There’s not much that gardening has to do with painting, but there is one definite similarity: whether you are growing a hot pepper or repainting your living room, proper preparation will make all the difference. With our years of experience as a professional painting contractor, Jalapeno Paint Werx would like to share a few tips for how to spice up your space and get great-looking results. The key is in the preparation.

The first step is to remove any large furniture items that can easily be put in another room (if you’ve got a friendly, burly neighbor, you might want to ask for a hand). If your piano or sofa is too large to be easily relocated, simply put it in the center of the room and cover it securely with a dropcloth or old bed sheet.

Next, remove your pictures and decorations from the walls–this might be a good opportunity to dispose of some of those gifts you felt you had to display! Place them in a safe location where you won’t be tripping over them, and make sure you remove all nails and hooks from the walls.

At this point, see to any light fixtures that are mounted on the walls. If you can safely remove them, do so. Of course, then you’ll need to bring in a floor lamp so you’re not painting in the dark! If you can’t remove the fixtures, carefully tape their edges where they meet the wall (to protect it from brushing) and securely cover the light with plastic (to protect it from splatters and drips).

Now you’re almost done. One quick but very necessary step is to see to your light switches and outlets. Use a screwdriver to remove the wallplates that surround them, and then use painters tape to cover the outlets and switches. This is a good time to replace them if they are outdated, since you’ve gone this far.

Finally, the floors. Spread out drop cloths over the whole floor so you are completely prepared for unexpected spills, drips and splatters. Use tape around the edges so that when you paint the baseboards you don’t get the floor. Try to spread the cloths smoothly and overlap them well so that they don’t become a tripping hazard.

Now that you’ve protected the room like a professional painter, you are ready to prepare the walls and start the fun! One more thing, though–unless you like paw prints, you might want to lock up your pets!

Jalapeno Paint Werx, a painting contractor based in Naperville, Il, offers excellent painting services to our Chicago-area clients. We take great care to protect your home so that the only memories of our visits are flawless surfaces and clean lines. We also offer color selection services, to help our clients answer the question, “What color should I paint my (insert room here)?”

Jalapeno, serving Mokena, Aurora, New Lennox, Orland Park, Elmhurst, Lombard, Batavia and all of Chicagoland. Expert painting services, exceptional service!