Painting - Home Improvements increase your home enjoyment, but they also affect your home's value - interior and exterior painting can yeild a 50-100% return on investment at resale*. These tips will help you plan for your painting improvment needs with a focus on resale value:

Function - Determine which rooms are in need of refreshing and choose colours that create a smooth transition between adjoining areas if using more than one colour.

Colour - Select classic, neutral tones that match any decor and add small accents of bolder colour to outside trim or interior decorative accessories.

Try - Use colour swatches or apply paint samples to test various shades on a patch of wall and notice how natural and artificial light affect the colour's appearance.

Base - Consider the popularity of water based paint for a quick, almost odourless dry and a more environmentaly friendly alternative to oil based paint.

Finish - Understand easy-to-clean glossier paints are best in moist, high traffic rooms, while flatter paints help hide small imperfections and are best in dry, low traffic rooms.

Learn - Consult a paint expert in choosing the best base and finish type for your job as a number of factors like surface and temperature will affect a paint's performance.

Buy - Determine the volume of paint required along with brushes, rollers, tape and accessories, choosing premium grade materials to ensure long lasting quality results.

Prepare - Understand what your specific surface needs - patching, scraping, sanding, mildew removal, and/or washing - and ready the surface as required.

Prime - Ensure your primer, if required, is compatible with you paint finish and apply it once edges are masked with tape and the floor and furniture are covered.

Paint - Apply the necessary number of coats in the required time intervals at the minimum required temperature for best results.

If you'r not painting yourself, interview at least three contractors, and ensure they are properly licensed adn insured.  Depending on the quality of materials and application, your interior or exterior painting improvment carries a minimum life expectancy of 5 years.

*Appraisal Institute of Canada, Home Renovations Survey