PAINTING PREPARATION One of our Remodeling Consultants will meet with you, at no charge, to find out what your needs and wishes are. Once decisions have been made and a schedule is laid out, you'll want to think about preparing your home for the work. If your place is currently furnished, protecting your furniture and other belongings must be done before we begin, to avoid damaging anything. We suggest packing up all your books, picture frames, and other items that may get in the way or otherwise be exposed. Ephesus's team can also assist you in the preparations. We will use construction paper or masonite to cover your floors, and we can also apply blue tape, which has a special adhesive that won't pull off or chip the paint when removed, to protect areas that will be painted later. PLASTERING Depending on the age of your apartment, your walls may need more or less work to create a smooth, clean look. Many apartments from before the 1990s have solid plaster walls, which have been painted over and over again. If this is your situation, your walls will most likely need plastering. If your building was built after the 40s, chances are your walls are sheetrock, an easier medium to work with. If you want your walls to look new and flawless, skim coating is what you'll need. An expensive and time consuming process, skim coating involves applying a coat of plaster over the entire wall surface, allowing it to dry over night, then sanding that surface and applying another coat of plaster. Many times, three or four coats of plaster are needed for a perfect look. Another option you have is to just scrape, sand, and plaster only where paint has peeled or the wall has cracked. This won't give you as nice or as perfect of a look as skim coating, but it takes less time and costs less. Your budget and how important a flawless look is for you will determine which plastering method to use. TRIM Trimming Brush Trim includes the crown and base moldings on your walls, the wood or metal that frames your windows and doors, any built-in furniture or radiator covers, and the windowsills. The older your apartment is, the more likely these areas will need work. They may currently be damaged or have chipped paint. For a really new look, you might need to replace the trim in most or all areas. If your trim isn't that old or damaged, you may be able to get away with just repairing problem areas here and there, and then sanding, priming, and repainting the rest. If you're lucky enough to have the old fashioned wooden moldings or window frames, often detailed and beautifully constructed, and you want to keep them, you could have them stripped and then refinished. But you should know that this is intensive and expensive work. PRIMING Painting Primer Applying a base coat or primer to your walls is highly recommend, and sometimes unavoidable. Primer acts like a glue, and it helps hold the paint to the walls. If you did any wall repairs, or if you want to paint a lighter colored paint over a darker color, then you must apply primer. But even if you're walls didn't need repairs, or your painting the same color that was there before, we still suggest priming the surfaces for longer-lasting results PAINT APPLICATION Painting Roller We always suggest applying at least two coats of paint to every surface, and, for some situations, a third coat as well. If your budget is tight, though, you could apply just one coat of a thicker paint. Besides the basic paint color, you'll also need to choose a finish. Flat finish is typically used for ceilings, while semi-gloss finish is used most in bathrooms, kitchens, trim, or any area that needs to be extra durable and easy to clean. If you have kids, you may be wondering if using semi-gloss on all the walls is a good idea, but we don't recommend it. The downfall of semi-gloss is that it tends to show every imperfection on the walls. For your other rooms, eggshell flat finish is popular. If you want to splurge, satin or pearl finishes are beautiful, but more costly. FAUX FINISHING Painting Finishing A hot choice in cities like Manhattan, giving your walls a faux finish will really give your home a unique and beautiful look. Faux finishing require first for a base layer of paint to be applied. Then, on top of that, the artist uses a different color of paint, called the glaze coat, and applies it in any number of patterns or textures. Sponging, combing, ragging, or simple brush strokes are some of the more common methods, but there's really no limit on how to apply the glaze coat. Venetian Plaster is a popular faux finish choice in Manhattan, and will leave your walls with a polished, marble-like look. You may decide to use a faux finish over an entire wall, or limit yourself to a select area, like the kitchen backsplash. Whatever your plans, Ephesus's artists are skilled and ready to create a faux finish in your home or business