How to paint a wall

Change the mood of a space by simply painting a wall.

FOR THE COST of a can of paint and a bit of free time on a weekend, you can easily transform a room by applying a coat … well – two coats – of paint, to a wall. And painting a wall is really easy. All you need is a little bit of patience, paint in your chosen colour, and a few basic tools. Your most useful equipment here will be a drop sheet (any old piece of plastic or cloth will do), a decent paintbrush (40 mm width is a good all-purpose brush), a damp cloth for wiping up drips, a stick for stirring the paint, and a means of reaching the highest point of the wall you’re painting – a chair is okay, but a ladder is best. You can use a roller and a paint tray, but if you don’t have them, a paintbrush is just fine on its own.

Wall Wa painting is all about thorough preparation. prepa Make sure the wall is clean. Give it a wipe with a damp cloth, or a clean with sugar soap, which you can buy at a any hardware store. If there are cracks crack or chips, fill them with readymade crack filler and leave it to dry for a few hours.

Once On you’ve stirred the paint, ‘cut in’ the edges e of the wall you’re working on. This is tech-talk for painting all around the edges e of the area you’re working on to make ma sure the fussy work is done first. If you have a steady hand, don’t worry about sticking down masking tape; concentration is key.

Once On the edges are taken care of, fill in the th remaining space with two coats of paint, pa with two hours of drying time between betw coats.

Finally, Fin be sure to clean your brush thoroughly, thoro because you’ll be so pleased with the result that you’ll want to paint another anoth wall next weekend!