Want to save money & paint your own home? Here are the top tips from a professional painter.

Darlington House - Humbl. Studio

It wasn’t until I started working with a painter (@aesthetics_painting) on my own home, that I realised how much I actually didn’t know about painting.

I quickly found out, painting is 70% prep work & 30% painting.

It’s all in the prep.

The finish is only as good as the prep allows it to be.

I had Chris from @aesthetics_painting to give us his top tips:

1.  Assess walls for imperfections and fill & gap as required – don’t forget to sand after!

2. Sand in-between all coats of walls, ceilings and trims will help with adhesion & achieve a smoother, better finish.

3. Minimum 2 coats for coverage and durability, 3 coats if it is new plaster or timber.

4. When taping up, run blade down over tape to push out air, this will reduce paint bleeding.

5. Use a low-sheen finish on walls, semi-gloss on trims & doors and a flat finish on ceilings.

Product recommendations:

Filler for trims - Nordsjo wood filler or Nordsjo spackle.

Sanding papers - 120 grit for sanding patches & filled nail holes while 240 grit for sanding trims and final sand over walls (which can be done via pole sander).

Brushes/Rollers - Oldfields brushes are great overall cutters, 56mm will get you sharp cutting in and Oldfields 10mm roller sleeve for fine stipples on walls. A 20mm roller will hold more paint for painting ceilings.

Gapping - Any type of No More Gaps is perfect for gapping architraves, door frames, along skirting boards, around cornices ect.

Thanks Chris for your tips and time and to you, happy painting!