Painting a bathroom brings with it special considerations. No other room in the house produces hot moist air in a small, enclosed space.

First and foremost, that affects the selection of paint. Water-resistant, temperature-durable high gloss is usually selected for a reason. It provides good coverage to ensure that the moisture stays on the bathroom interior side of the wall. Moisture that seeps through cracks or, worse, goes right through the wall will inevitably lead to mildew build up.

That leads to an important task that has to be carried out before any painting is done. Any cracks, gaps or other openings have to be sealed properly before laying down the first coat. In some cases that will mean a silicon caulk around the vanity where the wall meets any moulding. In others it’s just a matter of repairing any drywall splits or other damage.

Preparation is key to a good paint job. Apart from sealing cracks, sand any previous paint well. Slick, high-gloss paint is designed to shed anything that hits the surface. To get the best result, that surface needs to be roughened to remove the topmost layer, then smoothed to provide a good surface for re-painting.

Even prior to sanding, though, a good cleaning may be necessary. Greasy handprints from the kids, dirt swipes from a dog’s swishing tail and a host of other things can appear on a wall very quickly. Make sure they’re all gone before you get out the sandpaper.

Once you’ve done the initial preparation of the surface, in terms of both cleaning and sanding, make sure it’s ready to receive paint in one more way. Any surface blemishes may appear trivial in this raw state. But once they receive high-gloss paint they’ll be magnified many times. It takes more time to get things in shape before getting out the roller. But the final results will be well worth the effort.

There’s one more item to consider before beginning, and it involves going back to paint selection issues one more time. Color. This isn’t as easy a choice as it might appear.

The basic color scheme of the bathroom provides the background for all other decorating decisions. A cheery yellow will simply never go with Victorian bronze fixtures. A subtle beige is too subdued to integrate well with bright brass faucets.

Beyond the background color, there’s the issue of selecting any contrasting or highlighting paint. Stained moulding and fixtures represent one way to offset colors. But bathrooms today are rarely one continuous color of paint. Vertical stripes on one wall, horizontal trim at the top of a wall and many other more complex designs turn a bathroom paint job into an art project.

Give careful thought to the overall final look desired and you can’t go wrong. Prepare well and execution will be easy. Now, paint!