How To Paint A House Interior Fast

You may be pressed for time and need to paint your house interior quickly. It is certainly not as simple as picking up your paint brushes or rollers. There are secrets to painting a house interior properly, and you would want the painting to look like a professional painter did it. This post discusses how to paint a house interior fast.

You can also learn expert paint tips for wall prepping, the duration of DIY interior painting, and why you should hire painting contractors for interior house painting.

Steps for a Fast Interior House Painting Job

You can use the following steps for a quick and efficient house painting project:

Step One: Plan your house painting process

Your first step to painting is to plan the order of the painting and the details. For instance, you may decide to start with walls and trim. You can paint the ceiling afterward before moving on to the doors, closets, and windows. Likewise, choosing color changes and where to use accent walls would be best.

Step Two: Decide on paint colors

One way to match the previous and proposed interior paint color properly is to use old paint cans. You may also cut a drywall section and take it to the paint store for matching. Sometimes, you may want to apply a completely new paint color. In any case, you may find it helpful to consult an interior designer.

Step Three: Purchase and collate paint supplies

Some paint supplies and tools you may need for your interior painting project include the following:

• Drop cloths
• Paint roller and extension pole
• Angled brush
• Putty knife
• Paint sprayer
• Ladder
• Brushes
• Paint sheens

Step Four: Estimate the needed coats of paint

It’s time to estimate how much paint you need to buy. For example, if you wish to paint the four walls of a 10ft x 10ft room with ceilings, you’ll likely need 1 gallon of paint. Likewise, a quart or two is required when painting the trim in one standard room. You may get paint tips on square feet calculations and room measurements from a professional painter.

Specific paint colors, such as Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace or Sherwin-Williams Alabaster, are known for offering poor coverage. Thus, you may want to use between three or four coats. Meanwhile, you can budget a minimum of one and a half gallons per coat of paint for heavily textured walls.

Finally, going for the best interior latex paints makes sense. Most interior painting jobs usually need two coats of paint regardless of the new colors or paint finishes you choose. However, you may need more paint if you want to paint over dark colors.

Step Five: Prepping the walls and room

Good preparation work is necessary before actual wall painting. It would help if you did the following:

• Move furniture to the center of your room.
• Cover the floor and furniture with canvas drop cloths to protect belongings from paint splatters and drips.
• You can also clean surfaces to remove dust before applying painter’s tape.

Expert painting tips for wall prepping

Here are some tips and easy steps for wall prepping as a part of the process of DIY painting a room:

• You can utilize a pole sander to sand interior walls. Remember to only sand lightly. This helps paint to stick better and improves coverage.
• Be sure to patch holes and repair drywall dents and caulk cracks.
• You can use a tinted primer to spot prime wall repairs. This helps reduce potential flashing.
• Before painting, clean off grease, dirt, and dust from wall surfaces.
• Likewise, clean areas around light switches.
• Use masking tapes to tape off electrical outlet plates or remove them with a screwdriver before painting.

Step Six: Applying painter's tape and using the putty knife

The putty knife comes in handy after applying painter’s tape. First, apply the painter’s tape to mask off the wood trim. To make the tape application effective, use a putty knife to run over it and press it firmly down.

This helps prevent paint bleeds. A pro tip is always using true painter’s tape instead of masking tape to avoid leaving a sticky residue. Another use of the putty knife is to help provide a flat wall surface that you can use to stay in line when painting.

Step Seven: Mix your paint

It’s time to mix your paint as a prelude to painting your walls. Use a wooden stick to continually re-mix paint throughout the painting job. This will help the paint retain consistency. Getting paint on your clothes is a very likely possibility. So remember to wear clothes that you can get paint on and wear protective shoe covers.

Step Eight: Paint following expert painting techniques

After prepping the house interior and mixing the paint, you must implement painting techniques to paint the walls as follows:

• Use your angled brush to cut in wall edges and corners.
• Roll the paint on other wall sections from top to bottom.
• Paint using long strokes and in a W pattern. You can also roll paint onto the walls in an N pattern.
• It’s best to finish an entire wall before moving on to the next. This helps to prevent roller marks and lap marks.
• Remember that interior paint dries fast, so paint accordingly.
• Start with ceiling painting before wall and trim painting. This will allow you to later cover-up paints that get onto the walls.
• Pay mind to get the right ceiling paint. It can help reduce the amount of time for ceiling painting.
• When painting the trim, allow the last coat to dry after removing the painter’s tape. Then, you can tape off the walls.
• It’s practical to begin with trims that are closest to ceilings. Then, work down to doors and window sills. You can, after that, wrap up with baseboard painting.

Step Nine: Provide adequate ventilation

Airflow and humidity affect paint drying time. You do not want each coat of paint to take too long to dry. That is why you should provide good ventilation. Keep a window open during and after you finish painting. Properly ventilating your room will also help to reduce the lingering paint fumes and smells after painting.

Step Ten: Do your clean-ups

Wait till the final coat of paint dries. Then, pour excess paint into cans and seal them. Wash out latex paint from paint brushes using soapy water.

Secrets to painting clean-ups include the following:

• When using latex paint, you can wash out paint brushes in the sink with soapy water.
• Wash oil-based paints off brushes using mineral spirits.
• Use a 5-in-1 painter’s tool to clean rollers by squeezing off excess paint under running water.
• Now, you can remove masking tapes and drop cloths.
• For safety reasons, wait until the paint splatters and drips are dry before removing the drop cloths.

How Long for DIY Interior Painting?

DIY room painting can take up to two days. You can gather supplies, buy paint, and finish prepping the walls on the first day. Then, you can paint and clean up on the second day. It may be a warning sign if a painting company or professional painter takes over two weeks to perform interior painting.

A maximum of 2 – 4 days should be enough. However, the overall amount of time to paint interiors can depend on the size of the rooms, the weather, and the drying times for specific paint finishes.

Hire Expert Contractors for Interior House Painting

After reading this piece on how to paint a house interior fast, you may not want to paint walls yourself. After all, you must determine how much paint you need, the correct way to roll paint, and solve the intricacies of painting trim.

Alternatively, you can hire professional painting contractors to help you improve your house interior with fresh paint. They usually have qualified and experienced painting professionals who are sure to do a quick and efficient painting job.