Black & Decker: The Complete Guide to Painting & Decorating (Black & Decker Home Improvement Library)

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Painting & Decorating is an illustrated guide to improving interior rooms with paint, wallcoverings, and other decorative materials using professional techniques. Beginning with an overview of color and decorating principles, this helpful reference demonstrates the basics of painting and wallcovering, including: selecting and estimating materials, preparing the room, removing existing paint and wallcovering, repairing damaged walls and woodwork, application techniques, and cleanup methods.

The featured projects appeal to all skill levels. Experienced do-it-yourselfers will be especially interested in the advanced painting and wallcovering projects, including: sponge painting, block printing, stenciling, rag rolling, painting faux finishes, painting and staining floors, hanging specialty wallcoverings, and creating wallcovering cutouts. There are also projects for adding architectural elements such as cornices, wall moldings, and ceiling medallions.

Highlights include: A variety of affordable, do-it-yourself solutions for improving the appearance and style of any room.

Professional advice on selecting paint and wallcovering.

Exciting new design products such as wool painting pads, textured paint rollers, and polyurethane millwork.

Demonstrations of each project with clear step-by-step instructions and color how-to photographs.

Projects which appeal to a variety of skill levels and cover all aspects of painting and decorating, from beginning theories to advanced techniques.

A good choice for those who want to add a little flair, depth, and sophistication to their interior painting and decorating efforts, Black & Decker: The Complete Guide to Painting and Decorating will encourage you to do more than just slap on some paint. After flipping through the pages and seeing more than 700 color photos, you will want to play with paint, experiment with it, and control it. The first section of the book--Color & Decorating Principles--explains color theory as well as the use of colors and patterns to create moods in a room. (Warm colors, for example, help make north-facing rooms more inviting, and the people in them warmer.) The second section of the book--Basic Painting & Wallcovering --explains the process of preparing surfaces for finish paint, choosing the right materials, and estimating quantities. (This portion also notes how small patterns help make close spaces seem larger and more open, while large patterns are stimulating and look best in active areas such as a child's room or a large kitchen.) The book's final section--Advanced Painting & Decorating--looks at how to embellish walls and floors with faux designs and decorative accents, and how to add elegant touches with wallcovering cutouts, cornices, and wall frame moldings. Specialty painting tools are also discussed, including paint gloves for contoured surfaces such as pipe and wrought-iron, bendable paint pads for window shutters and cast-iron radiators, and mixer bits. Knowing that some of the designs and color combinations may spur people to wilder-than-normal decisions, the authors wisely advise that people first get samples of their preferred wallcoverings or paints, and then take them home and subject them to the 24-hour test, checking from time to time over the course of a full day to see how the colors change under varying lighting situations. --John Russell