Has anyone put new carpets in and then decorated upwards?

[lostindubai]

Crazy idea I know. But we only have a limited budget and a baby on the way. The existing carpets have been cleaned but are grubby and old and smell of dog in some rooms. Yuk. We don't have the time or money to decorate everything before doing the carpets so it's a bit of a dilemma. My main concern is re glossing the skirting boards right next to a new carpet. If anyone has any good tips I'd love to hear them.

WWYD?

[DaphneWhitethigh]

Can you possibly do the skirting boards first, then the carpets then the walls? (if you're DIYing) Professional decorators should be able to avoid knackering the carpet.

[Laquila]

I'd agree that it'd be a good idea to gloss the skirtings first, then fit the carpets. Then you could masking tape dust sheets over the carpet, onto the top of the skirtings, when you paint the walls and ceilings. Although this goes against my dad's number 1 decorating rule of make glossing your last job!

[Hennifer]

Hmm...we did skirting boards first! Just take a room at a time, go over them with a good electric sander (Mouse type thing) and then two coats of dulux diamond eggshell. It's water based and dries in about an hour, so you can do two coats in a day easily.

You can get it mixed up at Brewers or just get white at B&Q or wherever.

it's very tough so will stand up to carpet fitting knife.

I'm doing the walls and woodwork after, due to time constraints like you. Just make sure you sheet it very well to protect the carpet - it will be fine.

[JT05]

Put a couple of layers of newspaper under the dust sheets first. Blobs of paint can seep through cloth dust sheets.

[lostindubai]

Thanks so much I don't feel quite so crazy now! Hennifer that's a good tip thank you. Last house we had we put the carpets in last but the fitters scratched up our freshly glossed skirting and I wasn't too impressed with that!! I guess it's hard not to though.

Appreciate all your input

[lostindubai]

Thanks for the reminder JT I've fallen victim to that before too

[Cariadity]

Could you prioritise rooms to do fully first? We have just moved and are only redecorating our bedroom and living room - paint first carpet after. The whole house needs doing but how much time do you spend in hallways etc so they can wait until we can afford it. We have had new skirting fitted but both rooms should be completed fully soon, which is around 2 weeks since we started on them

[lostindubai]

That's how we did it last time but tbh we had more time and money then and it still took ages I'm almost 8 months pg so unable to help and my dp works full time. We also have a toddler so have to be mindful of him! A big problem is that I don't have the brain space to think of lovely colour schemes so who knows if I'll choose the right colour carpets anyway? So annoying!

[RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog]

A few years back we were selling a house that had several floors and mezzanines. Prior to going on the market we needed to refresh the skirtings throughout the hall, stairs & landings but had fitted carpet on every level except the ground floor hall which was tiled. There was no way we could have taken up all the (newish) carpet, so I used some kind of a guard thing - think DH made it - that I had to hold in place over the carpet so I could paint down as near to the base of the skirting as possible. It was a bloody pita but it did the job

[Cariadity]

We are mainly decorating in neutrals, dark cream/light brown carpets in living room with stone/cream walls. Grey in the bedroom as I found a lovely grey wallpaper. I'm planning to jazz it all up with colourful accessories. Too much pressure to do anything complicated soon after moving. I'm in a leg cast atm so enjoying the decorating process from the comfort of my sofa!

[shovetheholly]

What are your floorboards like? Mine are filthy and in an awful state, but in my parents house, they are almost pristine. If they are the latter, then why not lift and bin the carpets and replace after you've decorated?

Hope your leg heals soon!

[Hennifer]

Plastic dust sheets are better than cloth ones when you have new carpet.

Regarding colour, I would get a nice, warm, mid tone neutral colour - like a warm grey/brown beige colour. That will almost disappear into the background and will go with everything.

We had to put down carpets quickly too and went with the same colour in all bedrooms and the living room (couldn't afford laminate though I wanted it).

It was a great success as it goes with any colour scheme. This sort of colour is great.