Decorating novice

[Felix90]

We are moving in to a rented property in the next couple of weeks. It's a 2 bed back to back terrace but it's surprisingly big inside and lovely. We have only ever rented and have never been allowed to decorate before, but our new place is through a private landlord and she told us yesterday she has no problems with us decorating. We will be staying there for a few years hopefully so I'd like to make it feel like our home.

I have never ever decorated a house in my whole life, and the prospect of putting my own stamp on our new house is the most exciting thing ever. We won't decorate straight away as I will be 36 weeks pregnant when we move in but may do one room at a time over the next few months. I have gone a bit nuts on Pinterest and found loads if things I like (including lots of ridiculously expensive quirky wall paper from John Lewis which I will never be able to afford). I like retro/vintage prints (dogs, birds, polka dots, florals, nautical things) and have a few ideas in my head now.

I'd like to start with the nursery, and I kind of like the idea of stencilling something like polka dots or rabbits on the walls which are currently white (we have the Joules Mad Hatter furnishing set so I'd like to take inspiration and colours from that). I'd probably have the walls plain white and just stencil the main wall.

Currently the (small) kitchen is a lovely turquoise/teal colour with light wood surfaces and white cupboards and I would keep the walls that colour but our appliances are red so I'd like to change it The living room has dark wood flooring, white/cream walls with the back wall a plum colour and the chimney breast is navy blue so I'd like to change both of those colours as we have a thick red rug and brown settees. Main bedroom is cream with white painted floorboards. Bathroom is cream and 2nd bedroom is also cream/white.

This is very very vague, but can anyone give me any tips on where to start?

• What sort of basic equipment would we need for painting/wallpapering?
• I am a pretty creative person so I'd like to think I could make my own stencils to add some pattern to some of the walls. Does anyone know where I'd start with this?
• Is there anywhere I can find any 'quirky' (I hate that word but it's the only one I could think of) printed wall papers which don't cost the earth?
• If I wanted to paint over the plum/navy blue walls, would I have to paint over in white first as the colours are so dark?

Thanks in advance!

Hello Felix 90. Before I start, are you absolutely sure your landlady will let you put up wallpaper? If it is "quirky" it may not be to her taste and will be difficult and expensive to remove. Having said that, the best online choice is probably Wallpaperdirct. They have loads of choice.

You will need several coats of white emulsion to cover up the blue/plum. You can buy a cheap one and then buy a better quality top coat. Equipment should include a good dust sheet to protect everything, good quality paint, the right sort of paint for woodwork and for the walls depending on the finish you want, the right size brushes for woodwork and walls, or better, a roller for the walls/ceiling with a tray. A small size roller is useful if you need to paint behind a radiator. Loosen light sockets and switches and paint behind them. Prepare your woodwork and walls before you start and make sure they are smooth. You can sand down blemishes in woodwork or fill blemishes in the walls so fine sandpaper and filler might be needed. Wallpapering needs a longish table to make pasting easier, wallpaper brush and paste. A shop will help you calculate the number of rolls needed as this will depend on ceiling height, size of room and pattern repeat. Good scissors help to cut the paper neatly. Give the room measurements to the retailer and they will calculate the amount of paint taking account of windows and doors. Use sticky masking tape on window glass to stop you painting over the glass. It makes a neat line of paint when you peel it off.

I have never made a stencil. I know there are plenty of choices if you buy ready made and they need to be fairly robust to stand repeated use. You could look at a stick-on border which can be peeled off easily when you want a change instead of repainting the whole wall to get rid of the stencils. Some of the children's borders are really good. Hope some of the above helps.

Thanks for the reply, very helpful! She said she doesn't mind us decorating at all as long as we don't paint the whole house black, and also the only thing she wants us to keep is the bathroom floor as she loves it. Wallpapering is now out of the question anyway as OH is dead set against it as it's too much of a faff apparently!

I think ill repaint the floorboards in our bedroom before we move everything in as this is the only thing that really needs doing. I've looked in to the wall stickers and there's some lovely ones but pretty pricey!

Thanks for the tips, I can't wait to get settled then tackle it one room at a time

Ikea do wall stickers!! I would paint the dark walls white and live with it for a while before committing to a colour or paper (I have been in this phase for over 5 years but might be coming around to choosing a colour sometime soon