Spackle it up

A couple weeks ago, we painted the small foyer and hallway by the entrance to our garage, but in the process of putting things back where they were, a mirror jumped off one of its hooks and gouged a small hunk out of our freshly painted wall.

After cursing gravity, I grabbed the tools needed to patch it up.
1. Sanding block
2. Spackle
3. Putty knife

The first thing I did was give the hole a light sanding so that there were no rough edges around the gash.

Then I took a small amount of spackle on the putty knife and scraped it across the hole a couple times, until I knew the hole was completely full.

Once the spackle was dry, I lightly sanded it again and ran my finger across the spot to make sure I got it as smooth and level with the wall that I could.

You may have to repeat the spackle and sand steps a few times until it is smooth, depending on the size of the gash and what type of spackle you have. Some spackle shrinks when it dries and other spackle doesn't shrink, so if you have a bunch of small holes in your wall from hanging things, you may want to spring for the non-shrinking kind. For this small hole, I only applied the spackle and sanded once.

Last but not least, I finished it up with a nice new coat of fresh paint.

Patching this small hole took no time at all and by doing it myself, I am confident it was done correctly and carefully. I hope this tutorial helps you fix that nagging scrape or gouge in your abode. It can make  a world of difference.