Interior Painting Ideas

Interior Decorating - How to Choose Your Paint Color

By K. Nichols

Clients often come to me to begin their decorating project, and request to keep the paint color because they've just changed it. They tell me that it took forever to make a decision on what color to choose, and would like to build the room around it. *long suffering sigh*

DON'T DO THIS!

Yes, paint is the single easiest way to make a change in a room. When you move into a new home, it's the fastest way to remove the personality of the previous homeowner, or to make new construction feel like your own. When you're remodeling, it feels like immediate progress... and who doesn't love instant gratification?

But how do you choose? For some, standing in front of that wall o' paint chips brings on near-total paralysis - leading you to close your eyes and just grab something! For others, it's exhilarating to imagine the possibilities, so you take home one of each just to daydream about it. Either way... Resist the temptation!! It is far easier to match your paint to your furniture, than your furniture to your paint. Here's why:

If you're like most people, chances are good that the furniture you purchase is going to have to meet a number of specific requirements: a look that you enjoy, the comfort you need, and a size that is appropriate for your space. You may or may not get the choice of a selection of custom fabrics, out of which, one or two may work with your desired color scheme. What I'm trying to illustrate is that finding the right furnishings can be a challenge. Paint, on the other hand, is INFINITE! With today's technology, ANY color can be matched and reproduced instantly, giving you the ability to coordinate it exactly with your hard-won new furniture.

So, would you say that it's easier to find the perfect fabric that miraculously coordinates with your randomly selected paint color, or to select your paint color directly from that perfect fabric?

Let me boil it down: paint is cheap and easy, furniture considerably less so on both counts.

As professional interior decorators at OnlineHomeDecorating.com, we have created an entire plan for your space, which includes the paint color, so you know from the outset that all the elements of your design are perfectly coordinated... before you ever spend a dime. Now, back away from the paint chips!

K. Nichols is the owner of Online Home Decorating, the ONLY site on the web where you can purchase fully complete room designs, crafted by professional interior decorators.

Now, having beautiful design in YOUR home is as easy as selecting your perfect look, and instantly downloading all the information you need to recreate it exactly - item by item - at your own pace, and at whatever budget is right for you... without spending thousands to hire a designer! Browse our catalog of rooms, and get your re-do done today.

Visit http://www.onlinehomedecorating.com now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=K._Nichols

Decorating Painting Tips

Make Home Decoration and Interior Design Fun With Wall Paints

By Samatha Eddy Smith

An integral part of home decoration are the walls, they are present everywhere after all. A large number of people often neglect their home walls thinking there is not much they can do with them. Well if you are one of those you surely will be surprised and be confused after knowing the options available in wall painting currently.

If you are looking to add a glamour quotient to your living area then you can shock visitors by painting the room with bright and bold colours. The colour combination matters a lot no doubt but what also matters is how you apply it. For instance by just painting one wall with a bright hue and keeping the rest of the walls simple can work wonders. From gold yellow to royal blue the choices are endless; your home walls too can get the million dollar makeover without making a big hole in your pocket.

In case you are looking out for a soothing kind of interior decoration then your walls too can be in sync with the same theme! Lavender, beige, cream or olive green; walls of these colours are sure to impress you. Another advantage of such colours is they add a dimension and spacious element to the room. You can beat away the space crunch blues by choosing wall colours smartly. Light colours make a statement and are not just restricted to white and grey shades. Be it the pink effect in a teenage girl's room to a lavender coloured bedroom or a peach kitchen walls, they all look like a stunner reflecting an elegant approach towards life.

From funky to sober yet appealing or even vibrant; home decoration has evolved a lot with the times. Similarly the wall painting trend has also undergone a drastic change and needs to be given attention. The walls speak volumes about people who stay around, be sure to communicate your personality through them. Walls are one of the most important factors of every home and cannot be ignored as far as home interiors are concerned. You can get the best of architects to design your home but if the walls do not get the perfect paint finish it will all be a waste.

So plan your home decoration exercise well and make wall painting an integral part of it. Forget spending a bomb on antiques and master pieces, become a Picasso and make the walls your canvas. There is liveliness all around bring it on to your walls this time and enjoy the activity. Next time when you look at the walls, don't just watch them make sure you feel them.

I am currently working as a home interior expert, giving suggestions to clients on home decoration and wall painting.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Samatha_Eddy_Smith

House Painting Contractors

A Good House Painting Contractor

By Vickie Faria

Determining what makes a good contractor is often relative to the job being performed and the type of contractor you are looking to hire. Different projects and fields require different skill sets sometimes, so a contractor's qualifications may vary from project to project.

There are certain qualities one should seek when deciding on a good house painting contractor. Obviously, skill with a paintbrush is a big one, otherwise what's the point. An eye for color and color scheme is a not so obvious quality. While homeowners or architects usually make decisions regarding paint color, a house painting contractor who is experienced in dealing with this aspect of the project can have valuable input. Design will ideally sync up with production flawlessly, but in reality, this is not always the case. A designer may have a bright new idea for a color scheme, hold two color samples up to each other and feel that they have found a winning match. Unfortunately, sometimes when the finished product is presented to the homeowner or designer, they react with disgust. Having another skilled opinion and somebody present during the actual painting will provide insight into the decisions.

As is the case with all contractors, a reliable house painting contractor is a huge asset to any project. Nobody wants somebody doing work for them that they cannot trust and rely on to show up every day, does not arrive on time and can never seem to work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Finding a trustworthy contractor is important to the success of your home projects.

More information on a house painting contractor [http://www.brightcove.tv/channel.jsp?channel=1631247534] and College Works Painting in your area is just a click away.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vickie_Faria

Painting Best

How to Select the Best Painting Contractor

By Ricardo Colindres

Regardless of why you need to have a painting job done, choosing the best possible painting contractor is imperative. With the sheer number of contractors offering their services online and offline, it could be hard to separate the reliable from the unreliable. We have some suggestions that could come in handy and might provide you the help you need in finding a painting contractor you can entrust with just about any kind of painting job required.

Normally, your first instinct may be to do a quick Internet search or grab the phone book and start picking names at random. The former option is more effective, as your average painting contractor on the Internet wouldn't be bound by the space constraints dealt with by those posting their numbers on the yellow pages. They would have more room to describe their services, list their prices and post photos of their work. Phone book ads don't give you much insight into a painting contractor's capabilities - usually they just post their number and that's it. But the best option would still be to search online and/or offline AND ask recommendations from people you know and trust. You just might hear a few common suggestions offered, and if you do, you should definitely add those names to your shortlist of candidates.

Once you've listed down a few companies, you can start studying their websites. Again, you'll want to check those photos of completed painting jobs and compare prices and services. It's also a good idea to check their guestbook for feedback. Be wary of "fine print" and always be the lookout for hidden catches. If something looks and sounds too good to be true, it most likely is too good to be true. If the website looks as if the designer "mailed it in", then you might want to scratch the company in question from your list. Unprofessional web design is often a sign of a lazy company.

Aside from the website content, you should certainly consider how long a painting contractor has been operating. But to be more specific, inquire about how long the contractor has been CERTIFIED. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can claim to have thirty years painting experience, but if they have only been certified one year out of that thirty, it won't do you much good.

Lastly, you should consider the price you will be paying the painting contractor. While you shouldn't get too excited over ridiculously low prices (remember that in most cases, you get what you pay for), you shouldn't have to overpay for any kind of painting done in or around your home or building.

Hiring the right painting contractor can ensure your home or building remains in the best of shape and continues leaving a good impression to the public.

Please visit Calgary Painting Contractors for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ricardo_Colindres

Painting Ideas

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Some Great Tips For

Interior Painting Ideas

By Gail Burton

At some point you will decide that various rooms in your home need to be redecorated. Whatever reasons you have for deciding to repaint these rooms you will then need to come up with some suitable interior painting ideas for them. Of course there are certain things that need to be decided.

You will need to decide on what colors to use. Plus you will need to decide if you are intending to paint the room more than one color which ones will look right together. Then of course you need to decide whether you use a well known brand of paint or not. All of this before you can then decide what sort of interior painting techniques to use that will help to bring your interior painting ideas to life.

When it comes to selecting paint colors it would be a good idea for you to visit your local DIY, Hardware or paint store. Spend some time in the store looking at the various different color samples they have on display including the color swathes. Also ask staff if they can tell you more about the various brands of paint they stock and what the differences between them are.

Another important thing you should do when you go to the store is ask about any technical requirements and procedures that need to be followed when applying the paint to the walls, doors or skirting boards. Plus you need to know exactly what equipment will be needed to complete the work properly and in a timely fashion. If you can avoid going to the store first thing in the morning but around mid afternoon as this will be when the staff won't be so busy and will be able to take time out to assist you with your enquiries.

When it comes to selecting the paint colors avoid choosing those that look attractive because they are bright. It is important that you select paints for your interior painting ideas that are going to complement the pieces of furniture in that room and won't have problems standing up the lighting arrangements in them. Plus think about how colors you choose will look during certain times of the day. Going for a hot pink on the walls may look great but can look really tack when the sun shines on it and may not provide you with the calming atmosphere you wanted at night.

If you are looking for more ideas, please refer to Interior Painting Ideas as well as Interior Design Ideas.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gail_Burton

Decorative Paint Effects

What You Need to Know About the Decorative

Painter's Tools

By Danita Lickfelt

The author of a book on trim voiced his observation about how each generation of carpentry books seem to assume that carpenters know less and less. He cited the way new books having to describe in excruciating detail procedures which used to receive only rudimentary treatment, attributing this to the decline of the apprentice system in the United States. He's probably right.

The pyramids, Solomon's Temple, and the soaring cathedrals of Europe would not have been possible without the skilled craftsmen who learned their craft from skilled craftsmen before them. Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari is said to have learned violin-making in the shop of violin maker extraordinaire Nicolo Amati, but his genius couldn't be restrained, and proceeded to outshine his master . Today, Stradivarius violins, or simply Strad, are the last word in violins.

The shift toward Do-It-Yourself partly explains this phenomenon. Increasingly people would rather do things themselves rather than call in skilled help, no doubt encouraged by the abundant availability of how-to-do-it-yourself books. Often the purchase of a discount wall art or an iron wall art will require the jazzing up of the focal wall, necessitating work that the homeowner feels he can do himself. For that kind of homeowner, here's what he needs to know about tools and supplies.

PAINTBRUSHES AND APPLICATORS

You don't use just about any kind of paintbrush for a particular type of painting work. Synthetic-bristle paintbrushes are used with water-based latex and acrylic paints, while those with natural bristles are used with oil-based paints. Using natural-bristle paintbrushes with water-based paints will result in the brushes bunching together destroying the finish, although there are situations which call for the use of natural-bristle paintbrushes with water-based paints, as when streaking water-based color-washed finish, or dry-brushing water-based paints to tone down faux wood and strie finishes.

To clean paintbrushes you need brush combs to remove residual paint from brushes and align the bristles to allow for proper drying. Brush combs have a curved side opposite the teeth. This is for cleaning paint rollers.

Decorative painters also use stencil brushes, which have small and large versions. Small stencil brushes are used for fine detail work, and large stencil brushes for designs with large openings. Both synthetic- or natural-bristle stencil brushes may be used with acrylics.

Decorative painters also use artist's brushes: fan, liner, and flat. Remember always to gently stroke the bristles with your fingers after cleaning them in a stream of water using mild soap, and storing them upright on their handles afterward.

There are also sponge applicators for application on smooth, flat surfaces.

Painting walls next to moldings, ceilings, and corners can be tricky, and that's why you have paint edgers with guide wheels.

PAINT ROLLERS

If you have a wall or ceiling to paint, you use paint rollers. Paint rollers have three parts. The extension pole has a threaded female that accommodates the handle of the roller frame. Choose roller frames with nylon bearings and a threaded end. Roller pads are available in different nap thicknesses. Use synthetic or lamb's wool roller pads with water-based paints. For painting on smooth surfaces like wood, wallboard, or smooth plaster, use short-nap roller pads (1/4" to 3/8"). Use medium-nap and long-nap roller pads for everything else.

TAPES

You need tapes to cover any surrounding areas. One type is painter's masking tape. Another is painter's tape, a strip of wide brown paper with only one edge having adhesive. Stencil tape looks like masking tape, but differs from masking tape in its ability to stick to Mylar stencils without damaging them.

This Article was provided by Danita Lickfelt who writes for an online metal wall art store that features musical wall sculptures and metal wall artwork.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danita_Lickfelt

Decorating Paints

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Enhance Your Home Decor Using Decorative Paints

By James Carri

Home decoration revolves around a wide range of aspects, right from the furniture to the artifacts, appliances and even the lighting used. Apart from these decorative wall paints play a pivotal role in the decor of a home.

To understand why and how can wall paints affect the home decoration exercise you first need to know what exactly decorate paints are. These paints are an extension of the plain coloured paints applied on the walls. These come in endless varieties, textures and finishes. Using these you can create patterns, drawings of your choice on your home walls and make them look no less than piece of art.

How can these decorative paints help?

Decorative wall paints are available easily in the market and you just need to introduce them to your painting contractor or interior designer (if you feel the need to hire one). They can give you inputs on how these paints can be used and you can get the desired effect on your walls. There are a few examples of finishes that you can choose from:

* Murals: When any kind of art is directly painted over the walls to create a certain ambience it is known as a mural. So if you want to depict the Victorian era in your living room, then you can get a painting done of the similar fashion using rich colour combinations on the walls. These look stunning even on the ceilings.

* Theme based: You can make use of decorative paints to suit your theme. If you want to create a cool sea-side atmosphere in a corner of your home then you can get the perfect background by painting the walls with glossy blue or sea green. The gloss would add a different texture and if you play with the right wall colour combinations then you can achieve the desired results.

With the help of decorative wall paints you can change not just the look but also the feel of your home walls. There are a lot of texture options like stone, rustic, plaster and even embossing, this means you can make use of wall paints to paint wood and even replace the tiles.

Your home walls will no longer be left standing plain and sober; you can incorporate them in your home decoration and make your walls look alive and splendid. Elegant designs, contemporary or an arty appeal; making walls interesting is just a matter of getting them painted with the right kind of decorative paints. Gone are the days when you thought just spacious homes could be decked up; you can even make your one room apartment dazzle by painting it with the correct paints and balancing the use of other elements.

You can give your home different and new looks as you imagine by using decorative wall paints, excellent colour combinations, texture colour themes, designed patterns, etc. They all make your home painting experience creative and enjoyable.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Carri

Decorative Furniture Painting

Refinish Old Furniture With Paint

By Sarah Crosset

If you have old furniture in your house, you do not have to toss it out right away. One way that you can make your used chairs, tables or armoires look like new is to paint it. You can use a variety of different techniques when you paint your old furniture to look like new that will end up giving it a whole new look.

If you have old furniture, you may be tempted to toss it in the trash. But if you spend a little bit of time on it, you will find that you can recycle it so that it looks appealing. Painting is easy and can bring a whole new life to any old but favorite piece.

Before you start painting you will want to take out any drawers as well as take off the handles. If the furniture is varnished or has a veneer, you are going to have to paint over it with primer. Paint primer will make paint stick to anything, even tiled floors. You will need to give all veneered pieces a couple of coats of paint primer that you can find in your paint store, to get it ready for painting.

Choose a color that you will like and will brighten up the room. One choice you may want to make is to paint it a pastel color that will be bright, especially if it has been a dark piece of wood. You can simply paint it white, or you can use a variety of different techniques to get it the way that you want.

You can give the painting a distressed look easily enough. You just have to paint the furniture and then rub off certain spots with a piece of fine sand paper. This will make it look like the piece is worn. You can even paint an undercoat and then rub off some of the top coat to allow the undercoat to show through. This is often done with patina painting techniques in which a gold undercoat is used over a soft blue green color.

Crackle painting is another technique that you can use when you are panting furniture and gives the item a worn, antique look that is also attractive. You can find crackle paint kits as well as other types of decorative paint kits at your local craft store.

You can paint furniture and also paint floors or throw rugs to match the new furniture. With throw rugs, you can use a fabric dye and dye them so that they match the new decor. This is an easy way to keep the throw rugs in the home without having to get rid of them. If you have a plain area rug, you can paint a design on it and use the same design on the painted furniture.

Using stencil designs or hand stamps is one way that you can refinish your old furniture after painting. If you do not want it to look too plain, you can add a decorative paint touch. Once you start to paint old furniture, you will never get rid of old furniture again.

If you enjoyed this information about Interior Design, then you are going to love this area rug store.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Crosset

Commercial Paint

Commercial Painting: The Advantages of Hiring a

Commercial Painting Contractor

By J. Rosales

Finding a painter, specially the one who can understand and fulfill your requirements, is one of the difficult tasks you perform when it comes to the renovation of your house. You search, you bargain and then you select. However, in the end dissonance prevails because of time delays and non-standard work of the painter.

Situation remains the same even if you want to plan to refurbish your office, manufacturing plant, building, ware house or any other commercial vicinity and you think you can get the desired results by hiring a non professional painter, then you are living oblivious of the reality.

Commercial painting contractors have the state of the art technology which ensures the standardization in the output and because of the experience and skilled workforce; they have quality brewed in their work which enhances the appearance and aesthetics of your place.

There are few advantages that a commercial painting contractor has over non professional or local painters. First of all, they and slick in their field and because of immense experience they can help in deciding the color and the texture of the paint. They know about the capability of colors in constructing different moods and aesthetics. Therefore, their advice can help you in color choice, which eventually uplifts your home or work place.

Secondly, they can produce better and standardized results because of the equipment they use. Equipment, acquainted with the SOP's (standard operation procedures) of the company conjure up to bring about extraordinary quality in the output, also it ensures the standardization, which means that the same output or color can be achieved anywhere else.

When ever you hire a local painter, you confront the issues of time delays. However, commercial painting contractors have a set starting and ending date which they abide by, therefore, issues of time delays are resolved. Secondly, no home owner wants the painter to create disturbance in his or her daily routine. Commercial painters resolve this issue as well. Commercial painting contractors make sure that they are not causing disruptions or impediments in your daily life.

Therefore, by hiring a commercial painting contractor your decision will reap you following benefits. First of all it reduces your time cost, which means that every day you are wasting in your office because of paint delays, could have earned you something. Commercial painting contractors save this cost of yours. Secondly, the out produced by commercial painting contractors is of standard quality, which means it has high adherence to the sample paint (which is usually shown before you make a deal). Finally, you paint defines the mood and attire of your home or office. Commercial painting contractors make sure that it is in accordance with your requirements. Their experience in the field per se gives them the capability of defining aesthetics. You can find many painting contractors over the internet, where your deal is at the distance of one click.

Lake Ridge Painting
http://www.lakeridgepainting.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J._Rosales

Painting Decorating Courses

Decorating Courses, Jobs and Training

By Tony J Casey

Tape Measure

Only buy what you need, if you live in an average three bed semi buy a 15'/5m tape; you can buy a 75'/25m tape for a few more dollars/pounds but its money you don't have to spend.

Pencil

For marking, a must

2 Sets of Step Ladders

Ideally two sets to hold a plank, one with a tool tray at the top that falls into place when you open the steps, which holds your paint container as well as tools; the other set could be just a work mate for added stability, it has a clamp, its a work bench and its some where to put your cup of tea. However it all depends on the height of your ceiling you may well need two pair of large steps. You could just buy one and ask next door can you borrow there's.

A Plank

A plank will save a lot of time, I've seen telescopic planks on Amazon over 4 meters coming down to 2 meters for storage; there $164 around 100 pounds sterling, a great idea. Alternately you can pick up what was always used by decorators; a plank of wood around 8'/2.5m x 8"/30cm x 2"/5cm lest than quarter of the price, rigid, and you'll have it for years; buy with a family member and you'll both have it for years.

Internal Filler

A large box will do a number of projects, its always needed and easy to mix.

2 Scrapers, 2.5"/10cm & 1.5 "/4cm

A 2.5" scraper, should be fairly flexible for removing wallpaper, filling cracks in walls and mixing filler. The 1.5" scraper should be quite rigid for scraping off flaking paint and it will also double as a putty knife.

Decorators Caulk

Is another form of filler which you can use with a sealant gun. Mostly used for long cracks in corners or along skirting boards or anything that has a long run that needs filling; it comes with a plastic nozzle that you cut at 45 degrees and run along the crack squeezing at the same time. The mistake most people make is they run the gun along the area their filling pulling the gun towards them when you should run the gun along the crack way from you.

Small Hawk

Mostly used by brick layers its just a square piece of aluminum with a handle attached in the centre, holding it in your left hand you apply the filler with a scraper in your right hand. You can make a customized one, with a piece of plywood about 15cm square, a screw and cut 15cm off the handle of your mums sweeping brush; at your own peril.

A Float for filling

A float can do the same job as the hawk its smaller and less money. I've put them both in because together they'll be needed if you have to fill a larger area or do any small plastering work.

Sandpaper & Block

You will always need sandpaper for sanding down areas you can't reach with an electric sander; the block can be bought where ever you buy the sandpaper, usually made out of cork and quite inexpensive, you could use just a off cut of wood. Wrap the sand paper round the wood, making it a lot easier to sand down walls.

Plastic Containers

Mainly for painting, but also for mixing filler. If you try and paint strait from the tin your asking for trouble. First stir the paint in the tin then pour what you think you may use in one of the purpose built plastic paint containers, about half way, you can always pour in more later if you need it. The reason for doing this is to give you room when loading your brush; you dip your brush in the paint coming about a third of the way up the bristles, then tap your brush on ether side of the container, this forces the paint into the brush. Keep large food containers, their just the job.

Sugar Soap

Is a strong degreaser used for wiping down walls and paint work before you attempted to paint them, this should always be done on every job, looking at a room you may think it looks, nice and clean but try just giving it a wipe near the ceiling and you'll see what I mean, especially with open plan kitchens. If you don't wipe off the grease you'll have a layer of dirt and grease between the new paint and the ceiling; tree months down the road it could start flaking off.

2 Insulated Screw Drivers

1 Flat one and a Phillips screw driver; If not for anything else to open your paint tin. You'll find your self loosening light switches and sockets to push the edge of wallpaper behind.

A Bucket

Without a hole; for your paste and washing walls and paint work.

6" Paste Brush

For pasting and also comes in handy for applying water to walls when striping off old wallpaper and smoothing over filler about 10 minutes after its been applied.

Pasting Table

You can use the kitchen table, but ideally look at it as an investment there only $30/20pounds not every well made but last for years if your nice to them. You can get your money back by taking a trip down to your local car boot sale and setting it up with all your unwanted.

Large Shears

When your putting up wallpaper or lining paper.

Plumb Bob

Plumb bobs are not to much money and you will only need it for the first piece of wallpaper you put up, to make sure its strait. Really any kind of weight on the end of a piece of string will do. Make the string about 21'/7m long and it will also do for putting up your first piece of paper on the ceiling. You measure the width of the wallpaper out from the wall and put a mark on the ceiling at ether end of the wall with your pencil, so you have two marks ether end of the wall on the ceiling now get your string and pull it through your thumb and a piece of chalk, get your self another pair of hands and hold the string up to the two marks, pulling it quite tight with your right hand and just pull it away a little from the ceiling with your left hand and letting go; this will create a strait chalk line on the ceiling.

10" Papering Brush

To smooth down wallpaper and air bubbles, again not much money but a nice clean cloth will do the same job.

A 2.5" & 1.5" Paint brush

These two brushes are all you need for painting your wood work; any bigger you start losing control and the paint goes every where.

White Spirits

For diluting thick paint, making up primer paint (first coat on new wood). You can buy primer paint in your local DIY which will cost about $11.00 around 7.00 pounds sterling a liter; mix 4 to 1 white spirits with white undercoat and its the same thing for next to nothing.

Dust Brush

This Is your most important tool; any time your painting, undercoat or topcoat your biggest enemy is dust; wash it, fill it, sand it, dust it, the very last thing before your paint brush touches the surface your painting, DUST IT AGAIN!

Window Razor Scraper

Used for getting paint off windows, small, plastic, takes Stanley knife blades. Removing paint from windows is easy with this inexpensive scraper; the trick is to let it dry (the next day) and attack it at 90 degrees to the window frame, if you try and do it parallel with the frame there's a chance you'll run into the paint work.

Dust Sheets

Or bed sheets to cover up the furniture and carpet; you can use polythene on the furniture but don't put it on the floor, it moves on its own.

Paint Roller, Tray and Extension Pole

Paint Roller and Tray cost about $15/10 pounds for a good one. Extension Poles can cost $30/20 to $45/30 pounds sterling, depending on length and movement. What's left of your mum's brush handle will do, and cost nothing, but you'd better get your mum a new brush.

Palm Sander

Now you want to beg, steel or borrow one of these. If there's one tool that's change the world of decorating its Palm Sanders; no matter what job your doing in painting and decorating your always sanding down and 'Palm Sanders' make the job 10 times easier.

Stanley Knife

Always comes in handy for sharpening your pencil and a lot more besides.

Tool bag, electric screw drivers and one or two other general tools could be added to the list, but the list above will enable you to start a decorating business or decorate any room in your house.

How to become a Painter and Decorator

If you want to become a painter and decorator or your just redecorating a room the links below will take you to a site with a number of links that take you through decorating a room from start to finish, by a professional Painter and Decorator. You can leave comments and questions for the decorator to help you through your job.

Preparing, Painting your ceiling, walls and woodwork, Hanging wallpaper to cleaning your tools at the end of the job.

Copyright 2010 Tools You'll Need to Become a Painter and Decorator by Tony Casey, all rights reserved.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_J_Casey

Residential Painter

Residential Painting Services Ideas and Techniques

By Andrew Rhodes

Interior and exterior painting has become important part of home decoration. Quality painting to home interior and exterior not only enhances the beauty of homes but also helps in giving tidy look to desired area for longer.

As per modern thinking of homeowners, they have been taking help of professional home decoration services for several reasons. Some chief reasons are as follows:

New ideas

All technical painting skills become useless if one hasn't got new ideas for interior and exterior painting both. Developing ideas by own is a daunting task. For this, one can take help of service providers which are available in abundance these days.

As far as new painting ideas are concerned, professional painters consider following things:

• Likes & dislikes of clients - Companies first try to find out the likes and dislikes of clients regarding the genre and kind of painting for home interior and exterior. It matters a lot which kind of figures, abstractions, landscapes and styles like realistic, abstracted and expressionist are liked and selected by homeowners.

• Gathering ideas - Different areas of home are needed to be decorated with different finish color and style. For this, companies gather painting ideas in the form of photographs to let clients select the pattern and style of color easily.

• Earlier projects - Most of the time it happens that service providers make style and color selection of homeowners easier by presenting the photo galleries of earlier painting projects handled by the company.

• Own art ideas - Professional painters also try to give impressive look to client's choice of ideas for the painting and suggest the needed changes.

Modern techniques

There are several advanced painting techniques which modern companies have been following these days. Moreover, some exclusive techniques include:

• Strie - One of the decorative techniques is strie which is also known as dragging. Under this technique, staff of companies considers several things like walls are in good condition, work fast as the technique is straightforward, make vertical strokes, maintain the streaking effect and use more water to bring sagging in finish.

• Parchment stripes - Decorating walls with parchment stripes is another technique which creates sophisticated and classic look. Moreover, this technique requires preparing of walls by improving the shape, mixing of finish, marking lines with right tape and using the same paint for parchment and stripes as well.

• Crosshatch - This techniques is usually meant for decorating office walls. Taping windows & doors, applying the base coat of finish & leave to dry, taping the wall with masking paper, using dry brush to get the crosshatch finish, applying strokes vertically followed by horizontal strokes etc are some points which painters keep in mind for the said technique.

Apart from above discussed painting ideas and techniques, modern companies come with much more new techniques and ideas which can help one to get the distinct look of home and office interior as well as exterior.

Bright Choice Painting offers 100 % customer satisfaction guaranteed painting services in Vancouver, BC. The company deals interior & exterior painting with the help of professional color consultants to make color selection of clients easier and simple in Vancouver, BC.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Rhodes

Wall Painting Decorating

How to Paint Your House

& Make Every Room Look

Great

By Tara Mae Flannigan

Apart from the coat of paint it gets when it's newly built, houses need to painted every once in a while. Usually we do this when we redecorate, renovate, or if you just need a new coat to restore the original look. Every time we need to paint, we give ourselves an opportunity to get creative, or change the feel of something we've always felt iffy about. That being said, here are a few tips on how to paint your house so that it feels like every room really belongs!

#1 Choose a Color Scheme

The most important thing to do is to choose a color scheme. So if you like dark tones, try to stick to those. If you're a fan of pastels, try to keep things on lighter shades. Remember, you don't have to have the same color scheme for every floor of your home. So if you can't decide, you can have the best of both worlds by keeping pastels upstairs and dark tones downstairs, and vice versa.

The best pastel colors to use are yellow, blue, salmon, and lavender. More daring colors include orange and green. Living rooms work well with yellow and blue, kitchens light up with salmon or lavender, and bedroom colors can be up to the person sleeping in them.

Dark red, dark blue, dark green, and black are great colors to use for an edgier overall look. Hallways look best in dark red, so do kitchens. Dining rooms do well with dark green, while living rooms can be dark blue. One cute trick you can do is to pain a room one color, and then paint on of its walls completely black. Against this wall, you can put up your TV, or decorative furniture or art. It gives a great "POW" effect. Just remember that using dark colors can sometimes make your home appear smaller.

If you want to give things a twist, pastel walls trimmed with darker tones can look really good if the colors complement. Use a color wheel to find out which colors naturally look better to the eye.

#2 Consider Your Furniture

Classic country pieces may go better with pastel colors, while edgy modern pieces are likely to fit better with darker colors or simple plain white walls. So consider your furniture, especially if you have certain one of a kind pieces that can cast an entire theme over a room. Other than that, a lot of it will depend on where you put things!

#3 Don't Go Wacky Unless It's YOU

Sometimes we see homes in magazine or on television and think "hey, that's cute" so we try to copy the way they painted their walls or the color combinations they used. Beware of this. Yes. It may be cute, and yes you may like it, but can you live with it everyday? Remember that your home is also a place of refuge. You have to be able to be happy there all the time. Unless you want to constantly paint and re-paint your walls!

#4 SAMPLE

Before you paint an entire room, paint a small section of the wall with the color you like and let it sit there for a day or two. It will give you an idea of what the final product will look like. You can also paint different sections of the wall with your other color options so you can try them all out.

Painting a house can be expensive. You have to buy materials, and pay for the labor. However, you can cut costs by a huge margin if you do the work yourself. Simply go down to a local hardware store and ask the store salesmen to help you find some good brushes. Explain to them what you want to paint (the room, the home's exterior, etc.) and they should point you in the right direction in terms of both brushes and what kind of paint you should use. They should also be able to give you great tips on how to paint your house!

Painting a house can be taxing on your muscles. Prepare your muscles for the exertion, and prevent yourself from pulling a muscle by learning about barbell weights and some great dumbell exercise routines you can do daily!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tara_Mae_Flannigan

Decorative Painting Techniques

How to Paint a House -

Choosing the Best Paint

By Deb Murray

The two most important things when it comes to house painting are preparation and the quality of the house paint. Understanding the different types of exterior house paint will help you choose the best paint for your house.

Exterior house paint is made up of three main components: Medium, binders and pigments. In addition, paint manufacturers add various ingredients to enhance their paints fade-resistance, mildew and mold resistance, pest-resistance, and longevity. The pigment gives the paint its color; the binders, bind the paint to the surface it is applied to and the medium is what the pigment and binders are mixed with to form a liquid.

Types of Exterior House Paint

There are two main types of exterior house paint, classified by the medium used: water-base and oil-base. Water base exterior house paint uses water to mix with the binders and pigments. Water base binders include latex, acrylic and other synthetics such as urethane or vinyl. Oil base exterior house paint is really more of a traditional term rather than a current description. Today, the medium for oil base paint is mineral spirits and is called alkyd.

With exterior house paint, the rule is you get what you pay for. More expensive paint has more pigment and better quality binders. It will last longer and be easier to work with than the lower priced spreads.

A Note About Priming

Priming really deserves its own article (and it will get it). Suffice it to say you should never use a water base paint over oil base paint without priming first and all raw wood should be primed before painting the top coat. (Rule of Thumb: You can apply an oil base paint over a water base paint, but never the other way around.)

Water Base or Oil Base: Which Is Better?

There are excellent water base exterior house paints and excellent oil base exterior house paints. To make matters even more confusing, either may be used successfully for most applications. (see rule of thumb above) Never the less, there are some differences.

Water Base Paint compared to Oil Base:

Easier to clean up

Almost odorless

Cannot be applied in cold weather

Faster drying

Tendency to show brush marks

More flexible, so that it will be able to withstand expansion and contraction better

Better resistance to UV fading

Oil Base Paint compared to Water Base:

Harder to clean up

Strong odor

Can be applied in colder weather

Slower drying

Shows brush marks less

Less flexible

UV exposure will cause it to fade faster

Keep in mind: Just as location is important in real estate, it is also important when choosing an exterior paint. Local weather conditions are a major factor when choosing house paint. A knowledgeable salesperson at the local paint store should be able to explain why certain paint has properties that are better for your locale.

© 2007 Complete Books Publishing, Inc.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deb_Murray