Homer Glen houses don’t do small. Off Bell Road and 143rd Street, lots run close to an acre, and the custom homes built on them through the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s come with two-story foyers, great rooms, and finished basements that turn a repaint into a real project. Getting a house that size ready for a paint crew sounds like a chore. It shouldn’t be, because most of the heavy lifting belongs to your painters, not to you. Here’s how to prepare for interior painters the smart way, and what a good crew takes off your plate entirely.
What to Do Before the Painters Arrive
Start with the walls themselves. Family photos, mirrors, floating shelves, the gallery wall up the staircase: all of it comes down. Leave nails and anchors in place if you want everything rehung in the same spots, or pull them and let us fill the holes for a clean start. Either way, decide before the crew shows up so patching happens on prep day instead of as an afterthought. Curtains and blinds count too if we’re painting the window walls; leave them up and we’ll handle removal and rehanging, just tell us which rooms ahead of time.
Next, pack away the fragile stuff. Lamps, vases, anything on open shelving in the rooms being painted, plus whatever rattles inside furniture that will be moved. A few boxes and twenty minutes per room usually covers it. If your kitchen is on the list for cabinet painting, clear the countertops and empty any cabinets getting sprayed.
Plan for pets while you’re at it. Painting means open doors, wet surfaces, and strangers in the house, a rough combination for a curious dog. A closed-off room at the far end of the house, a day at daycare, or a stay with a neighbor all work fine. Just have the plan set before the crew rings the bell.
Last, think about access. Clear a spot in the driveway for the crew’s van and leave a path from the door to the work areas, which is rarely a problem on Homer Glen’s long driveways. If you’ll be at work while we paint, sort out entry ahead of time: a garage code, a lockbox, or a key with a neighbor. That’s the whole painting day checklist: wall hangings down, fragiles packed, pets planned, access sorted.
What Your Painters Should Be Doing for You
Furniture moving tops the list. Our crews shift sectionals, china cabinets, and beds to the center of each room and wrap everything in clean plastic before a single can gets opened. You shouldn’t be dragging a dresser across hardwood the night before, and on our interior house painting projects you never have to.
Floor and fixture protection comes standard too. Canvas drop cloths along the walk paths, rosin paper taped down over hardwood, plastic sheeting over chandeliers and built-ins, outlet covers and switch plates removed and bagged by room. Ceiling fans get bagged, return-air vents get covered, and thermostats get shielded before any sanding starts. In the great rooms and two-story foyers common around Goodings Grove, that layer of protection is the difference between a repaint and a mess.
Cleanup happens every day, not saved for the end. Each evening the crew consolidates tools, sweeps up sanding dust, and leaves your walkways clear, because you still live there while we work. You’ll hear from us every day about what got done and what’s coming next. Family-owned since 2019, we protect your floors and furniture before any paint goes on, and we walk through the finished work with you at the end.
Inside a Real Prep Day
Morning one starts with a walkthrough, not a paintbrush. Your crew lead confirms colors and sheens room by room, flags anything needing a decision, and maps where furniture and floor protection will go. Ten minutes of questions now prevents a week of assumptions.
Repairs come next, and Homer Glen homes give us plenty to work with. Clay soil settling leaves hairline drywall cracks over doorways and at ceiling corners, nail pops surface in twenty-year-old walls, and caulk lines around trim shrink after enough dry Illinois winters. We cut out and refill the cracks, reset the nail pops, re-caulk the gaps, sand everything smooth, and spot-prime repairs so they can’t flash through the finish coat.
Only then does color show up. Skipping straight to paint is how you end up staring at every old flaw through two fresh coats. Prep eats a good chunk of the first day on most projects, and it’s the best time investment in the entire job.
Prep Notes for Larger Custom Homes
Square footage changes the plan. A four-thousand-square-foot custom home near Old Oak or off 151st Street doesn’t get painted all at once; it gets staged in zones so you keep a livable house the whole time. Bedrooms in one phase, main living areas in the next, always leaving somewhere to cook, sleep, and work. Most families barely change their routine.
Tall spaces need their own plan too. Two-story foyers and great rooms mean ladder and scaffold work, which calls for extra floor protection and more staging room. Vaulted ceilings, plant shelves, and open stairwells, all common in the custom builds around here, get sequenced so high work wraps up before finish coats go on below.
One last note on air: if we’re painting in summer, run the AC. Low-VOC Sherwin-Williams paints keep odor mild, and steady air conditioning helps coats dry evenly through a humid Illinois July. We handle interior painting in Homer Glen, IL year-round, along with neighbors in Lockport, New Lenox, and Mokena, and the prep conversation stays the same in every season.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get my house ready for painters?
Four things, honestly. Take everything off the walls, box up fragile items in the rooms being painted, make a plan for pets, and figure out access if you won’t be home. Skip the furniture and the floors, because a good crew moves and protects all of that for you. Knock out those four before the first morning and you’re ready.
Do I need to move furniture before the painters arrive?
No. We move it to the center of the room, wrap it in plastic, and put it all back when we finish. Please don’t wrestle a hutch across the hardwood the night before; that’s what our crew is for. Small fragile items and anything rattling inside furniture are the exceptions, so box those up and we’ll handle the rest.
Should I wash my walls before painting?
In most rooms, no, because surface cleaning and prep are part of our job. Kitchens are the one exception worth knowing about: cooking grease near the stove keeps paint from bonding, so we degrease those walls before priming. A quick wipe-down of obvious grime never hurts if you feel like helping. Just don’t spend a weekend scrubbing walls we’re going to sand anyway.
What should I do with pets on painting day?
Give them somewhere calm and closed off, away from the work. Doors stay open while crews carry ladders and drop cloths, and wet baseboards are magnets for dog tails. A spare bedroom at the far end of the house works, and so does a day with a friend or at daycare. Tell the crew lead where your pet is and that door stays shut all day.
Do I need to be home while the painters work?
Most of our Homer Glen customers aren’t, and that’s completely fine. We just need a way in: a garage code, a lockbox, or a key with a neighbor. Your crew lead sends daily updates, and color or sheen questions get settled by phone or text. You’ll walk the finished work with us at the end, on your schedule.
Getting ready for a repaint and want the prep handled right? Powers Painting & Decorating is a family-owned painting company based in Plainfield, serving Will, Cook, and DuPage Counties since 2019. Backed by 1,000+ five-star reviews across platforms, BBB accreditation, and four straight Best of Will County awards, we handle every project from prep to the final walkthrough. Call (815) 582-9699 or visit powerspaintingdecorating.com for a free estimate.