Paint Protection: Keeping Paint Off Of Furniture, Windows, and Hardware
There are many steps on the pre-painting checklist that you want to make sure are completed before you whip out the paint brush. Prepping the walls and covering the floors are a great start, but there are other aspects of a room many homeowners don’t consider that require protection from potential paint spills! The professional Danbury, CT painters at CertaPro have put together a guide to help you prepare your furniture, windows, and hardware before you begin a painting project.
- Furniture: It can be a hassle to remove all the large furniture from a room. Some pieces may even be so large that they won’t fit through a doorway without disassembly. To save effort and time, you can simply cover your furniture and get the job done without worrying about paint damage. To protect furniture, you’re going to need large sheets of plastic covering and tape. These items can be found at any hardware store. The main idea is to cover each piece of furniture so that the possibility of paint spills and splatters is eliminated. To cover a sofa, take the plastic covering and lay it over the entire couch, making sure it reaches the bottom. To hold the plastic in place, tape around the perimeter of the couch. If it’s easier, you can tape the plastic to the floor for maximum protection.
- Windows: Paint drips on your window can look messy, and scraping dried paint off with a razor blade can cause damage to your windows. By taking the necessary precautions, accidental paint drips become less of an issue. If you have trim or a frame around your windows, start by taping off the outer edges with painters tape. This will ensure that the edge that is to be painted will have crisp, clean lines. To protect the window itself from any possible paint splatter, it’s best to use the same plastic covering used for the furniture. Cut the covering to the approximate size of each window pane and tape it down, making sure there is no space for paint to potentially drip through.
- Hardware: To protect the hardware around your home, including light switch plate covers, doorknobs, and vent grills, it’s best to remove them completely while you’re painting. During the painting process, be sure to paint as close as possible to each fixture, as painting around the approximate shape of each piece of hardware could leave you with unwanted paint gaps. If removing hardware pieces is something you would rather skip, the best thing to do is to tape around the edges of each piece with painters tape and paint very carefully!
Preparing your walls and floors for a painting project seems like the most common thing to do, but you don’t want to forget about the little details. Keep your painting project clean and organized with these paint protection tips!
How to Effectively Move Your Office
Relocating your office can seem like a challenging task, however with patience and planning, you can proactively solve problems that arise and ease the stresses of the move ahead of time. The following are tips on how to effectively move your office.
- Plan Ahead: Before you start the moving process, it is important to create a step-by-step plan of what you need to do to ensure a smooth transition. Make sure the new office is in top condition. If there are any problems, like repairing the heating and cooling system, arrange to have them fixed as soon as possible. You’ll also want to make sure that the new space is big enough for all of the staff while accounting for any possible future hires. Expect that your plan will be put into action over the course of a few months, as moving is hard to do in a short amount of time.
- Set a Budget: Overspending can happen in the blink of an eye, so it’s always best to determine a budget. Think about what furniture and office supplies you can bring with you, as well as what will need to be replaced. Don’t forget to account for supplies such as boxes, tape and bubble wrap too.
- Delegate Tasks: Give each staff member the task of packing up their own desk area and advise them to take home any personal belongings such as their office decor and laptops. This will hold each person accountable for their own belongings, which can take some pressure off the move and prevent lost or misplaced items.
- Communicate: Meet with your staff before the move and make sure that everyone knows what the plan is and, most importantly, the moving date. This will give your employees a general timeline of when they need to get all their ducks in a row. This will also ensure that nobody shows up at the old place wondering where everyone is! Make sure you listen to the employees thoughts and preferences about the new place because you don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable or like an afterthought.
- Select the Right Movers: You’ll want to hire movers who are trustworthy and with a good track record to avoid ending up with boxes full of damaged items and furniture that is broken. Look for Bucks County movers who have helped to do larger scale or commercial moves in the area. Hiring a local mover ensures that they are familiar with the location of your current and new office, and will make the overall move go more smoothly.
- Update Your Business Address: The last thing to remember is to update any resource that lists your businesses address and to get your mail forwarded to the new building. You don’t want to send anybody to the wrong office!
With these tips on moving your office effectively, you are on your way to making a smooth, hassle-free transition.
Office Cleaning Guide
In order to maintain a clean office, there are some things that need to be taken care of daily. By completing these tasks, you’ll prevent a buildup of dirt, germs, and clutter and be able to enjoy a happy and healthy office space.
- Wipe down the table and desk tops: At the end of each day, your desk and any tables around the office should be wiped down. If your office has a kitchen area, countertops should be wiped down as well. This quick action will prevent any food from getting caked onto surfaces, as well as stop the spread of bacteria. Remember to use cleaning solutions that are natural and safe to use. Light dusting done daily will help prevent the accumulation of unsightly dust all over your office. In the spring and summer months, dusting each day can also help prevent allergy flare-ups.
- Give everything a place: Your desktop should be clear to allow enough room to get work done without distraction. Pens should go into a pencil case or kept organized on your desktop. Extra paper, note pads, and folders should be kept in a desk drawer or in a storage closet. Keeping your desk and your belongings organized will help prevent clutter from forming, and make the daily wipe down at the end of each day easier.
- De-clutter your workspace: Putting things away where they belong should ideally be done daily. Prior to leaving the office each day, take the time to organize piles of paper that may have accumulated on your desk. This will make dusting easier, with less to move around when you dust, and make coming into your office the next day less stressful. Invest in a filing cabinet or shelving unit to keep your books, binders, and other paperwork neat and organized.
- Leave the big stuff to the professionals. Larger cleaning projects, like vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom facilities, should be left to expert janitorial services. Professional cleaners come in after office hours to give the place a deep clean, using the right chemicals, tools, and practices to make your workspace clean and safe to work in.
Having a clean office definitely help improves work morale. While daily cleaning helps maintain cleanliness, every office needs a good scrub down at least once a week to really get a deep clean. Tackle the small stuff daily, but leave the big stuff to the experts!
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