Decorating your home can save you both time and money and be a fun and creative project to get involved in. If you’ve never painted a room in your home before, it’s essential to prepare your walls beforehand for a professional finish and a more straightforward, stress-free job!
You don’t want to be reaching around breakables or awkward pieces of furniture to paint the walls, so remove what you can from the room to give yourself plenty of space to work. Move larger items like sofas into the middle of the room, well out of the way of the soon-to-be-painted walls.
Use dust sheets to prevent getting paint onto your carpets or furniture. Fabric and waterproof sheets work equally well, and you can buy specialist coverings if you don’t have anything to hand. Many people prefer painting barefoot, as they can immediately feel when they’ve stepped in paint, preventing them from treading it throughout the house.
This includes mirrors and pictures, making sure you leave the holes for hooks and nails in place so you can accurately hang them up again. Also, make sure to loosen light switches and plug sockets - you want to paint behind these rather than around them, as this gives a much more professional finish and disguises paintbrush marks.
You can do this with a wash of trisodium phosphate and a sponge. This is used to get rid of any dark marks or stains that will show through the paint and remove any mildew that may be staining your walls. Repeat the process with clean water and allow your walls to dry thoroughly before painting.
This helps ensure a neat and professional finish. Masking tape peels too easily and can make your job more difficult, so invest in good quality painter’s tape to keep the paintwork tidy.
Now you’re ready to paint! Set up a work area in an accessible part of the room (ideally the centre), where you can pour paint and clean brushes as necessary. This will save you time clearing up and help keep your workspace organised and efficient. Happy painting!
