Dummies guide to painting a room

[SummerHoliDidi]

I have promised dd2 (3yo) that i will paint her room this holiday. I have reached the age of 34 without ever having decorated a room in my life, so this is a first and I don't want to get it wrong - how wrong can it possibly go?

So, do I really need to wash the walls before I paint? What would happen if I didn't bother?

What order do I do the painting in? I'm assuming ceiling, then walls then door, skirting, etc.

Am I supposed to sand anything? Again, what would happen if I don't bother?

My dad said something about taking the door off to paint it - why? Can't I just paint it while it's up? Seems silly to take it off and then put it back on when I could just stand in front of it and paint it.

Is there anything else I should know about painting a room that I may not have considered? All help is very gratefully received, thanks

Thanks for the tips.

I probably won't bother washing the walls then, I'll just give them a good brush to remove dust and cobwebs . And i won't bother removing the door either, I can't see how it would help for me to struggle to remove the door and then put it back up later.

that's how I would do it too.

my other bit of advice if to try to find dust sheets to lay down. that's the hurdle I'm currently at

Get a fitch brush (angled) for edges, they make it loads easier to get a neat line.

I've painted loads of doors and never dreamt of taking one off to paint.

You will have to sand and undercoat the door if it's already painted (prime if bare wood). I speak from bitter experience: attempted to regloss our doors without prepping and the gloss came off in big strips the first time they got bashed by kids with toys. Had to start all over again. Not so much of a shortcut after all!

So if I need to sand and undercoat the door do I need to do the same to the skirting? And what paint do I use for undercoat?

Agree with all said. Only thing I would add is that I always spend some time first with masking tape to get things like plug sockets, door frames, skirting boards edges neatly covered as gives a much better and professional finish. Personally I would paint celling first. Then tapes all edges and paint walls next by using small brush to carefully do edges over the tape and then I would use a flat paint pad here rather than a roller as I think it much easier to get even finish and much quicker to do larger areas.

I'd wash the walls with sugar soap first, it does make a difference and is fairly quick to do.

I wasn't planning on bothering with tape. What about the window though? Should I cover that with newspaper or something so it doesn't get painty?

all the woodwork should be sanded down and primed/undercoated before you put gloss on - if you dont it will come off. For the woodwork you should rub the first coat of primer/undercoat down lightly then give it a second coat then rub it down gently before giving it a final coat gloss coat.

always do all cutting in/edges before you paint the main part of the wall/ceiling.

if you are using a roller and the painting runs to a second day dont clean the roller out - just wrap it up tightly in a plastic bag - it will be fine for use next day or even the day after.

I never sand anything down. way too idle for that!

And the gloss doesn't fall off the wood then poo? I don't want to sand it down but I also don't want to have to do it again properly later.

You dot have to actually sand all the paint off, just run down so you have a matt surface. It actually doesn't take long

Ok then. That'll be tomorrow's job.

Today I have wiped down the walls, bought the paint and painted the ceiling and walls. I'm done now for the day. I'm feeling quite proud of myself.

ah OK!
no it's never fallen off but its not exactly glossy at the no!

Don't cut the edges in the whole room and then paint the rest of the walls. Cut the edges of one wall then paint the rest of that wall as soon as possible and so on.

I figured that out Early but only after I'd done it. There are a couple of patchy bits that will need touching up in the morning.

Can anyone help with how best to get gloss off emulsion? I used tape to try and get a straight edge but the gloss bled up behind the tape It looks far worse than it would if I hadn't used the tape. I'm going to try babywipes but I'd love to hear any better ideas.

Wipe it off with a dry cloth if it's still wet. Otherwise, leave it to dry and touch up with emulsion on top. You got loads done on your first day. I am painting my bathroom and only managed one coat to the ceiling. I HATE painting ceilings, so it takes ages!

It's only a small room, a boxroom really. Dd2 was only away for 3 days so I needed to get it done reasonably quickly so all the paint would be dry for her getting home. So I started Monday afternoon as soon as they left and it was completely put back together by last night so it wowed her when she arrived home this morning.

Babywipes got the gloss off the vinyl flooring and we touched up the wall with emulsion after a fair bit of swearing and being annoyed.

Well done! What room is next?