The Dublin Painting Diaries



So, a weekend’s coming up any time you’ve acquired almost nothing planned – time to beautify that space you’ve been Placing off for ages.


The majority of people shell out months or a long time intending to enhance rooms in their homes and in no way get around to it. The explanations are all quite identical – the space is just too full to work in, they haven’t received all the proper machines or they don’t know in which to get started on. But in the event you’re stuck in some a rut with rooms in your own home, don’t stress – I’ve bought you included with my prime methods for decorating a home…


eight issues you will need for decorating


one. Plastic sheeting


two. Masking tape


3. Mild sandpaper


four. Screwdrivers to choose down wall hangings


5. 4” paint brush, two x two” paint brushes, roller and roller tray


6. Stage ladder


seven. Paint


8. Undercoat and topcoat with the woodwork


In relation to choosing paint, the selection is infinite. My nearby Do-it-yourself retail outlet, Designer Colours, can mix up any specific colour you want. You can take within an item they usually’ll scan and colour-match it for you.


To figure out exactly how much paint you'll need, determine the area within your ceiling and partitions, and keep in mind you’ll be carrying out two coats. A 5L tin addresses about 50m2, but This may completely depend on the thickness of your paint, so Look at the again of the tin.


I’d advocate utilizing acrylic undercoat and prime coat, as it's got a a lot quicker drying time and less fumes. Will not use an oil-dependent and an acrylic paint with each other. If you use an oil-primarily based paint, you’ll will need white spirit. All the things else washes off with water.


Preparation is every little thing In regards to portray


There isn't any place going for walks right into a place, cracking open a tin of paint and slopping it more than all of the exposed surfaces you may see. You'll want to prep – this requires a number of several hours, but can make the whole work less complicated, much less expensive, improved and, most of all, you won’t spill paint all over the couch. In case you’re undertaking this in excess of a weekend, I’d advise performing just as much of this prep around the Friday night time, so you have got much more time and energy to paint on the subsequent times.


Start by shifting all of the large things (sofas, beds, bookshelves, TVs) while in the space to the centre, leaving at the least a 30cm gap involving your home furniture and your walls all around. Future, get down any curtains, blinds or nets and lay these about the home furniture. Now lay any wall hangings, photos and light-weight shades on your curtains, and canopy the whole matter up with plastic sheeting. Try to stop cotton or twill sheeting – this won’t keep dust out or massive blobs of paint (for those who fall any).


Using your valuables included up, it’s time for a little bit of sanding. Working with 80-grit sandpaper, evenly rub all of your woodwork – the skirtings, architraves and doorways. Ensure that you rub only the face from the doorway that looks in the place, Until you’re setting up on decorating the corridor also.


After every one of the sanding is completed, get the vacuum cleaner out and provides almost everything an intensive thoroughly clean, ensuring never to miss out on the tops on the doors, architraves and skirtings. You might have to wash the woodwork using a moist cloth and some washing-up liquid. I’m not judging you on the cleanliness, but some rooms might be greasy and paint doesn’t stay with grease.


Now you're cleared, sanded and cleaned, it’s time with the masking. Use 50mm decorators’ tape to mask the place your floor meets the skirting boards. Regardless of whether your ground is carpeted or smooth-surfaced, it is actually a good idea to try this, as it stops drips and saves you from being forced to Reduce-from the paintwork from the ground (painting a straight, neat line round the boundary and after that ‘colouring in’ Within the traces). Should you be scheduling on portray all around wood Home windows, you are able to mask these up far too – it will take ages, but will save far more time in reducing-in and scraping paint off of glass.


Along with the masking all done, all you should do is place plastic sheeting on the floor (you are able to Minimize a considerable plastic sheet into extensive extensive strips with scissors – this is likely to make it quite a bit extra practical) and In any case that, you’re eventually All set to the entertaining stuff!


Start portray at the very best and perform down


Paint the ceilings very first – that way any drips or places will not muck up other bits you’ve already completed. Use a four” brush to paint round the best edge of one's ceiling. In the event you’re painting the walls later on, you don’t must cut this ceiling paint into them, while you’ll be portray over the top. Once you’ve painted round the edges in the ceiling, use the same brush to cut in about any lights you've.


With the perimeters still wet with paint, utilize a roller to put the main coat about the ceiling. Pour some of your paint into your roller tray and begin painting. Commence in the corner in the home and function outwards from there, painting in modest sections and normally rolling back into your wet perform.


When the first ceiling coat is completed, wrap the roller inside a plastic bag and start undercoating the woodwork.


To undercoat, take your 2” brush and begin portray the skirting. Because you haven’t put any paint on the walls still, you can coat the woodwork with no need to chop-in – this could make the do the job go considerably faster.


After the undercoat is finished, your ceiling should be dry plenty of to put on your own 2nd coat. Make use of your four” brush yet again to paint the perimeters in the ceiling, and then roller The remainder. Wash the roller out and go away it to dry. You now have an hour or so or two to go outdoors and get some fresh air Before you begin the final stretch.


When your undercoated woodwork has dried, you can start portray the walls. Focusing on one by one, utilize the 2” brush to cut-in the line between the walls, woodwork and ceiling. Once one wall is absolutely Minimize-in (which includes round the mild switches, sockets and any wall-mounted light-weight fittings), pour some paint to the well with the roller tray and start painting the wall.


Get started in one corner and roll up and down (instead of aspect to facet), ensuring you address a roller width in the wall thoroughly from leading to bottom right before relocating on to the remainder of it – this way, you’ll often Use a soaked edge of paint to roll onto, which can lower your possibilities of getting any streaks. When you finally’ve finished rolling one wall, repeat the slicing and rolling course of action for every other wall from the room.


Depending on how fast that you are at portray, or how significant your home is, by the point you’ve painted the many way all-around your home, the wall that you started on should be dry, or a minimum of virtually dry. As soon as it's, you'll be able to paint in your second coat in exactly the same way as you did the main. Then, thoroughly clean out your brushes and roller prior to the paint dries on them.


Now for the last little bit of portray. Use some wonderful sandpaper to flippantly brush any imperfections off your undercoated woodwork – don’t rub way too hard or you’ll go in the undercoat and possess to repaint it. Whichever topcoat you choose for the woodwork, remember that it's most probably to drip easily – drips that could clearly show with your finished work – so be careful not to load too much paint with your brush.


For the final coat, utilize a 2” brush within the woodwork. Paint the architraves and skirting boards to start with, remembering to keep an eye on the paint you’ve a short while ago used – You should utilize your brush to wipe absent drips you won't have seen earlier on, In the event your paint is still moist.


And finally, paint the door. Paint the mouldings across the panels initially, then the panels themselves, then the broad strips of Wooden that make up the rest of the door. Brush the paint in precisely the same way since the grain on the Wooden (this could be simple to see in case you search intently at the doorway).


Depart this final coat of paint to dry thoroughly (commonly right away) just before peeling off many of the masking tape and rolling up your whole plastic sheeting. Right after acquiring secured your place for All of this perform, your plastic sheets are going to be in rather weak problem, so roll them in on on their own to consist of all the dust, paint and rubbish, and put them straight during the bin.


Set back all wall hangings, curtains and lightweight fittings and rearrange all the home furnishings, prior to flopping on to the couch for a effectively-earned cup of tea.



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