Painting - Steps to Painting a Complete Room

Just looking for an idea on the steps involved in painting a complete room from walls, to ceilings, to trim. What are the correct steps? What should be painted first, next, etc? Thanks in advance!

1. Wash and rinse walls. For general soil, dish liquid or all purpose cleaner like Simple Green and water solution is effective. For heavily soiled walls with soot, nicotine, grease, etc., use TSP (trisodium phosphate).

2. If you plan on using blue painter's tape, do so around trim on doors and windows and along baseboards. Remove before paint dries to prevent peeling of paint.

3. Make any repairs such as filling holes with joint compound. Let dry and sand.

4. Prime and seal with quality primer/sealer on repaired areas. If covering a darker color, primer/sealer is recommended. Primer/sealer will also seal in stains that may bleed through, such as water stains, grease and oil stains, or other.

5. Trim out sections with 2 1/2" angled trim brush as you move around room. Paint ceiling first, using roller after you trim out about 3" from wall. Then, roll ceiling.

6. After ceiling is complete, begin on a wall, moving in sections and trimming out along edges and trim with angled brush, then roll.

7. Carry a damp cloth for wiping up drips and keeping paint off stained/finished trim. Rinse as needed.

8. If trim is painted, paint last, using the angled trim brush.

If you will be interupted, place roller and brush in plastic trash bag and place in refrigerator to keep moist until you can get back to work.

Buy the best quality paint, rollers, and brush that your budget will allow. This will give you a more professional finish.

I would add.....
Sometimes it might be quicker/easier to paint the woodwork before painting the wall - a lot depends on your cut in skills and colors used. Obviously the baseboard would always be painted last. Crown moulding should always be painted after the ceiling and before the walls.

While wrapping your brush and roller in plastic [tightly so no air gets to it] and placing them in a refrigerator will allow you to store them for the longest time - just wrapping them in plastic without refridgeration will keep them fine for hours, even overnight - unless it's exteremely hot.

Speaking of crown moldings, what color do they usually get painted?

Are they normally a different color then the walls? Or do they get painted with the same paint as the trim at the bottom of the walls or same as the walls?

Crown moulding is part of the woodwork and all the woodwork is normally painting with the same enamel. If the windows, doors and base are painted the same color [not the same paint] as the wall - then the crown is also the same color.

If you have say beige walls and white woodwork, the crown would be painted white like the rest of the trim.

btw - welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the welcome!

Couple more questions.

Is the crown moulding at the top painted after the ceiling and before the walls?

And I tend to do my base boards in white, but usually a gloss white so they clean a bit easier. Crown mouldings in the same gloss white or just a regular white minus the gloss?

Thanks for the help!

Enamel the crown after the ceiling paint is dry but before you paint the walls.

It looks best if you use the same enamel on all the woodwork - crown moulding, window trim, doors and casing, base, wainscotting, and any other trim I may have forgot to mention :D

Thanks Marksr!

Any tips on successfully painting a ceiling??

And I think I read elsewhere that if you can't have another person help you paint, that you shouldn't let the "cutting in" part of the walls dry? So should you "cut in" a section, then roll the walls below, and move on? Or can you "cut in" the entire room, then roll (but the cut in paint might dry before you start rolling)?

Thanks again.

Sometimes you can get away with cutting everything in first but not always.

What type of ceiling are you painting? popcorn? light texture? slick finish?

Ceilings are typically painted with flat latex paint which is fairly forgiving, especially with white or light colors. I usually cut in the whole ceiling [or a section if large room] and then roll the ceiling.

On walls it is always best to cut and roll one wall [or section of wall] at a time.