10 tips for perfect painting for DIY in the home

I hate decorating. I love the planning but the actual painting, not so much. Today, I am very excited to announce that I have a guest post to share their top ten tips for perfect painting in the home. Is it Phil from Location? Nope. Is it Kevin McCloud from Grand Designs? Nope. Is it George Clarke from Amazing Spaces. *Sigh* I wish. No, I’m joking, I don’t really wish. Well, maybe a little. No, today we have royalty, it is my very own bearded Mancunian - Mr C. I was going to share with you my tips on how to paint a room. However, Mr C then pointed out that I wasn’t really qualified to comment on this. You see I have the ideas, I know what colour I would like but then I am not very good when it comes to the actual painting part. I tend to get distracted or bored mid-paint. Therefore, I haven’t actually painted a house since the very first house Mr C and I bought together.

Paint disaster

We had started to decorate our two-up, two-down terrace house after I had started ripping off wallpaper willy-nilly. Wallpaper that had been up for years. Wallpaper that brought down the wall with it. We had a lot of walls that needed plastering and painting due to my desire to decorate. However, as I mentioned earlier, I am not patient and one day when Mr C was out at the football I decided to throw (literally) some paint on the walls. It was not a good look. Ever since then I have only painted under strict supervision. Whoops!

Therefore, Mr C would like to share his tips for painting. Over to you Mr C.

Mr C and his tips for perfect painting.

Mrs C likes to waffle on a bit, I, on the other hand, am known for being a man of few words. This is sometimes a bone of contention in our house but why say something in a 100 words when you can say it in 10! So my tips will short, succient and helpful.

Prepare

I once left Mrs C to do some painting and I came back to find she hadn’t done a very good job. Why? She just slapped the paint on as if she was in a rush; she was also distracted by her rumbling stomach. This is why you always take the time to prepare. You don’t want to rush a paint job so make sure you have eaten. If you have to take a break for a sausage barm cake then you will find it harder to pick up the paintbrush and start again.

Set yourself some time aside

You don’t want to be painting on the morning that you have guests arriving at mid-day. Therefore, set yourself a big block of time aside so that you aren’t rushed. Preferably a time when everyone is out of the house. Mrs C is always very good at pointing out that I have missed a bit or questioning whether we have the correct colour whilst the paint is still wet! It is much easier to paint when you are on your own.

Brushes of different sizes

Check that you have the right brushes for the job and that they are all clean. You might also want to leave them in an old mug filled with water for a good hour. This will help soften them up, should they need this. You don’t want to scrimp when it comes to your brushes. Invest in some quality ones. You also want to make sure that you have a corner brush. Brilliant for those tricky corners.

Roller

A roller is great if you have a big wall to paint so make sure you have your roller at the ready. You want one that has a suitable depth nap for the wall, shorter for new smooth walls, longer for the rough uneven walls.

Paint samples

You will want to make sure that the colour is right for the wall and room. Make sure that you have tried several different paint samples and leave them to dry overnight. Then check them throughout the day as the colour will change depending on the light. When we painted our living room wall yellow it took Mrs C about 9 paint samples before she was happy. I am colour blind so I wasn’t that fussed!

Furniture

Move it to the middle of the room and cover with dust sheets.

Clean the walls

Give the walls a wipe down. Taking a duster is normally enough. However, in some cases you might want to properly wash the walls. You can also get special wipes for the wall from a DIY shop. If it is a kitchen wall or a bathroom wall then you will want to take the time to properly clean your wall.

Filler

Make sure that you filled in any holes from hanging pictures. Use a good primer and then sand it down afterwards.

Tape it out

You want a good quality painter’s tape. Do make sure you get a good one or you may find that you have a tape that pulls the paint off with it. Now if you are doing a feature wall make sure you tape down the side, where it joins the next wall. Next tape along the top where the wall joins the ceiling and round plugs. This will ensure a nice clean finish.

Get painting

Now you are ready to start. I paint the wall and then finish by painting the trim last. Once you have finished leave to dry and then you can see if you need to touch it up anymore.

There you go. My tips for perfect painting.

Over to you

Thanks Mr C. For someone who is concise he doesn’t half go on 😉 I hope that you found these tips useful for when you come to painting your wall. Do you have any tips for perfect painting?

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