Painting novice - all your secret tips please

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

I'm going to tackle painting our front room. With no experience under my belt, I am looking for any tips that might make things easier and give a better result.
What brushes to use? Anything that might be helpful greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

Preparation is the key and it's most of the work too.. Move all the furniture into the centre of the room and cover with dust sheets. Thouroughly vacuum the skirting boards and wipe clean.

If the walls are in good condition, you can begin. Start with the ceiling first...always paint from top to bottom...then move to walls. Use a roller not brushes or you'll get too tired.

Do your cutting in carefully...that's using a brush to 'edge' around the skirtings and ceiling.

Then do the bulk with a roller.

If you can't finish in one session, use clingfilm to wrap your painty brushes and rollers and your tray of paint. Always use a tray...never the tin to dip.

Be absolutely sure of the colour that you’ve chosen. Don’t get to the end of the painting and then declare that you don’t like it —poor DH—

thanks FortunesFave Any hint on what brushes to use for 'cutting in' that's the bit I'm most nervous about. Why do you put the pain in a tray and not use the tin?

A small brush for cutting in, and you need to load the brush with enough paint to get a sharp line. If it's wonky still, the best tape I've found is Prodec Advance Precision Edge.

You can get angled corner brushes from DIY shops. Also buy some masking tape and tape your lines, leave the tape on until the paint is dry then peel.it off and you'll have lovely clean lines. Make sure not to have too much paint on your brush and roller or it will drip and splatter.

Oh and the bush/roller quality matters. I like Harris

Have a damp sponge to hand so you can quickly wipe off anything that gets onto the skirting boards.

You decant the paint to a tray to 1. Use a roller and 2. Stop the paint drying out and changing texture. Decant some paint to a paint kettle (plastic pot) for cutting in. It also means that if knock the tray or paint kettle over you won't lose all your paint.

You must mix the paint thoroughly before you start, unless the tin specifically states not to. Use an old wooden spatula or spoon. When you think you've mixed it enough, mix it some more. Make sure you go right to the bottom of the tin when mixing.

I never find masking very effective - not in an old house where things aren't all cleanly delineated to start with.

I know it's single use plastic, but I like roller tray liners as they make cleaning up much easier and no water needs to be used. I find rollers tend to stick to foil if you use that instead.

Get a roller extension pole for painting ceilings and high up on walls. You'll still need to get up a ladder to cut in, but it's a lot quicker and easier than going up and down a ladder, moving the ladder, etc.

Do two coats then check around the room carefully after the second coat has dried and go over any patchy bits. A small roller is good for this to make sure the paint blends in.

Get a radiator roller for doing behind radiators.

Start from the best light source and move in one direction around the room - I'm left-handed so go round anti clockwise, same with wallpapering!

I use an old damp tea towel to wipe up any mistakes or unwanted splatters.

Have a small brush - I use an artist's brush - for tiny touch ups where woodwork meets the walls. Sometimes you just can't get to every little bit with an ordinary paint brush.

Roller in every direction a section at a time so as not to get any hard edges - being methodical at a steady pace gives better coverage than going fast and is less tiring. If you are painting over textured or embossed wallpaper it's much better to go slowly.

Keep a clean damp cloth with you to wipe up any paint if you go over with the cutting in.

I use sandwich bags for my paint brushes overnight, wound tightly around the handle of the brush, also use larger bags to line my roller trays, makes clearing up easier.

Used to use a kneeling pad for doing the skirtings until I found £5 knee pads in lidl, marvellous things!!

If you have older children at home rope them in, my dd was home from uni during last lockdown, she did all the rollering, freeing me up to do all the cutting in. Did speed up the job.

thanks all this is really helpful!
wowfudge thanks for the hint re rolling in every direction, I would have thought going straight upand down was best, but what you say makes sense.
goldpendant thanks for the hint on Harris brushes.

Does anyone have experience with lining paper? I apparently need to use it where I had a mantle removed and the wall won't be totally smooth, I had two quotes and both said it needed lining paper put on first in that area.
I hope I haven't taken on too much but I have to prove I can do it the family is not convinced it will be a good outcome

Harris Brushes/rollers if you can. I’m also a fan of paint pads

Do ALL the edges first,

And finally, my new trick learnt from instagram - line your pain tray with foil. No more cleaning the tray!!

www.homebase.co.uk/monarch-rat-tail-brush-38mm_p395159 I used this brush recently for cutting in, was v good. Though other ones are available.

’line your pain tray with foil’
Oh my bloody god this is brilliant.

I mean... I’ve literally just finished a load of painting so it’s a week too late... but still, brilliant!

I would say don't buy budget paint. I did once. The coverage isn't as good at all
Also, I personally like one coat gloss. Not that I do one coat of it but I do 2 thin coats which I think is faster and better finish (but I'm an amateur)

Yes to decent paint. Paint from a Dulux Decorator Centre is their trade paint and it's much better for coverage and ease of use than the off the shelf stuff in B&Q, etc. More expensive, but significantly better. I had some satinwood paint mixed their in Timeless and I only needed one coat going over very yellowed woodwork. Yes it was oil based so it stank, but even so. Johnstone's paint from their decorator centres is good too.

For wallpapering you need a seam roller, a paper hanging brush, a paste brush, a bucket for the paste, spirit level or plumb line, sharp scissors and a pasting table - at a push any folding table will do or even a kitchen island. Look on YouTube for how to videos. I recently repaired the plaster in a walk in coat cupboard - half of it fell off with the old painted lining paper - and used a Zinsser product called Gardz to ensure the paper went on well. It was easy and I've only ever been the wallpaperer's mate before.

bestbefore thanks for the tip! Rat tail, I would never have bought it if I had not been recommended

So WithIcePlease, wowfudge and everyone else too what are the recommended paints to use for living rooms? I like the F&B colours but not the paint, marks too easily, the guy at the shop reckons Leylands or Johnsons ...... tips? Sheen type also

Also still looking for comments on lining paper

Use matt emulsion - silk has an unfashionable sheen and can be a pain to paint over with anything else. Whether you want dead flat, super flat or whatever they call it is down to personal preference. There are lots of F&B devotees on here - I've had Borrowed Light matched at Johnstone's and it was fine for me. I would only go for a special finish in a bathroom or kitchen or perhaps scrubbable paint in a high traffic hallway.

@CatsAndEyeliner isn’t it! And of course, I forgot to do it at the weekend when I was painting....🤣

Lining paper - use "paste the wall" paper and paste. No table/leaving the paper to absorb the paste needed.

I used lining paper and wall paper for the first time about a month ago and found it was pretty easy, just a little fiddly. Google things like "plumb line" to get your paper hanging straight. Try to avoid overlaps (visible when papering or painting over) by 'pushing' joints together rather than 'layering'. Before you use lining paper, fill in (or sand down) any obvious dents or raised areas.

Re paint, I like Dulux enough to have used it for every room in my house. I have also had good results with F&B on small areas.

Stay away from low cost paint, it's a false economy!

Ah yes, I forgot...

Brushes - Harris

Roller - Monarch long pile (gives good results for matt finish)

@SoTiredNeedHoliday - just to say money spent on decent brushes is not money wasted - you will soon get bored of picking stray brush hairs off your lovely wall

& yes yes to lining the paint tray with cling film and wrapping emulsion brushes in it.

Lots of decorators I have used use Johnston's matched F&B paint. If I am honest we had hall stairs and landing done in matched paint. It wasn't the same and had a really green sheen to it . Ended up painting over it. For one room , I would probably use F&B if you can afford it. ( I know many will disagree with me.) Otherwise just get a dulux or similar own brand colour you like. Someone I know who is an interior designer says Crown white colours for ceilings etc are great.

Also re wallpaper - yes a seam roller & a dent sized brush. I do think money spent on the right tools is not money wasted. So, a room done in a colour you like in cheaper paint but gently done with the proper tools , will probably look better than a room done in more expensive paint , but not done properly - bit like the adage - spend less on your curtain material but have them . make them properly.

Good luck OP

Oh FFS - decently done not gently - ha ha - though I am sure your room would appreciate the gentleness

These are all brilliant tips. We’re a year into our new build, plain white walled, house and once Xmas is out the way will be going through painting every room! So these tips are v helpful