Home decorating tips.

[pumpy]

1). If,at the end of a hard days glossing,you find that you have a big dob of dried paint,on the end of your nose,don't remove it by using a pumice stone, as you will,almost certainly,look like Rudolph (with a heavy cold).
Any more handy hints?

[Rosendula]

I posted these on the 4th birthday competition thread, so I'm copying and pasting them. I've just changed the numbers so they continue correctly for this thread

2. When using a paint tray and roller, put the paint tray inside an old carrier bag (no holes). Pour paint on top of the bag and use as normal. When you have finished, simply remove the bag carefully, turning it inside-out as you do. The tray will be clean and so won't need washing and the left-over paint can be squeezed from the bag back into the paint tin. Saves paint, water, any chemicals you may have used to clean the tray, time and money.

3. If you have to stop painting before the job is finished, there is no need to clean brushes and rollers. Simply place them inside an old, clean plastic bag, and twist to seal, ensuring all air is removed. This works equally well for gloss and emulsion paints, cuts down on water and chemicals used for cleaning, and it saves time and money.

Also,
4. If you want to emulsion a colour onto walls but are worried the old paint or patchy plastering might show through, paint it all white first to give an even base coat. This is cheaper than giving it an extra coat of the coloured paint.

Edited because No. 4 just didn't make sense! I think it does now.

[Annpan]

5. Put old socks over the top ends of a ladder to prevent it from marking your newly painted wall

6. wear old rubber gloves for painting in.... if you are anything like me it will stop you having to scrub you hands red raw 6 time a day. (specifically when using gloss)

7. Wrap sandpaper round a small off-cut of wood to make it easier to hold and give a better finish.

8. Decorate on your own, the fumes from paint or the monotony... don't know which... always makes me talk gibberish, I'd rather do it without the embarrassment of having someone else hear me.

9. Measure twice, cut once

10. To get a good finish you have to do the right preparation (I never do... always way too gung-ho)

11. Start the job with a cup of tea, sit down and look at the task in hand - the 15 minutes thinking time is perfect to sort out the priorities and focus.

[Rosendula]

Not adding any. Just releasing steam.

I started stripping wallpaper in the living room more than two weeks ago. With this being our only downstairs room apart from the kitchen, and 5 of us living here, you can imagine it's a nightmare to decorate. On top of that, Katie, who is 2 1/2 yrs, is not very helpful, to put it politely. So we decided that I would take Katie out while Richard does some decorating, or he would take her out while I do some. Well, the weather's been cr@p and she got chicken pox. That kind of limits where we can take her, but we've done our best and just accepted the fact that it might take even longer than we originally thought it would. Today was an exciting day for us all - he took her to his mother's while I did the very last emulsion job on the very last bit of wall. It's taken forever to get there, but I felt a wonderful sense of achievement/relief. Only the glossing left to do. Right? So back they come, then Richard goes out again, and while I'm sweeping the stairs Katie draws a fantastic picture of a lovely smiley face - with her plastic scissors on the wall that was only just touch-dry. It's not wash-off-able marks, it's scratched in. It's not even in an inconspicuous place that no-one will notice. It's on the chimney breast. I could scream.


*sigh* Thank you for listening. I feel much better.

[Thomzo]

Oh Rosendula - don't you just love them

12. Put some vinegar in the water when you are stripping wallpaper. It really helps to cut through the glue.

13. If you are changing the carpet, leave the old one down as long as possible. It saves getting plaster and paint on your floorboards. When you want to paint the skirting, just cut a narrow strip of the old carpet away around the edge of the room.

14. If you are using a roller, take it slowly. It won't splash so much.

15. To clean paint from a roller stick it in the washing machine. Slide the sleeve off the handle and pop it in on a quick wash with your painting clothes and your usual washing powder. Will come out good as new.

16. A dry roller absorbs the water out of emulsion paint before you can get the paint on the wall. Spray the roller with water first until it is just slightly damp.

17. Matt emulsion doesn't show lumps and bumps so much.

Cheers
Zoe

[maggienetball]

To get rid of the smell of paint (any type) leave an onion or 2 in the room cut in half. Works every time for me!!

[SarahJane]

Ooh reading this has given me the decorating bug! I have a bedroom that I have been planning to tuen into a study for a while.
I am going to get stuck in and get on with it now.
I was trying to post some pics of my upstairs loo..... I decorated it a while ago, I couldnt afford wall paper, and cant wallpaper anyway, so went made with 2 different colours of paint (black and white) and copious amounts of masking tape.
I love the finished affect, its a bit like marmite though, you either love it or hate it! Green Aura liked it when she visited and since then I have been trying to come up with something "different" for the study.

[snapdragon]

.........Katie draws a fantastic picture of a lovely smiley face - with her plastic scissors on the wall that was only just touch-dry. It's not wash-off-able marks, it's scratched in. It's not even in an inconspicuous place that no-one will notice. It's on the chimney breast. I could scream.


*sigh* Thank you for listening. I feel much better.

I'd paint a border round it - like a frame an original artwork

[JulieSherris]

Oh, Rose - poor you!
When the 2 eldest were smaller, we'd finished decorating & it looked lovely... pulled the curtains one day to find a stick man drawing... signed by the middle daughter... who then tried to deny it

You WILL laugh about this - maybe not yet.....

18: For smaller or darker rooms, use Vinyl Silk - makes the light bounce & reflect & the room looks lighter & bigger... washes better than matt paint too.

[Green Aura]

If, like us you have coal-fired heating, paint everything with silk emulsion.

The matt stuff sucks up coal dust and comes off entirely when you try to clean it!

Or maybe it's just us....

[JulieSherris]

.....................................Or maybe it's just us....

No Maggie, we're the same here too.... all of the rooms here have been painted with matt - but that was over 6 years ago, so you can imagine what they look like now we have been round with the bowls & cloths on every coal-dust hanging inch......

I learnt a long time ago that it was better to choose a colour for your room walls that is neutral & add colour via the accesories - when we decorate, we use the same colour scheme in every room & find that it's more peaceful for your head to have a continual flow of one or two colours. Also, if you need to touch up anywhere, you don't have to hunt for the paint pot... we generally keep one or two extra pots of paint for maintenance. At the moment, I have bought 3 large pots of cream vinyl silk & 2 pots of cream tile paint for the stash - will get round to putting it on the walls when the bulk of the garden work is done - maybe next year?

[Thomzo]

Oooh - just remembered some more:

- nail varnish remover is good for getting rid of unwanted emulsion if it is dry but reasonably fresh (eg on hands)
- if you only have a little bit of paint left, keep it for touching up but put it in a jam jar. The paint tin will be too big and the paint will dry out. Label it with which room it relates to.
- I quite agree with Julie's comment about using a neutral colour throughout the house. You can ring the changes by painting one wall in a more striking colour as a feature. Only one wall to repaint when you want to change your colour scheme.
- it is much easier to get a good covering of paint in natural light. Painting in the dark is a nightmare. Do the first coat(s) in the evening if you must but always try to do the last coat of paint during the day time.

Cheers Zoe