Painting a room can give it a new lease of life, and provide the perfect backdrop to your furnishings and accessories. Follow our handy step-by-step guide to achieve results you can be proud of...
Take the time to prepare your room, removing any furniture, soft furnishings, shelving, fixtures & hardware. Use drop clothes to cover the floor and any larger items that cannot be removed, and don’t forget to cover your own clothes.
Use a sponge and mild detergent to remove any grease spots, dust, and spider webs before ensuring all walls are completely dry. If there is existing paint that is chipping, it will need to be scraped off with a metal brush or paint scraping tool, otherwise, your new paint job will also start to flake off. Fill any holes with suitable filler and leave to dry fully before applying the paint.
Always work from the top down, starting with the ceiling.
If you are painting a non-painted surface such as new plaster you will need to prime the walls with a suitable primer otherwise your paint is likely to flake off. Additionally, if you a painting over a darker surface with a lighter paint you will need to prime the walls to ensure a true colour match.
Starting with a corner of the ceiling, use a medium size brush to "cut in," applying a 10cm strip of coating along the perimeter where the wall and the ceiling meet.
Cut in a section at a time, alternating between cutting in and rolling the ceiling to maintain a wet edge and prevent a visible line between the cut-in area and the rest of the ceiling.
Start painting near the corner of the room, blending the coating into the ceiling line painted previously. Paint across the width of the ceiling, rather than the length, and make sure to roll in a motion across your body, rather than along your body, to avoid straining your neck and back.
Remember: do two coats (or as directed on the paint tin) before moving onto the walls and woodwork.
Paint any mouldings, dado rails, door and window frames with a two-inch angled brush.
When painting your trim, paint the tops of the doors and windows first and work your way down so that you can remove any runs as you go.
Once your woodwork is dry, place painter’s blue tape/frog tape where the trim meets the walls, and start with cutting in along the wall-ceiling line.
Extend out five to ten centimetres from windows, doors, and mouldings. Once you've cut in around an entire wall area, use a roller to fill in the field. Paint one wall at a time.
Finally, paint your skirting board, again using blue painter’s tape or frog tape if required to achieve a nice clean edge.
Step inside our paint store where you can buy designer paint online or over the phone from us today. All of our paint is mixed in the UK using the finest ingredients to create deeper, richer colours in a number of finished to use across your home. We offer FREE delivery to a UK delivery address and sample pots and paint cards are also available to order online.
Working out your requirements for paint allows you to keeps costs down and it ensures continuity of colour. Take a look at our step-by-step instructions for working out how much paint you need.
With a little imagination, it's easy to highlight or hide features with paint. It can also make a space feel bigger and more inviting. Here's the best home painting ideas to inspire your home decorating.