Painting Planning

Prepare for your next painting project by discovering our planning ideas & tips.

Painting

All About Exterior Paint

Expert advice on choosing the best formulations for your siding type, selecting the most eye-catching colors, and getting long-lasting results

By Thomas Baker

Interior Painting Tips: Best Practices from an Expert

This Old House painting expert Mauro Henrique shares his best practices for achieving a flawless finish.

Popular House Paint Apps

Take the stress out of color matching by visualizing your wall paint on a mobile app first.

How to Paint a Room in 13 Steps

What does it take and how much does it cost to paint a room? Watch our video and read our easy instructions on how to prep and paint like a pro.

How to Match a Paint Color

Ask This Old House painter Mauro Henrique demonstrates how to accurately match a paint color

How Much Paint Do I Need?

Need to know how much paint to buy? A little math can save you a lot of time when it comes to interior painting.

How to Paint a Room

From start to finish, we show you how to give your interior walls a new personality in just one weekend.

A Guide to Paint Finishes

Select the right sheen to make your next interior paint project pop.

What to Do with Paint Leftovers

Finished a major project? Here’s how to deal with a little extra paint (or a lot)

How to Quickly Prime and Paint Windows

Ask This Old House host Kevin O’Connor works with painter Mauro Henrique to demonstrate a masking primer that leaves clean lines on a window

Your Toughest Paint Questions Answered

The TOH pros offer advice on your most difficult interior and exterior paint, painted flooring, and paint-removal questions

How to Prep Walls for Paint

Organize cover plates, speed up spackling, and keep paint from bleeding behind the tape

All About Polyurethane

Use this guide to learn more about how to choose the best type of polyurethane and apply it to furniture to bring out the beauty of wood around your house.

All About Exterior Stain

This Old House decodes the differences between the various types of stain so that you can get the look you want.

All About Interior Paint

The experts at This Old House help you navigate the paint aisle like a pro so that you can choose the perfect finish for your rooms

Paintbrushes

Plucked from a hog or synthesized in a lab, the right bristles are the key to a perfect paint job

Not All Painters Are Pros

To get the quality paint job you're paying for, ask these questions and make sure your contract is very specific.

Bad paint jobs can happen to good people with old houses — even when they listen faithfully to everything the paint salesman tells them. The reason is a surprising revelation about the compatibility of oil and latex paints.