Hello all. Hope you all had a good Easter weekend. I'm going to use today's column to share some tips with you that I found useful when decorating my home. Of course, if it's an important or potentially dangerous job, get a local tradesman to complete the works.
= Make sure you know what style and colour you want the room to be. This might sound obvious but I know people who have spent hours painting something only to realise they don't really like the colour. They were faced with a decision to either repaint it or live with it.
= Buy more paint than necessary. A lot of people forget that when painting most rooms, you'll require at least two coats of paint to achieve optimum coverage. It’s everyone’s worst nightmare to paint a room in a colour they love and return to buy a few more tins, only to discover the shop has sold out!
= When painting only cover about a third of the length of the bristles of your paintbrush, this will prevent the brush being overloaded with paint and stops the paint dripping. Try not to get paint in the ferrue (the metal bit that holds the bristles together), as that can shorten the brush's life considerably.
= Wash the brushes thoroughly after use to prevent the paint drying. If you're planning to have a quick break then remove as much paint as you can from the brush and wrap it in cling film. This will stop air from getting to the brush and drying it out.
= Give the paint time to dry before adding another coat. Don't worry that the walls have a mixture of shades as different sections of the wall will dry quicker than the others.
= Make sure that any holes and cracks are filled and sanded smooth before painting over them. Any walls that have been painted over previously need to be cleaned using warm water and soap. Whilst preparing your work area, don't forget to cover the floor and any furniture in the room with a sheet to stop any paint spills ruining the furnishings.
If you have any tried and tested DIY tips, we’d love to hear them!
Also, it's week two of our Ideal Home competition. This week we're on the lookout for our dream kitchen. Remember all you have to do is send us photos via our Facebook page and tag yourself in them.
