The coming long bank holiday weekend could be the perfect time to tackle those home decorating jobs you've been putting off all year. With this in mind, we have put together a handy guide to help you to get started, with tips on preparation, colours, furniture and trends.
What you need before you start decorating
The key to being efficient when it comes to decorating is to spend time preparing beforehand. If you are simply looking to refresh your rooms, be it your living room, dining room or bedroom then painting is the easiest way to do this.
Make sure that you have all the right equipment; paint trays, rollers, brushes masking tape, decorator's caulk (in case you need to fill in any small cracks), sugar soap and cloths, dust sheets – either plastic or fabric, and ladders.
If you are planning to put up any wallpaper, then you will need paste, a pasting table, a small roller (for air bubbles), a ruler, scissors and a knife.
Prepare your space
To make your decorating go as smoothly as possible, you can do much of the preparation in advance. First, check your walls and fill in any small cracks. Wash your walls down with sugar soap to remove any dust, debris and grease – this will make it easier to paint.
Don't forget to move your rustic dining table and any other reclaimed wood furniture away from the walls and cover them where necessary to avoid the damage caused by stray drips of paint.
Consider your colours
Picking the right colours for your home is, for many, one of the best parts of giving a room a makeover. If you are just refreshing your current colour, then this can be a very easy task, however if you are thinking about really changing things up with a completely different look then there are a couple of things to consider.
If you have an industrial coffee table, for example, then think about what colours will work well - neutral colours fit the industrial look well, but so do bold and dark colours. For a pretty industrial look consider pastels, for a more bohemian industrial look then consider a monochrome palette. Why not check out our blogs from Little Green and Earthborne Paints for more colour ideas.
Make sure you get enough paint
There really is nothing worse than seeing the finish line with your decorating only to find you don't have enough paint. Some brands of paint recommend more coats than others so once you have chosen your shade you will need to measure your room to work out how much you should purchase. As long as you haven't purchased a specially mixed shade, you can return unopened cans to most good DIY stores.
Painting trends
The last thing to think about when painting and decorating your home is the other areas you might want to paint. Painting the ceiling is very on-trend, but can be tricky. Do this first so you don't get splashes on your newly painted walls and remember to cover furniture that can’t easily be moved like a solid wood bed or a wooden sideboard. You may also want to think about picking the same colour for your skirting and coving – this decorating trick will make your rooms appear taller.
If you liked this, see more ideas and inspiration, including styling tips.
