Home Decoration Tools

Every home decoration project makes use of many tools and having them ready at hand makes the work easier too. Tools to paint walls, install wallpaper, stripping furniture, wood molding and laying tiles have been discussed in this article.

Painting Tools
Good quality paint spreads more and results in long lasting finishing and better results. Narrow brushes are better to paint trims and windows while one with an angled edge can help you cover 'cut in' around windows, doors and ceiling edges better. Wide and straight-edged brush is a wise choice for painting large walls and ceiling spaces and is easier to handle than rollers for beginners. The bristles of the brush can be natural or synthetic. Only oil-based or alkyd paints can use brushes with natural-bristles. Good quality brushes have flexible tips, split ends, tapered towards the center for smooth and even application of paint and the length of their bristles at least one and a half times of the width of the brush.

Good brushes apply paint in a thicker and smoother film than economy ones thus, give a uniform sheen, hides the faults and do not leave ridges or brush marks in the paint. Rollers usually have two parts - a plastic handle and its metal cover. Handles should be easily grip able and light enough to carry easily for long periods of time. Wider frames can be used for large spaces while smaller ones for trims and narrow spaces. To paint a ceiling, you may want a roller with the facility of a screwed-in extension. Synthetic covers are good for latex paint while natural ones can be used for oil-based paints.

Thin and smooth cover nap means smoother walls while textured walls such as stucco painting may need thicker and textured cover naps to hold more paint and get the desired effect. You may also need a step stool or a sturdy ladder while painting especially for ceiling edges and corners. Protect your eyes and hair with plastic cap and goggles and wear disposable gloves to protect your hands. Thin wood sticks to stir the paint, a roller tray with disposable liners, light bucket to carry paint, painter's tape, drop cloths to cover the floor and furniture of the room, spackling compound and a putty knife, sandpaper and rags to wipe your hands on are some other things while painting walls.

Tools For Wallpapering And Other Work
For hanging wallpaper, you need a large flat surface, ladder or stepstool, sponge or rags, scissors, pencil, measuring tape, drop cloths, craft knife with disposable blades, a level, a straightedge, a chalk line plumb and sandpaper along with wallpaper primer, adhesive, masking tape, plastic smoothing tool, water tray, seam roller and rolls of wallpaper. Cleaning the furniture and walls well make working on them much easier, whether it is painting, waxing or polishing them. To clean furniture, you will need toothbrush, soft club, toothpicks and steel wool for scrubbing and poking dirt from hidden corners. Be sure to use only those chemicals to clean that don't hurt your furniture, especially the wooden pieces. TSP pr tri sodium phosphate may soften a finish.

Wearing gloves and goggles and working in a room with proper ventilation will keep you safe too. For restoration and refinishing furniture, you may need paint stripper. Heavy bodied stripper is best for both vertical and horizontal surfaces while liquid stripper can be used to remove its residue. Dispose paint stripper residue carefully along with rags and towels used in the process as it is toxic and highly flammable in nature. Antique furniture should never be sanded but worked upon with good boiled linseed oil without the addition of polyurethane.

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