Your top decorating tips

[Bexta147]

We are going to be moving house next month and the whole house needs decorating. I know what I want in each room etc. I did our current house in a couple of days although I didn't have as much to. I'm usually a really messy decorator and end up rushing for time. I am going to have a few weeks this time so no need to rush.

I want your top tips for making life easier and making the finish nicer. Also it will be my first time wallpapering myself so your top wallpaper tips too.

We did look at getting a decorator but it is Way out of our budget. I nearly choked on my coffee when I got the quotes through!

Does it def all need doing straight away?

I did mine straight away and I wish I had done it slower and understood how we would end up using the rooms and the light etc better before I did

Yeah I need to do it straight away. It is awful currently and looking at the bright yellow walls will give me a headache 😂

I want to get it done while I don't have three kids and a dog flying round and kids of furniture to move too.

My top tip is do a room at a time and finish it. Don't paint all the walls then do all the woodwork. It'll feel like painting the Forth Bridge and become demotivating. Start with the least used rooms as you'll get better at things like cutting in and wallpapering with practice.

Use roller tray liners and wrap brushes, rollers and paint trays with cling film when you take breaks and stick them in plastic bags overnight to save having to clean up at the end of each day. If you don't have one, invest in a radiator roller for painting behind radiators.

Put dustsheets on the sofa or a chair in a room you are not working on so when you stop for a break you don't mess up furniture in there.

My top tip is prep, prep, prep. The really hideously boring bits of sanding, caulking, filling and more sanding are a necessary evil. As well as taking down curtain rails and loosening door handles and masking around the metal parts.

Next tip is more masking tape around the edges-on carpet/floor around base of skirting boards as well as around door frames.

Final tip is to use trade paint. I use Dulux trade paint (from their decorator centres) and it often means you only need one coat if you're painting over a pale colour. It's a bit more expensive than regular dulux, but the paint is much better. Get a water based eggshell for the woodwork and you can clean the brushes with water rather than faffing about with white spirit.

If you are trying to match fabrics and paint then choose your fabric first and then get the paint mixed rather than vice versa.
If you have a cat then don't allow them anywhere near paint trays ! I speak from experience.

I second what pp's have said about prepping, and about wrapping brushes and rollers in clingfilm/bags when you stop for a break/overnight. If you make sure that they are closely wrapped (ie no air next to wet paint) then they wont dry out at all.
Get yourself super organised before you start painting - including a clean up kit in case of spills, pack of baby wipes to wipe your hands on, and a bin bag for rubbish.
Watch vids online that give tips on cutting in etc.

Put on some music you really like or an interesting podcast to listen to while you work, and even a tedious, long job becomes really quite enjoyable!

Same as all pp's top tips.
Another tip I found recently - I thought it was as joke - works beautifully.
Wrapping brushes, especially gloss and radiator brushes, in foil and freezing them means not having to clean them until all woodwork and radiators have been painted. They thaw quite quickly.
Stubborn gloss paint on hands removed very quickly with oil. Olive oil is brilliant.
brilliant.

If you are using oil based gloss paint, you can stand your brush in jar of water overnight to stop it drying out. The oil based paint doesn't mix with the water. Just give it a quick shake and carry on.