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Original poster

Decorating do you like doing it or find it stressful

22 replies

Woodward23 · 20/05/2023 04:16

We're currently decorating painting/new wallpaper ect a few rooms in the house . One of them being a child's. Do you enjoy doing it or find it such an upheaval I like the end result but having to move things out of the room and the constant don't touch the walls I find just ugh oh and the fact then I can never decide on colours or themes

OP posts:

MintJulia · 20/05/2023 04:42

I love it. The match pot patches, the smell of new paint, the satisfaction, the planning. I'm planning a bedroom refresh, sage green and white with sheepskin rugs either side of the bed, crystal lamp fittings, white voiles at the windows 🤗

Forgottenmypasswordagain · 20/05/2023 05:21

I don't like it at all other than the end results.

AuntieMarys · 20/05/2023 05:26

We decorated the whole house last year. I'd never done it before. Loved the results but never again.....10 rooms over 3 floors, plus hall, stairs and landing.

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SinnerBoy · 20/05/2023 05:27

I hate having to move everything, the mess involved and general faff of it. I don't mind doing outdoor painting.

Funny thing is, I'm actually quite good at it and take pride in doing it well....

daisychain01 · 20/05/2023 05:49

I've decorated 3 houses over the years including a friend's house, so I must love it really but it does take a loooong time.

Best Bits

Colour charts
Match pots esp the splodges of colour on the walls trying them out
Before and after photos
Walking into a room randomly just for the love of seeing it transformed
Hanging wallpaper and getting the pattern to match (we painted our current house as the plaster is nice and smooth, but our old house had bumpy walls)

Not so Good Bits

When something doesn't work out the way I expected aka DIY disaster
Scraping off old ugly orange varnish with Nitromores incl the smell
Aching everything, jumping up and down step ladders hanging wallpaper
living with the mess
Cutting in (the line where the wall and ceiling meet)... fiddly.

BacklashBacklash · 20/05/2023 05:54

I really enjoy it. There aren't many tasks where you see such a difference afterwards, and it doesn't have to be done again within hours - like stacking the dishwasher, walking dog, cooking a meal.

Edwardandtubbs · 20/05/2023 05:59

I love caulking, I think our house is 50% caulk now, it makes such a neat finish and a huge difference. I also like doing skirting board. I HATE coving - I swear at it a lot. I wouldn't choose it personally but had to make repairs to it in our house where taking it down would have made a huge mess. The amount I got through to get the finished result was criminal!

I quite like painting - investing in good kit is half the battle.

MuddaUdders · 20/05/2023 06:10

I don't mind painting. That's therapeutic. The not so fun part is masking off fiddly bits, sanding walls (the mess it makes), and the tidying up of all equipment afterwards. Found painting the ceiling very tricky indeed!

charabang · 20/05/2023 06:57

I was never happier than when I had a broken shoulder and had to hire a decorator. Bliss! Now I'm back to DIY and it is just me, no DP on the scene to assist. It's not to bad if you can just focus on the decorating but if you have to cook, clean alongside etc it is exhausting.

YouJustDoYou · 20/05/2023 07:02

I don't mind painting, I find it quite cathartic but I can't come up with colours/decor/style etc. Just can't see it at all.

treacledan71 · 20/05/2023 07:32

I am hopeless at it. I can't even cut a straight-line with scissors never mind paint. Do have a slight disability. Other half not great either and works lots of hours. We either have to pay someone or do have a go. Wish I had the knack.

Kazzyhoward · 20/05/2023 07:38

We don't "love" doing it, but we do love the end result. Allow plenty of time, don't rush, take breaks etc. Yes, moving furniture is a pain. But the end result is worth it. We can do it far better than so-called professionals. We've never been happy with professionals, who tend to rush and don't have the same attention to detail. (We've tried several over the years and now just do it ourselves).

Kazzyhoward · 20/05/2023 07:40

@treacledan71

I can't even cut a straight-line with scissors

A long metal ruler and sharp craft knife is the answer.

Whatthediddlyfeck · 20/05/2023 07:42

I quite enjoy it once I get started…which is just as well given that I’m away to get up and crack on with the room I mist coated yesterday!

hopefulsquirrel · 20/05/2023 07:43

daisychain01 · 20/05/2023 05:49

I've decorated 3 houses over the years including a friend's house, so I must love it really but it does take a loooong time.

Best Bits

Colour charts
Match pots esp the splodges of colour on the walls trying them out
Before and after photos
Walking into a room randomly just for the love of seeing it transformed
Hanging wallpaper and getting the pattern to match (we painted our current house as the plaster is nice and smooth, but our old house had bumpy walls)

Not so Good Bits

When something doesn't work out the way I expected aka DIY disaster
Scraping off old ugly orange varnish with Nitromores incl the smell
Aching everything, jumping up and down step ladders hanging wallpaper
living with the mess
Cutting in (the line where the wall and ceiling meet)... fiddly.

Novice here. I thought you were meant to paint tester colours onto paper not actually on the wall?

treacledan71 · 20/05/2023 07:47

Kazzyhoward · 20/05/2023 07:40

@treacledan71

I can't even cut a straight-line with scissors

A long metal ruler and sharp craft knife is the answer.

Ahh thanks. Hopeless with a guilateen at work too lol. Husband working all Bank Holiday. This has inspired me to try and paint white over white in the kitchen. Surely even I could do that.

DinosApple · 20/05/2023 07:59

Another one here, I love the end result, but the moving furniture and contents of the room is the worst bit. It's trickier than our last house which was much smaller. This house is bigger so it takes a lot longer and is pricier on paint.

Choosing colours etc is great and I rather like painting, especially as DH is a perfectionist so won't allow me to do the cutting in, even though I am more than capable. So he does the slow awkward bits and I do the fun transformational bits!

If it's just going over the same colour as before I find that a bit boring so leave that to him and just provide tea and help with the manual labour moving things.

Whatthediddlyfeck · 20/05/2023 08:03

hopefulsquirrel · 20/05/2023 07:43

Novice here. I thought you were meant to paint tester colours onto paper not actually on the wall?

Show quote history

You’re right, saves you having to cover up patches

Aposterhasnoname · 20/05/2023 08:06

Now we can afford to pay someone to do it I love it, but back when we had to do it ourselves I loathed it with a passion.

HagsGlen · 20/05/2023 08:08

I’m in the (I hope) final stages of project managing the current phase of a whole house renovation, involving some demolition, rebuilding, full rewiring, plumbing work, and two new bathrooms. Just painting sounds blissfully straightforward.

JaninaDuszejko · 20/05/2023 08:10

I love the planning, love chosing colours and fabrics etc and having a vision in my head. Particularly love curtains and blinds because the actual transformation stage is so quick. Love buying the bits and bobs to pull the scheme together and getting the storage sorted. Love painting the first coat and enjoying the immediate transformation as you get rid of the previous owner's hideous colour you've been living with forgowever long before you have got round to that room. Love the end result. Love the transformative power of paint and wallpaper.

Hate the tidying up before and then getting rid of all the crap at the end you don't want. Hate sanding and washing and masking. Hate when you are 80% there but feel like all you've done for the last however many days is painting this fucking room with ever reducing impact. Hate that on TV shows they do it so quickly that you end up with unrealistic expectations on how long it's going to take because it's just you rather than a team of experts (e.g. it has taken me almost a month to do DSs room because I only do it at the weekend around every other job we have to at the weekend. Not helped by deciding to make an entire wall a corkboard which took 3 days to do. Looks awesome though).

Reluctantadult · 20/05/2023 08:11

The prep is awful, all the furniture out the way and covering the carpets. But I like cutting in!

Getting layers of old wallpaper off is the worst. The living room took me weeks and weeks, I was crying trying to get it finished before the plasterers came. The stairs here defeated me and I had to pay someone to do that.

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