How to decorate/ paint well!

[PatheticDistraction]

I am determined to paint our newly renovated house well - no budget left for decorators! When I've done this in previous properties it's looked a but sloppy.

Can anyone advise or give tips? Will mostly be painting freshly skimmed walls. And mostly white.

I'm starting with the bathroom (just using Dulux easy care bathroom paint) - can I use any primer? I keep seeing mention of a mist coat - does primer do the same job? Any advice appreciated!

Most coat goes onto fresh, pink plaster. It’s just Matt emulsion, normally white diluted slightly- 3 parts paint 1 part water as a rough guide. It soaks into the plaster more than normal undiluted paint, and gives the coats you put on top a better surface to cling to. Undiluted paint applied to plaster will often flake off as it doesn’t properly bond with the plaster. The mist coat stops this happening.

Probably didn’t explain that particularly well but that’s the general idea.

Edit to add: don’t use primer for raw plaster. There are specialist fresh plaster paints, but diluted matt emulsion is fine.

Mist coat not most coat

Don't use vinyl for the mist coat, just use cheap white matt emulsion and water it down.

Watch some YouTube videos on how to paint, it will help a lot. The end result is always directly proportional to the amount of time you spend on the job! Take your time with the prep, sand out and lumps/runs in the plaster and fill any low spots.

If you’re doing most walls white it’s really quite easy, you don’t have to be particularly sharp with your edges and the wall/ceiling edge is simple, slap it on.

As has been said- prep is the key to good finishes. Fill anything that needs filling and lightly sand. Decorators caulk is your friend for corners, again use YouTube for how this can help.

Do the cutting in first, the edges, before you get the roller out. I’d also recommend using a small roller and tray for anything smaller than a big area. It’s still quick and lots easier to manage and will splatter less, as always don’t roll too fast.. Have fun.

Get a pole for your roller, your arms will get less tired. And keep a wet edge. Good explanation here!: