Painting your ceiling is one of the most affordable ways to reinvent your space. When it comes to repainting, the ceiling sometimes becomes overlooked, but it’s a project that can work wonders for any room. However, painting a ceiling can be a literal pain in the neck. Even most painting professionals dislike painting ceilings because it’s strenuous, prone to drips and hard to judge if you’re getting all of the space covered evenly. But a ceiling painting project can go smoothly by following these tips:
1. Choose the right color
A painted kitchen ceiling refreshes the room. It can help draw the eye upwards or bring high ceilings down, depending on the color you choose. Flat white is a color of choice when it comes to ceilings. It provides more light to your room and adds an illusion of space.
While most ceilings are painted white, don’t be afraid to deviate from another color. Find a shade that works best with the entire color scheme of your room. It’s very important to consider how much light your room receives. Light blue is another go-to color for ceilings, as it is reminiscent of the sky. If you have a large area and high ceiling, you can opt for a bolder color such as navy blue or dark gray. Paint with a flat finish is best for hiding imperfections in the ceiling, while a glossy finish can reflect some light and add some dimension to your room. It would also be best to purchase paint that is specially formulated for applying to ceilings.
2. Use a paint roller
Paint rollers can give you the best coverage, as compared with paint brushes or paint sprayer. A paint roller helps you make less paint application and a smoother finished product (as compared to using a brush) and makes less splatter (compared to paint sprayers). Buy a paint roller that has an extension handle so you can easily reach the ceiling. If you have textured ceiling, use a thick-nap roller so every space can be covered despite texture and irregularities.
3. Prepare for drips
Painting a ceiling will surely cause drips, no matter how skilled or careful you are when painting. Before you start, make sure you cover your floor, furniture, appliances and any other surfaces with a drop cloth. Move your items to another room temporarily, if space allows. Cover the area where the wall meets the ceiling with a painter’s tape, unless you’re also painting the wall with the same paint color.
4. Paint the trim first before the ceiling
Taping the trim is easier than taping off the walls, helping you finish the job with less work. This way, you also don’t have to worry about getting paint on the walls while working on the ceiling. Paint your trim first, let it dry, tape it off, then start painting.
5. Sand the surface before painting
Over time, dirt buildup, lumps, and bugs can get stuck to the ceiling. If your ceiling isn’t textured, sand it with 100 grit abrasive paper to remove these things that make your ceiling rough, to ensure a perfectly smooth paint job as a result.
6. Work in grids
Working in one direction and keeping track of where you have already painted a coat on (especially if using white paint) will be hard when it comes to painting a ceiling. To help with this task, you can work in imaginary square sections about 3-foot by 3-foot, moving quickly from one square section to the adjacent one to make sure the paint along the edges won’t dry before you roll to the next “square.” This will help minimize overlap marks.
7. Cut in then roll
When filling up the edges, you can use a paintbrush, then quickly use a roller to roll the paint out before it dries. This will help maintain a consistent texture, instead of just using a paintbrush to fill up the gaps. Carefully brush paint along the edges, then quickly roll that section. This also allows the paint to blend in better.
8. Roll in all directions
Rolling your paint roller in only one direction all throughout can result in visible line marks in the future, when the paint has fully dried. Get the best coverage by re-rolling each section at a right angle to your first roll as you go. In other words, if you started rolling north to south, immediately re-roll from west to east after painting a section, while the paint is still wet. But if the ceiling needs a second coat, wait for your first one to dry completely, then roll your second coat at a right angle to the first.