As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler we naturally begin making the transition from outdoor living to life indoors. After a summer of fun it is easy to bring the fun summer colors inside. Even if summer colors are not your style, you can still make your home look stylish and new with a fresh coat of paint.

According to Dan Bisson of Bisson Painting and Carpentry, there are some advantages to hiring a professional to paint your home, rather than doing it yourself. First and foremost, hiring a professional “will save a lot of time, effort, aggravation, and hassle” for the property owner. Also, because a professional painter does this type of work every day, they have all of the equipment that they need in order to get the job done correctly and quickly, and with far less disruption to a busy homeowner’s life.

In some instances, when one is remodeling an older building, it is necessary to hire a professional painter who has been trained and certified to handle lead-based paint renovations. Finally, even though many homeowners are skilled, a professional will be thoroughly familiar with all of the tools, and the latest techniques and products, so “the end result should be better,” according to Bisson.

For those of us who enjoy the satisfaction of a “project,” however, Bisson has several suggestions that will make your finished project look great. The first step is making sure that you have all of the brushes, rollers, ladders, mud, drop cloths, and other tools to do it right. Once you have assembled all of your instruments of construction, go around your room and circle all of the holes, dings and dents.

Look at your wall from different angles and at different times of day as light will affect how well you can see the imperfections in the wall’s surface. Then “patch with mud” and, after the mud has thoroughly dried, “sand all the walls and ceilings to knock down any grit or texture.” Hand sanding a wall, even when a wall has previously been painted, will give your new coat of paint a nice finish.

After you finish sanding, be sure to shake out all of your drop cloths and clean the windowsills and baseboards. Then, apply a coat of primer to the patches of mud where you filled the holes and smoothed the imperfections.

Although many painters use tape to protect other surfaces while they work, Bisson prefers to use tape very sparingly, and only when he paints in tight spots. With practice, it is possible to create a straight and smooth line or edge with a good quality angled brush and a steady hand.

Choosing the colors to paint your interior walls, as well as the outside of your home, provides every member of your family with an opportunity for self-expression. Whether your tastes are bold or muted, warm or cool, you can wrap your rooms with colors that match your décor as well as your life.

Michelle Barbay, of Sherwin-Williams in Lewiston, advises her customers to choose colors “that make them feel comfortable” and to “go with colors that work” for them personally, rather than choosing colors that are “popular.” According to Barbay, recent trends in color choices have drawn primarily from a warm and comforting palette comprised of neutrals and earth tones, as well as the more muted or “muddier” shades of blue and green.

Creamier tones in shades of white are often used for painting trim. Colors with names like “Mountain Stream,” a soft blue, “Sandy Ridge,” a mid-tone brown, and “Green Earth,” a soothing shade of green, are often chosen by adults while younger generations often choose much bolder colors for their living spaces.

Happy colors with names like “Laughing Orange,” “Electric Lime,” and “Vivacious Pink,” often put together in combinations that might initially make an adult recoil, work well for many tweens and teens. Different finishes can also be applied to your walls to create a look that is as unique as the individuals who live in each of your rooms.

Only after you have carefully prepared your walls and chosen your colors can you finally begin painting. Although depending on the color and other factors you can sometimes get by with one coat of paint, Bisson recommends that you apply two coats of paint to your walls, two coats to your ceiling and two coats on your trim, alternately with the last coat going on the trim to take care of any drips or mistakes that you might have made along the way.

Whether you choose to hire a professional or to do-it-yourself, applying a fresh coat of paint will give your home a clean, new look, and will help you to make the transition from outdoor summer living back into the great indoors.