To decorate the bloody house myself?

[irisetta]

So we bought a gorgeous fixer upper just before prices went nuts post-pandemic, October 2020. Began to the fixing-upping in May 2021. Build is now finished, we have our 2 storey back/side extension, single storey to front. It drained us of every penny and then some.

The whole living in it as basically a building site inside still is driving me mad 😭 DH won't pay another penny for decorators, given we've spent so much on the build itself. He's great doing it himself, but as he's the sole breadwinner (for now - 2 DCs, one with additional needs) - he can only make progress at weekends. Too slow! I can do it! I'm not a bloody idiot! Even with school holidays, I can get on with it a bit, surely? AIBU?!

You have to pay someone more to come & fix the mess than to just do the job in the first place.

@irisetta you have beautifully skimmed walls, you have no diy experience & you have two young kids who will want your attention. you seems to think it's simple & it is, in a way, it's simple to paint a wall, it's not simple to paint skimmed walls properly & well.

It IS a recipe for disaster, I can see why your DH is saying he'd rather you didn't do it. you going gung ho slapping paint everywhere will just spoil the finish of somewhere you've spent a lot of money on, him only doing it weekends is going to take forever.

He can do prep in the evenings & even some painting if he's home early enough. Can he take any leave?

I understand him not wanting to pay someone to decorate when he can do it, but I understand you just wanting it finished!

Youre both going to need to compromise. Are there any room that are already painted that need redoing? Or can you start with somewhere like a utility room? You need to properly research and agree with DH which approach to the skimmed walls you're going to take.

Painting is not difficult - I actually quite enjoy it! You have to prep well and cover everything you don't want to get paint on - it's messier than you would think. Buy decent paint and good brushes. Take your time on the edges, you need a steady hand - a good edging brush is a god send. There are lots of good articles and videos with step by step instructions (try the Dulux website). I wouldn't start on a small room, like a toilet, these are actually trickier with difficult corners to access. A nice empty room without odd corners is what you need! Good luck!

I actually enjoy decorating and painting my house! Only time I would get someone in is for the exterior or the stairways.

Give it a go. Choose one room and see how you get on.

If course you can do it. Painting is very, very easy. Papering is more difficult, especially with a complicated match, but much easier if 2 people can do it together. For everyone who has DIY’d, there’s always been a first time. What would be difficult is doing it with young children there. It’s good to get on with it without interruption. If you are home when they’re at school, I’d wait till after the holidays.

I don’t understand why this is even a question , it’s your home too, if you want to do it do it you don’t need permission from him or strangers on line. It’s painting. It ain’t hard.

Another saying of course you can do it. And you don't need permission.

Research yes if you haven't done it before but plenty of info out there.

Am sure your dh would love to spend his time not looking after your children and getting the satisfaction from decorating whilst keeping you in your place as someone who can't manage.

You CAN do it and you will love looking at your lovely home afterwards knowing you did it.

Have you got a friend who is practical? Ask them for help and advice. Its absolutely possible for you to do it. Your h sounds unkind

I would suggest that, if your dh currently has the skills and you don’t, you choose one room (a small one, but one that needs every process) to do together. Make a list of all the steps, and spend time doing each part together - could just be 30 mins each evening, if you make the steps small. Make time at eg the weekend, or book a day’s leave, to learn the trickier bits well - mist coat, proper cutting in, painting the ceiling. Having two of you will make the bigger jobs like rollering the walls, or doing all the satin on the skirting, quicker. Then make the same list for the next room, identify anything that you need to do together, but do the rest yourself.

I learned to decorate when I was a child, because decorating was a family task. Now my dh and I decorate together, generally, but equally I can do it myself, or I have taught the offspring (dd did her first room solo at 16, having done bits and bobs from 6 or so). There are still tasks I can do but prefer dh to help - ceiling rollering being one.

You should definitely have a go!
just practice on a small area, & work carefully, you’ll be fine. I think b&q do some good short videos on things & there’s loads on YouTube. None of us were born knowing how to decorate but it’s not very hard.
I’m stripping everything back where my husband decorated years ago & did a horrible horrible job (he owned the house when we met & I gave up my flat which had bigger rooms but less of them)
he’s the most careless slapdash decorator & it looks like he’s decorated with cottage cheese instead of paint, on the best areas there’s brush strokes & even brush hairs stuck in the paint. He’s painted over stickers, there’s been no prep done like cleaning the wall & I doubt he mixed the paint before slapping it on, it’s really bad. On one wall he’s used gloss 🫣 sanding it all back has been horrible but I’m starting to feel really happy seeing rooms finished although I’ve only got three rooms done so far. Your husband is lucky you want to help! I would love it if DH wanted to help (and if he could be trusted with a paintbrush) like you say when it’s only happening at weekends with one person it takes ages.
you mentioned you’ve just had the walls skimmed (very envious over here, I taught myself & I hate doing this bit) so please make sure you do a mist coat of watered down paint or even 2 coats before you go in with paint, or the plaster will suck in all the water & you’ll be left with a horrid texture which would be such a shame on a fresh skimmed wall
good luck!

Let you? He can fuck off.

This is really good advice! Starting in one small room with help is great idea!

Course you can. I decorated my first house by myself and most of this one. Dh grumbles about my technique a bit but then doesn’t do it himself. If the walls are skimmed it’s simple. Get masking tape and masking tape any skirting boards, coving, etc. unscrew light switches so they’re loose just off the wall, wrap in a food bag and then you can paint behind them rather than having blobs of paint against them. Get a roller and paint tray and get cracking. Dust sheets down. I paint in my underwear because I get covered. Not too much paint on the roller or it sprays more. You’ll be fine.

Do it! I second whoever said get decent brushes, it makes all the difference. Cutting in is so much easier, and the bristles coming off the cheap ones are a huge pain.

I've picked up loads of stuff from youtube videos. After divorcing exH and moving just before the first lockdown into a house that needs works, I've managed to replaster walls, tile a bathroom, recarpet three rooms and the stairs.

I suggest checking out this blog for DIY how to's : thecarpentersdaughter.co.uk/

There's a section on decorating, and she tends to list out all the stuff you need to consider before you start, which I find really handy. Especially as I have a tendancy to just want to jump right in.

Do a room at a time prep everything before he gets back from work once kids in bed both bash out couple hours each, my husband doesn't like me painting becayse I'm not a perfectionist and just slosh it on after spending hundreds or thousands on plastering

Ive done some decorating mostly emulsioning and wallpapering. I used to get really uptight about it not being perfect, patchy emulsion, paint a bit streaky, but having been in other peoples houses and seen much worse decorating Im chilled now ! If you' re one of lifes perfectionists though it might annoy you if its not up to professional standards !

Painting walls is really easy. I'm a bit confused by all the people suggesting it isn't. Make sure wall is clean, dip brush or roller in paint, apply to wall. Just take it slowly and carefully around the edges and you'll be fine. Gloss on the other hand is a nightmare 😂

I did all the decorating of my own house with three DCs underfoot aged 6, 3, and 1, with only the 6yo in school, the other two at home. It's absolutely possible.