Ok, so you have decided you want to paint some walls and ceilings but have never swung the paint bucket at the walls or ceiling before. Time to start finding out a little bit of basic prep will go a long way towards allowing you to enjoy the fruits of your time and energy for a long while to come.
In simpliest terms, you don’t have to have an airless, or even a sprayer though if you have large amounts of surface to paint they may well save you much time in the long run. A brush, a roller, and a rolling tray along with the remant of paint in the can that you poured into the rolling tray is all you will need to apply the primer/finish to the surfaces. That would be the FINAL portion, though. Lets say you want to paint the bathroom, its actually one of the rooms in the house that people have more time to look at walls and ceilings than anywhere else, so you do want to make sure that they look good. First things first, we are talking about an area that is GOING to be exposed to moisture, so flat paint is NOT a good option for anything in this room.
First, we will need to ensure the surfaces are clean, dirt free and ready to accept new paint. As the walls and ceiling should have sheen to them you will need, some liquid tsp, some sandpaper, most likely a small step ladder, a 4 foot would be a good choice most likely unless your cielings are very tall, in which case you may require something taller. Add about a capfull of the liquid TSP to a bucket and warm water set that aside until after you have sanded the walls. Note if you see any mold/mildew present you may have another issue to remedy, a quick fix to clean things up will be to add some bleach to that tsp/water solution. Hand sand the wall, folding the paper over on itself a couple times so the grit will grab at the back and remain a lil easier to brush across the wall, repeat this on all surfaces you intend to paint. Follow up with the tsp solution and a rag or very soft sponge ( would suggest the rag if your walls have a heavy texture feeling to them) wipe them all down a couple times and let them dry.
Ok now hopefully the walls have dried in a relatively short amount of time, you did’t have to patch anything, (no big holes) if so, there is more prep needed, no? good!
Ready to open that can of paint, oh no, it dosen’t look like the same color as the chip, this is very common, relax breathe deeply, its all good, pour some of the paint into the roller tray, put something down to protect the surfaces you DON”T want to paint (ie floors, the cabinet, the stool, the tub) keep a damp rag handy just in case, will assume you went with some form of latex paint, I do recommend the ceramic enhanced if you can afford them, the work nicely and dry to a beautiful shean and are very durable. Take the brush and “cut” meaning outline the inner corners, round the objects, and work the paint into the surfaces desired to be covered, remember it will likely take two coats, no matter what one coat coverage paint they sold you! After you have completed that your ready to take the roller and apply the paint to the flats.
If you did a good job with your prep, you shouldn’t see the paint doing anything strange from where hairspray or who knows what other things have touched the walls and been left on them, and you will soon have a nice coat of paint on the surfaces desired. Most likely this will end up taking a day, but it is totally possible for anyone to do their own paint, just don’t rush, be patient and give it time to dry.