Preparing a Room for Painting with Ruth Mottershead

Although many of us might wish we could skip straight to adorning the walls with our chosen colours, preparation is a key part of any decorating project. Whether you are creating a new nursery space or updating your kitchen scheme, taking the time to properly prepare your space will create an ideal base for painting.

Discover step-by-step advice from our Creative Director, Ruth, to help you achieve success in your next project.

'Prepping is an important part of the process; this will save you time in the long run and all the preparation will make a big difference to the quality of your finished project. If you can, try to prep the room the day before you plan to decorate, so you can easily apply two coats on your walls and have the room back to normal in one day.'

'Firstly, remove or roll up any rugs or curtains. Take any accessories or smaller pieces of furniture out of the room to make space, and for larger, heavier pieces of furniture, move those to the centre of the room and cover with a dust sheet or drop cloth. To protect the floor, put down dust sheets or paper around the area you are painting.'

'Next you will need to remove attached hardware like wall sockets, switch plates, and door and window furniture. Have a look around the room and make sure you remove all loose paint, plaster or wallpaper. If you are painting over wallpaper, check that all the seams are properly glued.

Check for any cracks, screw holes, seams and imperfections and use filler where needed. Where the wall has been repaired, sand them down so that when the area is painted you achieve a seamless finish.'

'Where there’s glazing in windows and doors, mask the edges and do the same for all pre-painted woodwork using low-tack tape.'

'If you are painting skirting boards in a carpeted room, mask the carpet with an overlap of tape, and use a scraper edge to tuck it well down between the carpet edge and skirting board.'

'Now you’ve done all the finicky bits, sand all areas very lightly so they’re completely ready for painting, then remove all dust and debris from the walls using a damp cloth and vacuum the area.'

Browse our undercoat paint finishes and create the perfect base for any scheme.

Or, discover our advice for choosing the right undercoat and primer for your project.