June 21, 2026 · eQuote360 Team
A bit of preparation before painting day can make the job go faster and smoother — but not everything is worth doing yourself.
Worth doing yourself: Clear furniture away from the walls, or out of the room entirely if you can. Take down wall art, mirrors and curtains. Remove outlet and switch covers if you're comfortable doing so (most painters will do this too, but it saves time either way). Note any spots you specifically want addressed — a scuff, a hole, a water stain — so it doesn't get missed.
Better left to the painters: Patching larger holes or cracks, especially anything that might need more than a quick spackle. Painters deal with this constantly and know how to patch so it doesn't show a texture difference once painted. Colour-matching an existing wall if you don't have the original paint code — professional colour-matching from a chip or photo is usually more reliable than guessing.
Worth discussing before the quote, not after: Whether the ceiling is included. Whether trim and baseboards are part of the job or a separate line item. How many coats are planned, especially if you're going from a dark colour to a light one (this often needs an extra coat to fully cover). Whether furniture needs to be fully removed or just pulled to the centre of the room and covered.
One thing worth doing regardless: move anything valuable or fragile out of the room, even if painters bring drop cloths. Paint and furniture moving both carry some risk, and it's easier to prevent a problem than fix one after the fact.
A clear conversation before the job starts, about scope and what's included, tends to matter more for the final result than any amount of DIY prep.
