Any Surface: How to Paint {Part Three}

painting rugs and floor coveringsRugs

Base-coat your rug material if desired. After the base coat dries, use a straightedge to guide your stencil placement. Apply your design in a contrasting color with a stencil brush and stencil, cleaning the stencil before moving it to a new section. When the paint is dry, seal and protect the design with clear polyurethane.

Walls

Before painting walls, wash them with trisodium phosphate (TSP) and repair any cracks or holes. If your house was just built and your walls have not been painted before, it’s a good idea to apply a wallboard sealer before painting. For old drywall and plaster, a stain-blocking primer can help hide water stains or other marks.

Wood Floors

To paint a wood floor, clean and sand the surface (filling any cracks with wood filler), then apply an oil-base sealer. You can use either oil-base or latex paint. Alkyd or modified epoxy latex porch and floor paint is a good choice for high-traffic areas. A polyurethane coating (a type of varnish) will help protect painted floors. You might want to use a water-base varnish because oil-base varnishes yellow over time.

Use a roller with a long handle to cover large floor areas, although a brush is fine for small areas. Remember to plan your escape route: Start in a corner and work toward your exit to avoid stepping on wet paint.

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Welcoming the Red Zone.

We all know that a red front door adds instant curb appeal, but what does a red front door symbolize?

red painted front door and meaningA lot, actually. It’s hard to pin down a specific origin of the red front door, but after a little research,ShelterPop.com traced the tradition back to Biblical times. As history goes, Hebrew slaves were instructed to paint their doors red to protect their first-born from the angel of death. Many churches also painted their doors red, with the belief that once you passed through it you were protected from evil. And in early American times, if a family had a red front door, travelers passing through by horse and buggy would know that a home was a safe place to stop and stay. According to the principles of Feng Shui, a red door symbolizes “welcome.” Perhaps more importantly than its historical meaning, though, is the fact that, according to the principles of Feng Shui, a red door is supposed to create a welcoming energy in your home. And the most exciting meaning: In Scotland, a red door means “mortgage-free,” since homeowners used to paint their front doors to announce to the world that they’d paid off their home.

Excerpt borrowed from ShelterPop.com