How do I paint a room?

Painting is about 70% preparation and 30% painting, and people who dislike the results almost always shortened the first part. The order of work matters too: ceiling before walls before woodwork, so that every splash lands on something you haven't finished yet.

What you'll need

• Emulsion for walls and ceiling
• Roller, tray and 2-inch angled brush
• Filler and sandpaper
• Dust sheets and low-tack masking tape
• Sugar soap or detergent
• Extension pole for the roller (optional)

Step by step

1. Empty the room as far as you can, then move the rest to the centre and cover it.Working around furniture doubles the time and guarantees a splash somewhere expensive.
2. Fill holes and cracks, let them dry, then sand smooth.See the wall-filling guide — the repair needs to be flush, not merely full.
3. Wash the walls with sugar soap, especially above radiators and in the kitchen.Paint doesn't stick to grease or nicotine film. This is the step most often skipped and most often regretted.
4. Mask edges, sockets and skirting, and lay dust sheets.Low-tack tape, and pull it off while the paint is still slightly soft rather than fully cured.
5. Paint the ceiling first, working in strips away from the light source.Working away from the window means you see the wet edge and can keep it live.
6. Cut in the wall edges with a brush — corners, ceiling line, skirting, around sockets.Do one wall at a time so the cut-in stays wet when the roller reaches it.
7. Roll the wall immediately, working in overlapping W patterns and finishing with light vertical strokes.Rolling into a dried cut-in edge leaves a visible band around the whole room.
8. Let it dry fully, then apply a second coat.Check the tin for recoat times — typically two to four hours for emulsion. Rushing lifts the first coat.
9. Paint the woodwork last, and remove masking tape before the paint fully hardens.Fully cured paint tears when tape comes off, taking your clean line with it.

Tips

• Buy a decent brush. A cheap brush sheds bristles into the paint and cuts in badly, and no technique compensates for it.
• A tester pot on the actual wall, viewed at different times of day, tells you far more than a colour card. Paint two coats on a piece of lining paper and move it around the room.
• Decant paint into a smaller kettle rather than working from the tin — less weight, less waste, and nothing contaminating the main tin.
• Wrap a loaded brush or roller in cling film between coats rather than washing it out. It'll be ready the next morning.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the wash — Grease, dust and nicotine stop paint bonding — it will peel or flash later.
• One thick coat instead of two thin — Thick coats run, dry unevenly and cover worse than two thin ones.
• Letting the cut-in dry before rolling — Leaves a visible picture-frame band of different texture around every wall.
• Leaving masking tape on too long — Cured paint bonds to the tape and tears when you pull it.

Questions people ask