Are the you sure you need interior painting ideas? Painting walls is not going to be easy you know, you may need a carton of energy drinks to see you through the entire project. So what are the reasons you think would make you courageous enough to want to do your own painting?

1. You are tired of the same old color of the wall
2. You feel like you need to move your arms up and down a few hundred times till they hurt
3. You feel like trying out new color hypnotic theory on your spouse
4. You want the furniture to be camoflaged
5. You want your house to look like a doll house
6. You think the walls need a facial
7. Someone just gave you a can of paint and you don’t want to waste it
8. Someone just volunteered for free labour
9. You need to impress your in laws but you can’t afford to move uptown
10. You got lots of free time

Whatever the reason, you are going to need some good interior painting ideas and tips to help you along. Unless you are a professional painter yourself, it’s best to do a little research before you embark on your painting venture. You must ask questions like what sort of paint is suitable for your wall and the color you want to use. Are you painting the kitchen, living room or the study? Choosing the type of paint also depends on your budget. Depending on how you are prepared to spend, there are a few types of interior paint you can choose from. For example, there is matt emulsion and silk emulsion, each having each characteristic and the finishing is different for each type. You must also be able to estimate the quantity of paint required for the painting works. Don’t assume one gallon of paint can take care of everything, and you also don’t want to overstock so much paint that it becomes a paint-ful to store them. 

What about the brand of paint, does it really matter? Most professionals have their own paint reference based on their experience. If you are painting your own walls for the first time, then it’s best to ask people who have painted their own home before. They can tell you silk emulsion would give you the silky finish and your interior painting project would look its best, but it will cost you a lot more than the regular emulsion. There may be some who can teach you how to mix the silky emulsion and the regular emulsion to not only give you a luxurious finish but also save you money. Such fantastic ideas will come only from the professionals or the experienced painter.

One good interior painting idea would be to look at showrooms or show flats of newly launched housing projects. Or you can also look at interior decoration magazines for some ideas on how different colors are combined to give different effects. For example, you may be thinking of having different colors for different rooms. Ideally it may be a good idea. But in reality, some colors don’t look on the wall compared to say, clothing. You must have seen homes with awful colors, and you can be sure they thought it looked good when they first painted it. 

Before you head down to the local hardware store, prepare some questions which you may want to ask the salesman for some interior painting ideas. Ask for color charts and color samples, and then consult them on the type of materials you should use. What sort of brushes and rollers you should use, the type of solvents, the different tools for difficult to reach areas.

There are some paint professionals that offer computer softwares that may help you paint your wall in digital format before doing the actual work. So instead of imagining the colors of your kitchen wall, you can now see the outcome and decide the colors you want to use by just looking at the computer screen. Once you have finished brainstorming on your interior paint ideas, there is the actual painting that you need to finalise. Other than the colors you want to use, the brand of paint to use, the quantity of paint to use, think about the following :

1. The actual walls you want to paint. This will help you calculate the quantity of paint required for the painting project. You can ask the paint shop how much paint is required for x number of rooms. Maybe you feel the storeroom is not worth painting, then that will save you some paint and some energy. So estimate the area you need to paint and then work out the quantity.

2. How do you intend to paint the walls?  Are you going to use rollers and brushes only? Are you going to experiment with wall stenciling or rubber stamping?  One good interior painting idea is to use a sponge and dab all over the wall with a different color to give a pattern effect. Or you may consider using different spray paint to achieve different texture effect on the walls. It’s entirely up to your imagination.

3. Do you have big bulky furniture or paintings in the house? You may want to think about protecting them from spills when painting or shift them elsewhere to give yourself maximum space. Cover them with plastic sheets or old newspaper or it will be more frustrating trying to remove the paint from the antique or sofa later. Don’t forget the floors also. Those rollers are likely to scatter paint all over the floor and even your face if not done carefully.

4. Prepare the walls before you start implementing your interior painting ideas. Clean the walls and scrape off old paint. Dust off all cob webs and dirt trapped on the walls. You may also want to touch-up the walls and fill up holes and cracks. If the walls require sanding, it may be best to get a professional with the right tools for the job. It will be a good idea to be able to fix a schedule to complete your interior painting job. Some choose to do it in parts, others prefer to complete the entire job at one go. If you intend to break up the interior painting work and work only a couple of hours each day, then you may want to consider the inconvenience it may cause to other occupants in the house.