Interior Painting

Core Idea

A quality paint job is 80% preparation: filling holes and cracks, sanding rough spots, taping trim, and applying primer to bare drywall or dark colors. Paint is applied in thin, overlapping coats — two coats of finish paint over primer almost always looks better than three heavy coats. Choosing the right sheen matters: flat hides imperfections but scuffs easily; eggshell and satin are washable and standard for living spaces; semi-gloss is used in kitchens, baths, and on trim.

How It's Best Learned

Start with a small room or an accent wall. Cut in edges carefully with a 2-inch angled brush before rolling the field — rushing the cut-in is the most common source of visible mistakes.

Common Misconceptions

• More expensive paint is always better — mid-grade paint applied well beats premium paint applied carelessly.
• One coat is enough if it's a similar color — even close color-matches often need two coats for even coverage, especially near windows in raking light.

Explainer

Interior painting looks deceptively simple — it's just rolling color on a wall. But the quality gap between a professional result and an amateur one is almost entirely explained by preparation, not by the painting itself. Before any paint touches a wall, experienced painters fill holes and cracks with spackle, sand smooth, clean surfaces of dust and grease, and apply primer to any bare drywall, fresh patches, or dramatically color-changing areas. Skipping these steps means every flaw telegraphs through the finish coat, especially under raking light (light hitting the wall at a low angle, as near windows in the morning).

Choosing the right sheen is a practical decision, not just an aesthetic one. Flat paint reflects light diffusely, which makes walls look smooth and hides imperfections — but it cannot be scrubbed and scuffs easily. Eggshell and satin offer a slight sheen and are washable, making them the workhorse for living rooms and bedrooms. Semi-gloss is used in kitchens, bathrooms, and on trim and doors because it resists moisture and cleans up easily. The rule of thumb: the higher the abuse and moisture, the higher the sheen.

Application technique matters more than paint quality. Cut in first: use a 2-inch angled brush to paint a 2–3 inch band around the perimeter — along the ceiling line, down the corners, and along the baseboard — before touching the roller. Then roll the field in a W or M pattern, working in sections, and maintain a wet edge to avoid lap marks. Two thin coats are almost always better than one thick coat: thin coats dry faster, adhere better, and look more uniform. The second coat should go on only after the first is fully dry.

Finally, measuring the room before buying paint saves waste and return trips. Multiply the perimeter by the ceiling height to get total wall area, subtract about 20 square feet per door and window, and divide by the paint's coverage rate (typically 350–400 sq ft per gallon). For two coats, double the number. A small extra is fine — leftover paint is useful for touch-ups. Getting the quantity wrong in the other direction means a second store run mid-project, which risks a color batch mismatch.