The best part about starting a decorative painting business is that you can turn something you enjoy doing into a moneymaking business. Being paid to do what you love to do is the greatest job to have.

You don’t have to be a painting expert to start a home-painting business but it helps if you have been practicing your painting skills for some time. That way you will have a lot of pictures in your portfolio to show potential clients. This also will help you develop more self-confidence in your work.

Before you tackle walls it’s a good idea to start by painting smaller objects like ceramic pots, candles, vases. Then, gradually work your way up to larger projects. If you’re feeling uncertain about how to handle the scope of a larger project you could try painting a large piece of cardboard or appliance box.

As you gain experience, try your hand at painting placemats and floor cloths. These surfaces require more planning and placement and are great practice for pre-wall painting. You can use canvas or the back of linoleum flooring as a surface.

You can prepare yourself to paint on walls by painting the floor cloth or placemat as if you were painting a wall (i.e. don’t turn the surface as you paint.) Instead, practice turning your wrist and doing the strokes outside of your comfort zone as wall painting requires you to be skilled at painting vertically.

The best way to perfect your talents is to start transforming rooms in your own home. Start with a small room such as a child’s room. Starting out doing a bathroom is not recommended, as working around all the bathroom fixtures can be very frustrating. Additionally, in bathrooms you must use the correct type of paint or your finished masterpiece may soon start to peel off the walls.

If you’re renting your home, you probably won’t be able to practice painting on your own walls. This is where friends or relatives come in. It’s great to be able to learn your craft on their walls while at the same time practice your client consulting skills for future use.

Paint sample boards and use pictures from magazines to show your friends / relatives the design you envision for their walls. You need to walk them through step by step and get them to see the design in their minds too.

Have fun while you learn and then take everything you’ve learned from practicing to launch your own decorative painting business.