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!

Poppins2016 and BasiliskStare thanks for the tips on the lining paper. I have the walls filled and smoothed as much as I can so I guess its just onto getting the paper and working to get it on 'professionally'

The brand of paint I'm still unsure of though. There seems to be a great divide here and with anyone I speak to.... I don't want to go cheap I want to go long lasting. WHAT BRAND GETS YOUR VOTE?

Dulux Trade or Johnstone's. Not much between them ime.

I would agree with @wowfudge - also Crown paint for white colours are very good. i will still say F&B do really god colours but I would say if you do not want to pay F&B prices - choose a colour you like from other paint ranges - I am not impressed with F&B copies - might as well get a colour from other manufacturers. I would go Dulux , Jonstones or Crown as decent paint

thanks everyone . You've been so much help!!

The best piece of advice I could give you is hiring a company specializing in interior painting. I thought that I could start a DYI project and paint the walls by myself, but it was a disaster. Thank God I found a cheap interior painting services ( www.paintingservicesingapore.sg/ ); they literally have saved my mental health. I decided to mix two colors in order to have a unique color for my room, and when I ran out of paint, I couldn’t obtain the exact same color for the last wall. So unless you know how to do this, don’t even start!

Dulux one coat. Every time. Even if you do two coats. Keep your brush in a plastic bag when you've stopped for a coffee. Saves you washing it

A pp suggested wrapping painty brushes in cling film - I do this but I also stick them in the fridge! Sounds odd, but paint can’t dry in low temperatures so cling film + fridge is a belt and braces approach, especially useful in this warm weather.

I thought I was the only genius to wash paint rollers in the machine😂

Love Harris paint brushes (got a free set once for participating in a MN trial) and am now a convert to Valspar paints from the same trial (who also do colour matching) which you can get in B&Q.

We recently did our living room in a strong teal colour matched to a Farrow & Ball colour , painting over a strong sponged orangey-red colour and the coverage and intensity of colour was brilliant. It only "needed" a second coat in order to pick up on those bits where we hadn't been thorough enough with the roller.

This thread is invaluable! I have a couple of questions (total beginner and not at all practical!!!!!)

1. Should I use eggshell in the kitchen? It's a damp room.
2. Do I need to coat underneath with white first? The walls are grey.
3. How long does it take to paint a room?
4. What do you think of Lick paint?

Thanks

@cafedesreves - I am not an expert - but the one thing I would say , if a kitchen - scrub the walls and scrub them some more. If there is any fat or grease on the walls the paint won't take.

A skim coat over a darker colour will probably help.

As to how long - no idea - how long is a pice of string . A professional can probably do emulsion on a large room in a day or two ( depending on drying. ) I helped a friend of mine and we did a decent sized kitchen ( walls - painting over cupboards - replacing doorknobs on cupboards ) over a weekend but they were long days )

If it is damp - that is a separate question - I think if you can , address the damp. Because if damp - then the paint after a while may not stick & you really don't want damp before you do lovely decorating.

Dedicate a huge chunk of a day to the job. There's no point going through all the faff of prepping and cleaning up if you're only going to do a couple of hours. Even prep the day before so you can get stuck straight in the next day.

Toutpret is good if you need to fill dents/cracks. It dries quickly and is easy to sand to a smooth finish.

Decorators' caulk is magic stuff - only recently discovered it, and it transforms the finish. You apply it with a gun to fill the tiny gap between the window architrave and the wall, or the top of the skirting board and the wall, or the door frame and the wall. You can use it along the join between the top of the wall and the ceiling. It creates a smooth join and paint goes right to the edge of whatever you are painting.

Keep a wet edge! i.e. don't let a patch of paint dry on a wall and then continue the job later. You will get a line/tide mark.

I find it hard work (other people find it very Zen) but if you put in the time on prep, the finished job will be so much better. And then when you come to redecorate/touch up, the surfaces will be good (have just gone around my skirting boards and hallways again).

As for paint brands: Crown/Dulux in high traffic areas like the hallway and stairs. Doesn't matter how good the paint or the paint job, these areas are always going to look ratty within months/weeks so something you can wash/touch up/repaint without too much expense. Crown Sail White is a nice white if that's your jam.

Johnston's colour match on Fired Earth tints is very good. I've used their waterbased satinwood in the Fired Earth oyster on skirting boards, internal doors, window frames, picture rail, fireplace surrounds a lot. Again, you can spot sand and touch up chips quite easily - harder with oil-based paints. I also used Fired Earth tint by Johnston on our bedroom walls (Opal) and that has come out really well.

For smaller and more standout jobs, I am absolutely in love with Mylands emulsion and eggshell. The latter is absolutely brilliant on both wood and metal. The pigment and coverage is fantastic.

Farrow and Ball do sludgier colours than Mylands, and sometimes that's what I want, although I'm less convinced about the coverage and quality.

People say great things about Little Greene, and I"m hoping they're right because I've just bought 5 litres of their intelligent emulsion to use in the sitting room, and will also be using Atelier Ellis emulsion and eggshell.

Good luck OP - painting is hard work to do well, but you can really change a room with it for not a huge amount of money.

@Tightwad2020 - I agree with this - a bit of emulsion paint can change the mood of a room - I have a very small house and just painting the inside of the front door ( leads straight into sitting room ) from white to the colour of the walls made it feel warmer - well door had to be wood paint - but you perhaps may see my point .

One thing to add re the lining paper.

Be really generous with the paste on the lining paper then gently fold it in on itself (so one end to the middle, and then the other end to the middle) and leave it for 5 minutes before you unfurl it again and put it on the wall. Also, don't have the heating on, (or at least only have it on low) as I've found that when its hot and it dries quicker, it can shrink leaving you with a tiny gap between strips.

For paint brands, I'm a Little Greene convert - it is much better than F&B and comes in some beautiful shades. I also use Johnstone's and the guy in the local Johnstone's centre is a fountain of knowledge for all things decorating!

If you use masking tape, get the green Frog tape (available at the end of the aisles in many diy stores). It peels off more clearly and reduces the chance of “bleeding”.

We have been using dulux easycare Matt emulsion - it looks nice and matt, but you can wipe it down without the risk of rubbing off the paint. You can get it mixed up in pretty much any colour, including their “heritage” range. Also used farrow and ball and it was lovely. Dulux once we used a while ago but it did fade quite badly and comes off on the cloth if you try to wipe it down.

Wash walls with sugar soap if it's the kitchen or bathroom.
Use the powder not the ready mixed.
Start at the bottom and work upwards.

With paint, do the cutting in first. Paint in all directions on walls.
.
Painting ceilings - start at the bit nearest the window.

Paint in daylight.

Keep some clean water and old clean rags handy.

Have some disposable gloves.

Eggshell looks nice but isn't as durable as gloss

Use branded paint. I use crown or dulux trade but I have white everything

For cleaning hands with paint on, use cheap cooking oil then wash off with creamy soap not handwash as it's harsh

Use proper dust sheets not newspaper.

Decant the paint into a paint kettle or paint tray so that you aren't letting the paint in the tin get contaminated.

As for branded paint - I have used Wilko kitchen paint in a colour and it's good value

Take masking paint off when the paint is dry. If you leave it too long you'll struggle to get it off.

Paint when the weather is dry.

Paint with bare feet. That way if you drip and then step onto it, you'll know instead of then walking paint all over the house

I should have said that by creamy soap, I mean ordinary cheapo soap, as you go through it quickly when decorating. Something like Pearl is fine. Don't use the fancy stuff.