Most Economical Way to Redecorate

[1nsanityscatching]

I need to redecorate a whole house but don't have a huge budget. What would your suggestions be please?

Buy large tubs of paint in stock colours. There's a discount decorating centre near us where you can get 10L tubs of white, magnolia, etc cheaply. You can dilute most emulsion - it will tell you in the can by how much - to make it go a bit further. Use a good roller as you'll use less paint ime than using a brush.

I'm no expert but I'd say

• do as much of the preparation work as you can yourself.
• where you need trades like an electrician/ plumber/ plasterer try and do everything for each trade all together. A plasterer will probably charge you for a full day even if it's only a few hours work; you might a well get a full day out of him
• look for dented tins of paint, end of range wallpaper etc; they are often hugely discounted in the DIY shops

• get used to living with dust and chaos!

Don't get rollers/brushes off the shelf, go to screwfix or similar and get the industrial ones which are bigger (for rollers) and last longer.

learn to use plaster to fill holes and blemishes; and to press so hard that there's no excess, and to smooth it when still fresh with a broad metal scraper, not sandpaper. Joint filling plaster and Easyplast are good for tiny repairs and are very fine. For deep holes use ordinary plaster in at least two layers as the first one will crack.

Filler is nowhere near as good, and costs far more.

Use white matt emulsion for your mist and first coats. It is cheap and bright, gives a plain even surface, and will highlight to your eye any remaining blemishes that need to be perfected before your expensive finish coat.

Discover caulk or CT1 for cracks where skirting or architrave meets the wall.

Go to Brewers or similar and buy the large tubs of trade quality white paint. It's far superior quality to the b&q type stuff and will go much further saving you time and money.

White paint everywhere

Dilute paint, multiple thin layers look better anyway

Wow thank you for all your tips, it makes it a little less daunting I think