ArtaBerryHome Improvement Blog..

Learning how to paint a room is a simple task once you  begin reading up on it. There is a lot to think about, but most of your painting task is simple enough. Doing it yourself is easy as long as you complete the proper preparation and follow a few guide lines,

Preparation Strategy
Planning is an important part of any task as it typically makes the job go more smoothly. Make your preparations prior to beginning any painting. Compose a list of all of the supplies you need to purchase. This should include the proper brushes, paint, painter’s chalk and tape, tarps, and cleaning supplies. Purchase all of the items at the same time so that you don’t forget anything.

Choose an area of the home for a landing station where you will keep all of your supplies. If the room that you are painting is large enough, simply use a small section of that room. If it is a small room, you might want to consider storing the majority of these supplies elsewhere.

Even though you are going to paint the room and the dirt would get covered, it is important to start with clean walls. Paint goes onto clean walls more easily. Plus, the walls will look nicer when the paint job is finished. Remove obstacles from the room to simplify the painting task. This includes blinds, drapes, lamps, wall hangings, knick knacks, and any furniture that might get in the way.

What Size Brushes and Rollers to Use?
For the best results when painting a room, you should have several types of brushes and paint applicators. For painting the walls, you can use a wall brush in any width between 3 and 5 inches, a paint roller, or a paint pad. Paint pads usually create less spattering.

For the ceiling, a paint roller with an extension handle is the easiest tool to use. The roller can also  be used to paint the walls. Consider buying a power roller that holds the paint in a reservoir to simplify this task. A paint pad on a wheel is perfect for painting the wall near the trim, ceilings, and corners. It allows you to paint on an angle, up to the edge, without getting any paint on the area that you are trying to avoid.

A smaller brush is needed in order to paint any trim work. Purchase one with a width of 1 inch if you  have narrow trim. You can also purchase trim brushes up to 3 inches in width depending on the size of your wall trim. Typically, this type of paintbrush is referred to as a sash brush.

The thought of pumpkins, fiery leaves and hot cider are difficult to imagine during these oppressive summer days, but nothing makes us more eager for the refreshing cool of fall than planning ways to celebrate the season at home. Here are four trends with project suggestions to liven your home with the love of autumn.

Borrow from Nature: As leaves fall and the woody structure of shrubs and trees are exposed, borrow from their natural beauty. Snip a few branches from a tree with smooth wood like willow and display them in an angular white vase. Taller branches can be displayed from the floor and liven up a corner.

Project Suggestion: Gather a set of 6-10 spent stalks of daylilies that have dried since the mid-summer blooms. Spray paint them rustic orange or white and allow to dry (if your decor is more natural, you can also leave them paint-free).  You now have several options: bundle them together and tie with a contrasting ribbon or twine and display as an accent piece on your mantle, or place two stalks each into 3-5 slender white vases and line them up for a contemporary centerpiece.

Pair Neutral Colors with Bold Accents: Brilliant, fiery red is a hot color this fall. Paired with more muted wine tones and taupes, it can create a coziness that beckons to any houseguest. Other color combinations to consider are com husk yellow, chartreuse, and earthy brown, or even navy blue and gray with accents of dandelion orange. One of the simplest ways to integrate color without redecorating an entire room is to focus on the small accent pieces.

Project Suggestion: Create curb appeal with an autumn-inspired front entrance. Find a set of 5-6 old flower pots or check out end of summer sales at a local garden center. Choose your favorite fall flower: pansies and mums make fantastic options. Limit yourself to no more than  two different colors of flowers, repetition of color will create a more harmonious look. Spray paint the old pots the color of your choice to give them new life and pot your  flowers. Arrange in sets of 2 or 3 down your front stairs for a welcoming splash of color. What colors to try? Orange mums with navy blue pots, yellow mums with muted orange pots, and red mums with taupe pots all make good combinations

Start in an area away from the most obstacles if there are any, this will give you the chance to practice on the easier tiles first.  Don’t start with a corner tile if you don’t have all of the tiles around it still in place, the surrounding tiles need to be in place to help keep the grid square.

• Remove the first old tile gently since you may not be able to see obstacles that could be damaged or cause personal injury.  Use a mask if the ceiling is old, because a high level of dust can often accrue over the ceiling and the dust can easily get in your eyes.

• Always use an adequately sharp cutting tool, a fresh knife blade always cuts and trim tiles neater than an old one.  When cutting a tile, securely site it on an old surface or workstation so that any knife damage from the cutting doesn’t hard a new surface.  Mark the tile size using a tape and a pencil and then cut the tile down using a straight edge and sharp knife.  Gloves are also a good idea when using a sharp knife.

• When facing clearance problems it is sometimes possible to remove a few cross-tee’s place the tiles above the grid, re-insert the cross-tee’s and then drop the tiles in to place.  Where this isn’t possible it may be necessary to cut a tile in half, place it through the grid and then either butt the two pieces together or place a new cross-tee in between them – whichever looks neater.

• Few tile suppliers will supply single tiles, due to the difficulty in posting such an item in single form without it getting damaged as such you will have to buy them by the box, which can mean you have a few more than you need.  If you’re a DIY’er and looking to change your own tiles, these few extra tiles can be a life line!  There’s nothing worse than breaking a tile, or two, and then being “just” one tile short.

Suspended ceilings incorporate a grid consisting of metal components that support the ceiling tiles. The grid consists of; L-shaped metal strips called wall trim, interconnecting the wall trim are the main support sections, called Main Tees that are an inverted T-shape and come in 3.6 metre lengths.  Main tees hang by wire attached to joists or an existing support above the ceiling and sit on the wall trim.  Cross Tees also sit on the wall trim and provide support to allow the individual tiles to sit in place. There are both 600mm and 1200mm cross tees, giving you the option of either a 1200×600 or 600×600 grid patterns (with 600×600 being slightly more common).

Since the tile is wider than the grid opening, due to it needing to sit on the grid, you must tilt the ceiling tiles at an up-angle to get it through and above the grid opening and allow it to drop onto the grid.  For that reason suspended ceilings require a clearance of between 17.5cm and 20cm, between the grid and the lowest hanging obstacle.