Top tips to get a quick decorating refresh done in a weekend

Here are some tips for making sure you use your weekend time efficiently to get maximum results.

Plan ahead

Before you get to your weekend working bee, make sure you have spent some time coming up with a plan, as well as a clear vision of what you're working towards.

That will include choosing your colour palette, but also checking what products and tools you might need whether it’s sandpaper, primer or other surface preparation products, a hammer, or cleaning products. The experts at your local Resene ColorShop will be able to talk you through what you need for your specific project.

Make sure everything is to hand, so you’re not back and forth to the store every half an hour. If your project is a group effort, make sure everybody involved knows what your desired outcome is, so you’re all working toward the same thing.

You’ll also want to have tested your preferred colours out using Resene testpots before you start your project, particularly if it involves painting walls or a main feature in a room. Try two coats of your preferred colours on large A2 cards leaving a white border of about 2cm.

This means you can easily check your colours in different parts of the room at different times of the day, and in different lights. The white border helps you see the true paint colour, without it merging into your existing wall colour.

Top tip: If you’re committed to one particular shade, you might want to try it in different strengths, such as eighth, quarter, half, double or triple if it’s too dark, too dominant or is not making the impact you were hoping for. The Resene Whites & Neutrals collection has up to six strength variations of the most popular colours so it is easy to pick a mix of colour strengths.

It’s also a good idea to make sure you have enough paint for your room or project before you start. As a rough guide a litre of paint should cover about 12sq m in one coat. Measure the length and height/width of your wall, ceiling, floor or other project, and multiply the two figures to work out your square metres. Divide that number by 12 to work out how many litres you’ll need, then double it to allow for two coats.

Declutter

Having a clear workspace is really important to getting the maximum amount of work done when you have a fixed period of time. This is particularly true if you’re trying to redecorate a room in a weekend.

Declutter your room and, if possible, move everything out in advance. Not only will it make it much easier to paint or wallpaper, but it also means there’s much less likelihood of tripping over things and knocking over trays or cans of paint.

Removing clutter from your space also helps you get a real sense of how the finished colour scheme, your upcycled piece of furniture or beautiful home-designed mural is going to look.

Check for maintenance

One job to complete before tackling a weekend of painting a room is to do a once-over for any maintenance or repair work that needs doing. It might be looking for any bumps or dents in walls that will need filling – a bright hand-held light is good for this – as well as picture hook holes and broken window latches or loose hinges.

On an upcycled furniture project it could be loose fixtures and fittings like handles, broken drawer pulls or loose timber joints and cracks. Taking care of all these things in advance, helps ensure you’re working efficiently when you’re trying to get projects completed quickly.

Efficient painting

When it comes to painting efficiently to get the maximum done in a fixed amount of time, there are a few steps you can take to set yourself up for success.

Masking might seem like a time-consuming hassle but it can prevent you from spending time on tidying up edges and removing paint overlaps, particularly if you’re a beginner.

And don’t be tempted to overload your roller or brush in the hope of covering more area quickly. You’ll just spend your time trying to even it out and get a smooth, streak-free finish. Try painting in a “W” shape with your roller rather than straight up and down as it will be easier to blend edges between strokes.

Top tip: Instead of getting up and down a ladder and having to move it every few minutes, get yourself a long handled paint roller.

Ideas for perfect weekend-sized projects with big impact:

• Paint your front door, garage door or mailbox for instant street appeal and impact. Embrace the trend for bold exterior accents on features like doors. You could try high impact aqua in Resene Blue Lagoon, or subtle but dramatic burgundy in Resene Cab Sav.

• Freshen up your window trims. Crisp Resene Black White or creamy Resene Half Bianca are popular shades for highlighting your windows. But you could try something different with a soft pastel option that complements your interior like muted blue-grey Resene Hermitage against walls in deep green Resene Cabbage Pont.

• Paint your ceiling or floor and consider a non-neutral colour. Pastels with subtle peachy pink shades like Resene Half Pot Pourri or Resene Soothe add a fresh modern touch.

• Upcycle a piece of furniture. Try adding sections of a bold wallpaper to drawer fronts or the inside rear of a bookcase for an eclectic, personality filled finish. After sanding, experiment with unexpected wood stain finishes like Resene Colorwood Red Pepper or Resene Colorwood Apollo Blue.

Other quick ideas could be:

• Add a feature wall with paint or wallpaper

• Repaint your kitchen cupboard

• Design and hang a gallery wall

• Add a painted console table or cupboard to your foyer

• Try your hand at a painted mural or art canvas with Resene Testpots

• Add wooden battens or faux panelling to a wall for added interest and texture

If you plan well, you can easily get a feature wall painted in an afternoon and a full room in a day, still leaving you plenty of weekend time left.

June 30, 2022

Visit your local Resene ColorShop for expert advice and all the products and accessories you need to make the most of your home.

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