How I Painted My Own Wall And You Can Too!

Want to paint your own wall but wondering if it’s a job up your alley? Well, Rukmini Ray Kadam — founder, editor & stylist at Trumatter, and a social ...

Want to paint your own wall but wondering if it’s a job up your alley? Well, Rukmini Ray Kadam — founder, editor & stylist at Trumatter, and a social media decor influencer, but definitely not a wall painter — shows you how she did it and how you can too!

My freshly painted wall in the bedroom.

The first time I wanted to paint our rented home — after three years of living in it — the contractor gave me a quote that shut me up for a good two years. I didn’t want to go through the traditional contract route but my landlady insisted. It so happens that I wasn’t the only one thwarted by the number.

Cut to May 2019 and I had had enough. I was done mulling and waiting for my favourite grey accent wall. So, I decided to step up the ladder — quite literally.

Result?

Two accent walls covered under Rs. 2,000, and those that make me happy every single day.

What’s more? I did it all under 48 hours — from start to finish.

How did I do that?

Alright. Enough talk. Sleeves up. Coffee on. Let’s get to the point.

How to choose a paint colour for your home

This is, in all obviousness, the most important question. How would you know if a colour would look good on your wall?

The truth is — swatching tells you nothing. It’s fairly impossible to get the feel of a colour in your entire room with just one tiny swatch of colour and it’s risky.

The trick is to try out a few colour families on an application in your computer. Take a photo of the wall you want to paint, open it with a software of your choice, and colour the wall with a brush tool. If you are into Photoshop, you can actually define the area and paint too. But either approach works!

There are also loads of softwares that allow you to do this but I was too lazy. Here’s how my rooms looked before I decided on a colour family.

My freshly painted wall in the bedroom.

Before shot of the living room.

Once you have decided on the family, you can toggle between shades and see what looks nice.

#PROTIP: Did you know that like light colours, super dark shades can also make your space feel larger? By blurring the dimensions and reflecting no light at all, these actually give you the illusion of your space seem larger. Just how lighter shades do by reflecting all the light!

How to prep your wall for painting

Now before you can enjoy your freshly painted walls, there are a few things you need to take care of.

• Wash the walls with damp sponge to get rid of dust and let dry.

• If you have flaky paint, scrape that off and smooth plaster bumps with a fine grit sandpaper.

• For kitchen walls, use a mild detergent because they generally tend to collect grime. Don’t overthink, just give it a wash.

Cheat a little. You can skip the primer

Now, ideally, you would prime, wait, dry and then paint two coats of the paint you choose.

But who wants to wait, right?

This is where a good quality paint comes into play.

Choose a water-based, satin finish emulsion, so that your primer cheating is not visible. If you are painting a darker shade over a light one, by all means don’t bother. Plus, I think Asian Paints Royale has a bit of self-priming qualities for a smooth finish.

BUT!

By no means should you skip on point 2, if you are using a good quality paint because that’ll only highlight the areas.

Masking tape is important

Being me, I trusted my steady hand and started off painting, but as and when I went towards the ceiling, my hands started to act up and shake quite a bit.

It’s difficult doing the corners if you don’t have masking tape. So, don’t cheat on this part. Also, please wait for 24 hours before peeling the tape. Or your paint will come off with the tape.

Enjoy your paint

After you have peeled and dried your paint, sit back and relax. Your job is done. And I can guarantee you, a new wall is pure unadulterated happiness!

After shot of the bedroom.

Another shot of the bedroom after I painted it.

After shot of the living room.

So, what do you all think? Are you now ready to take the plunge? What colours are you toggling between? Let us know in the comments below!

All Pictures: Courtesy Rukmini Ray Kadam