walls

A textured wall will need more paint than a smooth wall. The texture adds more surface area, even though it doesn’t increase square footage. Determining the additional surface area depends on how much texture there is. Paintway will probably estimate about 300 to 350 additional square feet of paint to account for texture. Factor additional surface area into your square footage calculations when seeking professional estimates.

Speed Factor

The speed with which a paintway can complete the job will determine its final cost, but time is difficult to estimate. Some painters have more experience and cover a wall faster, but some are more methodical and take more time. Most painters should be able to cover about 100 to 120 square feet of flat surface in an hour, unless they are working on a very large wall. Wood or plaster might reduce that amount to 80 to 100 square feet. You should also consider the time required for a first coat to dry before a second coat may be applied. This will add time as well — anywhere from one to 48 hours depending on the paint.

Multiple Rooms or Whole House

If you decide to paint multiple rooms in your home, choose colors that relate to one another without being completely the same — unless uniformity is your goal, of course. Costs may vary based on differences in color, gloss and room size. However, each room will flow depending on the trim’s color — which should all be white or neutral — so they look connected.

A whole-house color scheme presents the same cost factors as painting multiple rooms individually: colors you choose, the gloss, the size of the rooms and time/labor. You can choose to use the same color throughout your entire home to save on money, or you can use a color scheme with the same gloss throughout, though this isn’t recommended for selling purposes.

Interior House Painting Cost Factors

Average Paint Prices

Generally, it will take a minimum of two litres of paint to cover a room. At the highest end, paint will cost anywhere between $30 and $60 per litre and come in three different finishes: flat, semi-gloss or high-gloss. Flat finishes are the least shiny and are best suited for areas requiring frequent cleaning. Semi-gloss finishes are a bit shiny but can also be easily cleaned. A high-gloss finish is stain-resistant and easy to clean. Traditionally, living rooms should be painted with a flat finish to allow the paint to stand out. Glossy finishes should be reserved for hallways, and a semi-gloss is best suited for trim. Invest in pre-primed paint whenever possible. This cuts down on time by combining the layering process.

Almost any paint job will require a primer, which will cost anywhere from $7 to $15 per can. Primer helps the paint to stand out against the underlayer of paint it’s covering, especially if the new paint is lighter than the old coat. You will need at least two cans of primer, if not more, to cover one wall.

Supplies Needed

Paintway will typically provide most of the supplies for a project, but sometimes they will allow you to pay for solely labor if you provide all of the materials yourself. You might decide to do a DIY paint job down the road, in which case having these supplies on-hand will save you time and money. The supplies you should invest in include:

Brushes: Trim and sash brushes for intricate painting, beaver-tail handles on larger brushes for larger surfaces.
Tape: Standard painter’s tape to protect trim and ceilings from droplets.
Drop cloth: To protect floors and furniture from drips.
Paint tray: To keep out only a portion of paint rather than drying out an entire litre.
Paint rollers: A quick way to cover a large portion of a wall in paint.
Ladder: Necessary for reaching high areas (don’t use a chair!).
Small brushes: For touch-ups.

Additional Updates

Consider having your molding, trim and baseboards checked while you have a professional painter in your home. This might be a good time to upgrade or repair any cracks, warps or other issues. Paintway usually touch up or replace these items for an affordable rate, and they may even package such fix-ups with your painting project.

Cost of Painting a Room as a DIY Project

A handy homeowner can buy paint and equipment for about $200 to $300. Don’t forget to factor in the time it will take you to do this yourself though. Depending on the size of the room and how much help you have, this could be a day project or a weekend project.

Here are the general steps to follow when painting a room on your own:

Decide on a color palette: Earth tones and neutrals will cover up marks, scratches and hand prints.
Buy supplies: You will need rollers, brushes and other supplies (see above) in addition to paint and primer.
Remove furniture: Remove all furniture from the room to protect it from drips and avoid trips and falls.
Clean the walls to be painted: Clean with a water and detergent mixture. For any stains, use trisodium phosphate.
Remove outlet covers and switch plates: Remove but don’t paint the sockets or switches. Turn off electricity in the room to avoid an accidental shock.
Outline: Put any painter’s tape over baseboards, trim and edging to avoid drips.
Paint the first coat.
Apply the second coat.
Touch up: Touch up baseboards and ceiling trim as needed. Also touch up any spots on the wall.

Do you have a problem with flaky or cracked ceilings? Read on…..

Problem Ceilings? (Peeling and Flaking Paint)

The most common problem area when it comes to painting is the ceiling. Especially in Bathrooms because of Moisture! Or where we are based here in Toowoomba in the Mountains there can be months of high moisture from being in the Clouds.

There are several problems that can occur on a ceiling to categorise it as a problem area:

Calcimine Paint

Fibros plaster ceilings were originally being painted with calcimine paint. Calcimine paint came in powdered form. It was mixed with water then applied to the ceiling. Once it dried by the water evaporating it left a coat of pigment powder on the surface of the ceiling. Years later the ceiling would have been recoated using a flat plastic paint which resulted in the calcimine pigments and powders sucking all the binders out of the new plastic paint making them unstable. Over the years with extra coats being applied to the surface creating extra pressure as well as gravity doing its job causes the paint to flake.

Incorrect application

In the early 80s where gyprock homes were being built to price and with little knowledge of paints the incorrect application was being used. Painters were applying flat paints straight onto bare gyprock and therefore, the paint was not soaking in like a primer would usually do. This application process becomes unstable over the years as well as more coats being applied over time creating more pressure on the surface and gravity doing its job the result is a problem ceiling which peels and flakes.

Moisture

One of the more common issues with problem ceilings is moisture. There are several reasons why moisture occurs. Moisture from storm damage can release the coating from any ceiling surface causing peeling or blistering paint. Also wet areas in the house such as the kitchen, laundry and bathroom can create moisture. For example in a bathroom with lack of ventilation, steam damage can occur to the coating causing it to flake and peel. Using paint with a higher sheen level may help reduce water absorption which accelerates peeling ceilings.

Style of home

Queensland style homes most commonly have VJ timber ceilings. When flaking occurs on these types of ceilings it is usually due to new acrylic paint being applied over old enamel paint. This occurs because acrylic paint is flexible by nature and the enamel coating is rigid. Therefore over time due to changes in temperature the different paint properties work against each other resulting in the top layer delaminating. To solve this issue the acrylic coating needs to be completely removed followed by using a general purpose undercoat to stabilise the surface before recoating.

The common theme in the above reasons for problem ceilings is PREPARATION, wrong application and the ceilings history. Due to these reasons it is hard for the painting of a ceiling to be done at time. However, no matter how much preparation occurs if the history of the ceiling is problematic it is difficult to treat with a simple paint application.

Movement happens with all homes every 10 years or so…causing joins and cracks to also appear.

Call us today for a free ceiling assessment here:

How Paint Colours Can Actually Change your Life

A small paint colour change can make a huge difference in your space. Paint colours could be used to bring positive energy to every room of the house.

For a couple’s bedroom, you want harmony and romance.

You want to focus on your purples and pinks, or lighter like orchid, What this does is creates harmony and intuitive love. So you would be embracing romance from the standpoint of love and how you are intuiting the person. It’s a fabulous way to approach relationships in the bedroom (literally and metaphorically).

Family spaces speak better in peaches and beiges.

peach-and-beige

These colours will create the awareness of laughter and a sense of family and community, so you’re embracing the whole group in the house,

For accents, you can also do ivory or light blue, but be careful when when using pure whites: You want rooms separated with lines, colours that will move into the arena of change. With ivories you’ll be defining the rooms, creating borders and boundaries.

In a kitchen, you want to encourage health and growth.

Greens are good on cabinets and counters but not on walls, and we suggest mauves, light blues, and aquas as accents. You don’t want to keep much white except for appliances, which are best in silver, white, and other neutrals, White is a static colour, while blues and greens are harmonious and foster growth.

Yellows and greens in a child’s room foster healthy emotional growth

You want the child to grow emotionally, but you don’t want them to focus on emotions in a way that makes them volatile, We suggest yellows and greens and to stay away from colours like red that spark strong excitement but also strong anger.

In a home office, greens and greys foster creative and financial prosperity.

Whenever you want colours for money and success, that’s the green family, That helps you to embrace growth — both financial and personal.

In a single person’s bedroom, blues and greens provide calmness.

Blue gives you an aspect of communication,And what you’re communicating to yourself is a calm, allowing yourself to feel very serene and at one with your own energy. You can also incorporate shades of green, or different patterns that are greens and blue. That speaks to healing and the heart chakra. This is encouraging, and it means they are not going to be single for long, but while they are single they are in a good place. They’ll feel good about themselves.

In a space shared with roommates, tans and browns allow for reason and communication.

Variations on brown or grey in a light hue are best, and not white or black. It allows people to reason. They’re not seeing things in black and white they’re seeing things in detail.

Visit us today at paintway2019.au3.live-preview.net or Visit us on Facebook

Diy A Bookcase! A coat of paint can make a huge difference!

It seems like everyone has at least one old bookcase taking up space in the garage. You resist getting rid of it because you know you’ll have a use for it one of these days.

Fortunately, revamping a tired bookcase isn’t as difficult as you might think. In fact, all you need are a few simple tools, a couple cans of paint and some decorative wood trim to restore that relic to greatness.

It has been dressed in its current shade of pale blue for well over a decade, and it also has about 10 years’ worth of grime covering it from top to bottom.

Start by cleaning your bookcase with a sturdy sponge and a bucket of hot, soapy water. This is absolutely essential to ensure that the new paint adheres. Make sure the shelves are completely dry before moving on.

While it dried, I used my miter saw to cut the trim. I used 2-1/4 in. wide strips of decorative wood trim traditionally used as chair railing. Make sure you purchase enough to entirely surround the opening of the bookcase and allow extra for the 45° angled miter cuts.

After cutting the four strips of trim, I painted the now-completely-dry bookcase using a two-tone technique. I painted the inside and all three shelves with the same color as the wall in the room, a soft silver gray. I painted the outside with a semi-glossy white used for trim.

Because both colors merge seamlessly with the existing colors in the room, the bookcase will serve as an unobtrusive addition to the space that will stand out rather than stick out. But because it’s dressed up beyond that of your typical bookcase, it will enhance the aesthetic appeal of the room while it serves an all-important storage function!

After the outside white paint was dry, I laid the bookcase down on its back to make attaching the trim to the front easier. You can do this step manually using thin finishing nails and a hammer, or you can do what I did and attach them using a brad nailer.

Fit the pieces together like a picture frame in each of the corners and nail them in place. Don’t worry about the joint gap at this point because the paint will fill in any spaces to the point that you won’t even notice it once the bookcase is finished.

While the bookcase was still positioned on its back, I applied a couple of coats of the semi-gloss white to the new trim.

The final result is something that looks like it came from a high-end furniture store. And you would never guess by looking that it didn’t come pre-assembled with the outer trim already attached!

Don’t shy away from using leftover paint samples. I was able to employ the remainder of the original paint sample I used to test out the room’s wall color about a year ago. Because it comes in a satin finish, it will adhere to the furniture very well while adding a subtle surface sheen to elevate the look beyond that of a basic flat paint.

And all that’s left now is to stage the shelves. For the most professional looking result, avoid loading it up! In other words, only place items on it that serve a decorative or functional purpose or that you will actually use. Do your best to balance out the shelves and spread out your items evenly between sides; consider staggering them so that the right or left side isn’t more heavily stocked than the other.

Visit us today at Paintway Toowoomba

How to revive a old Kitchen with a Fresh Coat of Paint

How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Many old homes have a recurring issue with a claustrophobic kitchen. Dark wood paneling on the cabinets combined with a ’70s paint job makes the whole room feel enclosed, dark and stuffy. Sometimes even a nice window refuses to let in enough light to brighten up the place. In these cases, it is amazing what a little paint can do. Coat your cabinets with a light colored paint and suddenly the space feels much more open and airy.

Step 1: Make Decisions

You probably won’t be able to take one look at your cabinets and decide what paint color you want. Do you go for a pastel shade of blue or green? Is a yellow shade more appropriate for the rest of your decor? Bring home a set of sample paint swatches and picture what the room will look like primarily in that color. If you have talent with a computer graphics program, you can even attempt to simulate it.

Once you have decided on your color, you can also decide on your hardware. Do you want to keep the old drawer handles and hinges, or will you update to a more modern set? Be aware that new hardware might not be able to use the same holes as the current hardware, so you may need to adapt to different spacing.

Step 2: Prepare

Buy your paint. Buy your hardware. Buy your paint supplies, including any brushes and small rollers you want. A pair of small rollers and a pair of angle-tipped brushes should be plenty. Pick up a drop cloth to paint on. They only cost a couple of dollars and they serve quite well for this and other house painting projects. For kitchen cabinets, you will probably want a latex paint with a semi-gloss finish. This makes a nice resistant surface for later cleaning. You can always bring a detached door to the hardware store and ask the people who work there what kind of paint they recommend.

Once you have all of your supplies, remove all of the hardware from your cabinets. This includes the hinges, so you will be removing the doors as you go. Store all of the hinges and handles in a single bag so you never lose a piece. Once all the doors are loose and the cabinet frames exposed, it’s time to clean. In all likelihood, years of grease and grime have built up on these wooden surfaces. Take some grease-cutting soap and scrub them clean.

Step 3: Preparing the Surface

If you chose to go with new hardware, you may have discovered that it doesn’t quite fit in the old holes. You will need a tube of wood filler from your local hardware store to patch the old holes. When you’re painting cabinets like this, you won’t need to worry about matching the shade of the wood too closely. This is also the time to patch any annoying gouges and dings on the cabinets themselves. This way you’ll have a nice smooth surface once the paint is applied.

Examine the surface of your cabinets. Is it shiny? Chances are it is covered with layers of protective polyurethane. If you need help deciding whether to sand, feel the surface. Is it matte and slightly absorbent like a good cutting board? It’s probably fine without sanding. Does it feel more like a piece of plastic? Chances are you should sand it. If they are already painted, see if you can determine how old the paint is. Old paint might contain lead, and it’s best to remove it before you paint over it. Be careful! Lead paint is a health hazard, and sanding will get particles of it everywhere.

Step 4: Prime Everything

Even though you have already cleaned and sanded your cabinets, there still may be years-old grease stains deep in the wood. Don’t worry about sanding them out. Primer paint is designed specifically to hide these kinds of things. You will probably want to go for an oil-based primer, because grease stains have been known to seep through water-based paints and show on the new surface. One coat of oil-based primer should work perfectly for your cabinets.

Using a small paint roller, apply primer to the cabinets. You can use a small brush to work the paint into smaller grooves and patterns that the roller won’t reach. One coat should be plenty. Your primer is only there to cover the majority of any color, pattern and stain underneath. It serves to prime the surface for the actual paint later on. Once you have applied the primer, go ahead and let it dry for a couple of hours. Don’t worry about cleaning out the roller and brush — oil-based primer is hard to clean. Save the tools for any later house painting projects you may have.

Step 5: Painting

The primer should be tacky but dry by now. You can do the majority of your painting with a small roller, using your brush sparingly. This helps minimize the texture difference caused by brushstrokes and helps you paint more quickly. You will want to wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second coat. It is entirely possible, if you started early, to finish priming and painting cabinets in the space of a day.

The process of painting is where all the fun is. You get to see your chosen color displayed for the world on your cabinets and drawers. Use a steady hand to roll on paint in even strokes. Your roller is perfect for most of the cabinets and doors. It will let you easily cover the flat surfaces. For smaller crevices and grooves in the wood, use a small brush with an angled tip. The angle will help you work paint into the small grooves and corners without leaving large drops pooling in small recesses.

Did you plan to paint the inside of the cabinet doors? If so, do the inside first. You should let the primer and paint dry for several days before flipping them over to paint the outside. You do the inside first so that if anything goes wrong when you flip it, the mistakes are mostly hidden. You wait several days so the paint has had time to solidify and can resist damage.

Step 6: Finishing Up

Paintway advise you to wait for at least three days before hanging your doors once more. This gives the paint plenty of time to dry and harden. Five days is best for the most safety.

If you’re using old hardware, simply reattach it where it was before and replace everything. If you’re using new hardware, you will need to drill fresh pilot holes for the new screws. Make sure you follow the old construction adage. Measure twice, cut — or drill — once. Even taking your time, this will only take an hour or so. Finally, with your freshly painted doors hung once more, you can enjoy your new kitchen