What You Need To Know When Buying Interior Paint
When buying interior paint for your home, there’s a lot you need to know first. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as choosing which colors or finish you want. After all, you don’t want to end up with painter’s remorse or paint colors you don’t like. So, before you commit, you need to consider many factors. Fortunately, once you know what to look for, you can end up with the home of your dreams.
Why Knowing These Key Factors Matter When Buying Interior Paint
When walking around your home, you might notice the walls and ceilings don’t look bright and flawless as they once were. But then, it dawns on you. Maybe it’s time to repaint! Perhaps you’ve had a recent change of heart and want to see a new color scheme for your bedroom.
Whatever your reason, painting the inside of your house can create an entirely new look for your house’s interior design. Of course, you want to ensure you choose the best colors and finishes before buying, so you do some research. Every year, paint manufacturers change formulations and colors, and it’s essential to know more. There’s more to choosing the right interior paint that sampling a few colors on your walls.
Starting a DIY painting project or hiring an interior painter both take time, energy, and resources for those involved. Therefore, planning out your ideas and considerations before the actual painting project begins is essential. One of the critical things you would need to consider is the paint you will use. With the number of paint types available in your local hardware store, you might be wondering which one to buy and bring home.
This year, I made a promise to myself to repaint my home and of course, did the research first. Below, you’ll discover some essential factors before buying interior paint for your house.
Surface Characteristics
The first factor you must consider is what and where you’ll paint. Before heading to the store, you need to keep some characteristics in mind: the surface size and condition.
First, the size of the surface that you want to paint would tell how much paint you need. Are you working on an entire room, or are you thinking of just painting a door? If it’s the former, how big is the room? Then, of course, you’ll want to make sure you know how much paint you need and the condition of the surfaces. So, before buying interior paint, it’s always wise to calculate accurately first.
Moreover, some suggest that to identify a relative amount of paint needed, you should do the following. Simply multiply the length and width of a wall, then divide that by 350. Typically, this is roughly the number of square feet that a gallon of paint can cover. More so, this calculates the amount you need for only one coat. So, if you’re planning on using more, you should consider buying more.
Next, you need to look at the condition of the surface you’re painting. For example, if you want to cover wall imperfections, like stains or minor dents, this will affect the paint type and finish you should pick. You also should consider if the surface has paint on it and the type used. And this also affects what kind of paint you should select and how many coats you need to apply.
Paint Type And Finish
Once you’ve considered the surface aspects, it’s time to head to the store and look at the rows of paint cans. If you’ve never bought paint before, it might be confusing to know what the terms “eggshell” or “semi-gloss” mean and why you might want to use water-based paint over oil-based paint.
Typically, manufacturers base their paint types on ingredients like (water or oil) and paint finish (matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and high gloss). Water-based paint dries faster, smells less foul, and cleans easily compared to oil-based paint. However, the latter can have better durability and can withstand rust better.
Know Your Paint Finishes When Buying Interior Paint
For the paint finishes, the sheen increases for each type in the order mentioned earlier. The quality also changes regarding durability, ease of cleaning, and ability to cover imperfections. For example, matte is the hardest to clean, but it covers wall imperfections the best. On the opposite side, high gloss, with its high sheen, is the easiest to clean. However, it does not provide much coverage for wall scratches and dents.
With these aspects, the best paint finish depends on the condition of the room or surface you’re using it on. For example, choosing paint with a semi-gloss finish is a good idea if you’re working on renovating your kitchen. Since it’s a high-traffic area, the durable and easy-to-clean finish is ideal for the site. On the other hand, interior designers recommend choosing a high-gloss finish for wood surfaces, like doors or trim.
Moreover, the best type and paint finish depends on the surface you want to paint, so it’s essential to go back to the considerations you’ve thought of when choosing the right one. So, when buying interior paint, it’s a good rule to know the type of paint and finish beforehand.
Buying Interior Paint With Top Quality
When focusing on the paint quality, choosing one with a top rating or appearing very popular is a good idea. In addition, you’ll want to consider buying paint with better hiding characteristics, washability, and less odor. Above all, you can see this information on the paint cans themselves for some paint brands.
For example, you’ll see “exceptional hiding” or “one-coverage” texts written on them. If you’re still unsure, you can always look or ask around about popular paint brands and look for reviews on official websites. Read what the customers say about the coverage capacity and durability of the paint brand and choose one with good customer ratings.
It still would depend on your budget, but high-quality paints work better for a longer time. It’s also best to invest in higher-quality paints as you might save more by using this instead of buying multiple gallons of lower-quality paint because it doesn’t cover the wall as much as you would expect.
VOC Content
Related to the paint quality is VOC (volatile organic compounds) content. These compounds release into the air as the paint dries. However, this chemical is harmful to the environment and people. Because of this, it’s best to look for paint brands with low or even no VOCs, especially if there are laws regarding this.
Paint Color
Finally, you should consider the paint color. When renovating your house, the paint color is one fundamental way to make a room reflect your artistic taste. And to have your home reflect your style and home decor taste. To help you decide, you can look at your current furniture and choose the best color matching these objects.
For example, if your living room decor features shades of blue, it’s a good idea to use complementary or contrasting colors on your walls. Consider using neutral colors such as bright white, off-white, gray, beige, cream, and others. You can also search for trends or find inspiration to help find the best color palette that suits your taste.
More importantly, before buying interior paint for your home, you must ensure you have all your tools and materials beforehand. Of course, you’ll want everything to run smoothly whether you DIY or hire a professional painter. Now that you have a better understanding of what type of paint and finish you want, you are one step close to the home of your dreams.
Don’t Forget To Pin Your Inspiration!
There comes a time when you know you need to tackle that paint job looming over your head. And there’s no better place to start than with some excellent wall painting tips to make a start.
