Painting for the first time

[newtonupontheheath]

We are doing ds's room on Wednesday, and its the first time I/we have done any decorating. Our house is a new build so it should be fairly straight forward but was hoping someone could look through my plan of action and let me know if I've missed anything

Tuesday evening:
Move furniture, pictures, curtains out of room...as much as poss.
Fill any holes?
Pull carpet away from skirting (?)
Start glossing (should this be done first?) Door & door frame?!

Wednesday:
Finish glossing
Dh to start painting walls

Lunch (most important!)

Second coat?

Evening: put carpet back down, move furniture back in

*we are not painting the ceiling as Dh has only just put stars on it but when should this be done? Before the walls but after the glossing??

Have I missed anything?

We've bought/have paint, rollers, few different sized brushes, dust sheets....

We are on a tight schedule as ds is at nursery Wednesday and dd is going to my mums however she won't take a bottle so I may have to go get her at some point. Both dc sleeping in our room Tuesday and Wednesday night...

I'm dreading it!!

I'd work from top down , so ceiling , walls, gloss. Not sure you'd get two coats on walls in one day though especially if weather is chilly. Use masking tape to protect carpet edge.

I've never pulled carpet away, it's a bugger to put back. Emulsion first, start cutting in with a brush then roller as close to the edges as possible. Gloss last.

this works for us -we are always painting..

remove as much furniture as possible
cover the rest with dust sheets
dust sheets for the carpet
masking tape the carpet edge in a way the tape slips down under the skirting(this can be tricky)so we use a thin scraper
fill any holes/cracks - sand the filler
hoover the entire walls /ceillings to get rid of dust
wipe the walls down- scrub any really noticable marks
start by painting the ceiling (2 coats usually)
start by brushing the edges then roller
do the same with the walls (until it looks even)
then use a brush for the woodwork(we use satin) dh does lightly sand woodwork for a better key but thats up to you,

Right. Thank you.

So we should emulsion first... Maybe we can do this Tuesday evening? It's quite a small room. Then it might be dry for a second coat on Wednesday and we can gloss in the afternoon.

I want to make sure we get it right because if we lose any time on Wednesday, it'll never get done with a baby and a toddler around!

Might c+p this and send it to Dh.....

Agree with everyone else, especially wfrances, wipe down the walls, you will be amazed how dirty they are. Also I have pulled back carpet before now but never again, I do the pushing the masking tape down between the carpet and the skirting with a filler knife.

Take your time "cutting in" with a brush, I use a small brush and this being your first time, practice not at the place where the wall meets the ceiling but a little bit further down to perfect your technique.

I tend to load the brush, put it on the wall about 1 inch down from where the wall joins the ceiling, as when you press the brush down you will get a bulge of paint on the edge. That way you can brush out the bulge of paint up the wall to where you need it to be. If the bulge is right in the join it is an arse to try to brush that out without getting it on the ceiling.

God I so want to come round and help you Are you in Leeds?

Ignore all the comments below the video but have a look at this on YouTube

Cutting in and painting skirting will take the longest. Rollering the walls is relatively fast. When my two boys were very little I would decant paint into a plastic pot so that I only had that in my hand, and when time allowed I would cut in paint. Just used to stand on a stool for the higher up bits, and do the lower bits whilst they were occupied and shut the door to the room.

You can get low VOC paints so they don't stink your house out, and you can get them back into that room fairly quick. Good luck. Am totally jealous because I love painting a room but am not allowed to do any decorating until my extension is built which is taking place now

So we can Hoover the walls, tape the carpet/skirtings/dust sheets and maybe even start cutting in on Tuesday.

Awesome. Thanks for that.

We are in Manchester, so not too far away... You'll probably hear the screams

It's the prep that takes the longest, once you actually get going with the painting it is quite quick. I personally prefer eggshell to gloss though.