Tips for Painting Over Dark Colors
When you paint your walls darker colors, you probably love the outcome. However, what happens when you are ready to change the look of the space again? You may think it will take multiple layers and a lot of time to cover the darker colors fully.
Guess what? Lightening a room with a new paint color is actually easier than it may seem at first. If you are ready to get rid of the too bright or too dark color, be sure to use the steps found here.
Painting Over Darker Colors
Taking a few extra steps during the painting process can help ensure you cover the old paint color completely. What is that extra step – applying white primer.
Prep the Area
Before applying the white primer mentioned above, you need to fully prep the area you plan to paint. Remember, your paint job will only be successful if you do the right prep work, so put some time into doing this right.
Once your room is draped and tarped, be sure to fill in any holes or uneven areas on the wall with joint compound (Spackle). After the joint compound (Spackle) is set, sand the surface smoothly. This will provide a clean, smooth surface for you to paint over.
Prime the Area
After patching the walls, apply the white or tinted primer. You may wonder why you should purchase a primer separately when you can buy paint and primer in one. The reason for this is simple – the paint-plus-primer isn’t actually primer. Instead, it’s just thicker paint.
Primer is completely unique from paint. It blends solvent, resin, and other additives together, which are specially designed to seal the surface you will be painting. It also helps ensure the paint bonds well to the wall.
Pain is just a blend of pigments and resins, which is great for adding color but not for creating a bond or sealing. The bonding and sealing color are what help primer cover stains, dark colors, and other issues that traditional paint may allow to bleed through.
As you prep the wall, be sure to roll the primer on using W or M shapes, which will ensure complete coverage. After the primer is dry, apply another coat. Doing this helps ensure the smoothest surface while creating the best bonding and sealing opportunity for your paint.
Paint
Now you are ready to paint. Depending on how dark or bright the original color was, you may need to apply two coats of paint over your primer. It’s smart to apply one coat, allow it to dry, and then see how it looks.
Times to Use Primer
Along with using primer for painting over dark colors, you should also use it in the following situations:
- Painting latex over oil paint
- Walls are greasy, stained, or damaged
- Painting over wallpaper
- Painting over plastic or metal
- Painting a new surface
If you want to avoid all the work that goes into priming and painting your home, hire professionals. They can handle the job and ensure you achieve superior results.
