Starting an interior paint project can come with a lot of uncertainty. With 40 years of interior and exterior painting under our belts (or in our 5-gallon buckets 😉), we’ve come up with a solid routine of what we do and what we ask you to do. The most important thing to prepare your home for interior painting is to have your rooms ready to paint the first day we arrive on the job.

Move your Furniture

• If we’re painting your whole interior, we’ll establish a plan for the order in which we’ll paint each room. Then we can shift things around accordingly (i.e. move things out of the bedroom, paint the bedroom, then move things from the kitchen to the bedroom so we can paint the kitchen).
• With furniture, we find the most efficient way to work is that you do micro, we do macro. You remove items from the walls, smaller items from the top and inside of furniture pieces, and things in closets and cabinets to be painted. We recognize that this process can be a lot of work, but we hope that your beautiful new interior will make it worth the effort. We will move remaining furniture that’s not too large/heavy and cover it with drop cloths or poly-plastic.
• Special Consideration 1: We do not move appliances (stoves, refrigerators, etc.), but if they are already moved, we will paint behind them.
• Special Consideration 2: Some furniture pieces may be fragile or incredibly heavy and thus hard to move. Discuss these items with us when we arrive, and we can figure out what to do with them.

Prepare your Walls

• Unless otherwise specified by the estimator, you don’t need to clean your walls before we paint.
• You can leave nails and hangers in the walls for items that will be rehung once we’re done. If you leave them up, we will paint them. If you don’t want the hanger painted, but want to remember where it was, remove it, and put a toothpick in the hole so we know not to fill it.
• For items not to be replaced, please pull the nails or hangers and we will fill the holes before painting.

Have a Color Selection Ready

• Have your colors and sheen selected at least a week before the start date. It is best to go with a washable low sheen.
• Different paints may be more expensive or require more coats for proper coverage. If there are big changes from your initial paint selections decided during the estimate, we will need to consider if that necessitates a price change.
• If you’re unsure about colors, consider hiring a color consultant. These services generally cost around $100. You can hire your own, or you can work with our preferred interior designer.
• We will give you a call a week before your scheduled start date to get all the details, including your color choices, confirmed.
• Make sure you keep leftover paint from your painting projects to identify the product, color, and sheen. We can also use the leftover paint for future touch-ups or repaints.
• When we get to the job, we’ll paint a color sample with each color so you can approve it before we purchase your specifically chosen paints. If you’re concerned about the color, let us know ASAP. Trying a new color may cost a bit more upfront, but it’s better than spending years with a color you don’t like.

This list should give you an idea of how to prepare your home for interior painting with Flying Colors. If you have questions at any point in time, whether you’re considering a new painting project, or you’re getting ready for us to arrive for a project we’ve booked and scheduled, feel free to give us a call. We’ve been painting homes in the area for over 40 years and we’ll be here for many more to come.