Decorate your home with easy spring painting projects

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As the outdoor landscape blooms from dingy brown to lush shades of green, the interior of your home may benefit from a splash of color as well. According to the National Paint Institute, citrus-based colors such as mango and lime green as well as moody, twilight-based colors like indigo and magenta will be hot in 2009.

Adding a fashion color can give a room a real lift, but some homeowners may be hesitant to paint an entire room a bright color. The solution: Paint a single wall in an accent color or consider color-blocking on one wall.

To achieve the best results, follow these tips from Purdy, a manufacturer of professional paint applicators.

Before painting, be sure the wall is clean and dry. You should consider priming if you are painting over wallpaper or a very dark paint color.

Paint an Accent Wall

To create your accent wall you will need to "cut in." "Cutting in is the art of drawing a straight line separating two colors using only the paintbrush -- no masking tape or other aid," says Bruce Schneider, the Paint Doctor for Purdy. Cutting in is easy if you use a high-quality paintbrush and follow these simple steps:

1. Fully load the brush with paint.

2. Place the brush parallel to the area to be cut, push the bristles against the surface and let the brush open up into a semi oval. Then move it into the line you are cutting. Follow the line until the line of paint begins to break up. Repeat.

If you are not comfortable cutting in with a brush, you can always use special painters tape to ensure you get a straight line.

After cutting in, you can begin painting the open space with a roller or brush.

Consider Color-Blocking

Another easy paint project is to use color-blocking ... painting rectangular blocks in different sizes and colors on a wall. This technique can be used to offset paintings or simply add visual interest.

Step One: Plan your pattern on graph paper and fill it in with the colors you are considering.

Step Two: Once you have the pattern you like, convert the measurements of the shapes to the wall.

Step Three: Mask off the lines with painters tape, exposing the areas that will be painted in the lightest color first.

Step Four: Use a paintbrush to fill in the blocks with paint and allow it to dry.

Step Five: Paint the remaining blocks. For best results, paint the lightest color first and then move onto the darker colors.

"Be sure to use a quality paintbrush so it can be cleaned and re-used with all your paint colors. Purdy's Chinex® brushes easily pick-up and release today's heavy-bodied paints to provide optimal coverage. In addition, the brush is very easy to clean so it can be used many times, which is important to homeowners who want to use 'green' products," says Schneider. For small blocks of color, Purdy offers White Dove® mini-rollers to give homeowners good paint control and a smooth finish.

Painting is an easy and inexpensive way to change a plain room into one of personality and character in a weekend.

If you'd like more information about painting, you can visit the "How to Video" section of the Purdy Web site at www.purdycorp.com/dvd. The Web site also features a "Selector Tool" and "Painter's Toolbox," which makes it easy to choose and purchase the proper brush and roller for your project.