How to paint a room properly

Materials needed

• Paint — emulsion for walls and ceilings, eggshell or satinwood for trim and doors
• Primer / undercoat — especially over fresh filler, bare wood, or dark colours
• Filler (Polyfilla or Toupret), caulk for gaps along skirting and architrave
• Sandpaper — 120 grit for filler, 240 grit for between coats
• Frog tape (low-tack), dust sheets, masking film for windows

Tools required

• Roller frame, medium-pile sleeves, mini-roller for cutting in tight spots
• 2-inch angled cutting-in brush, 1-inch trim brush
• Paint kettle, scuttle or roller tray
• Scraper, filling knife, sanding block, vacuum
• Step ladder, head torch (raking light shows every defect you'd otherwise miss)

Step-by-step

1. Empty the room or move furniture to the centre and cover it well with dust sheets.
2. Wash walls with sugar soap. Let dry fully — painting onto greasy or dusty walls is the single biggest cause of patchy finishes.
3. Fill cracks and nail holes, sand flush once dry, vacuum the dust, then spot-prime the patches so they don't flash through.
4. Caulk gaps between trim and wall in a continuous bead. Smooth with a damp finger and a damp cloth.
5. Tape edges. Cut in around ceiling, corners, sockets, and trim with the angled brush — keep a wet edge.
6. Roller the main field in W or M strokes, then lay off in long vertical passes from ceiling to skirting for a uniform finish.
7. Two coats minimum. Sand lightly between with 240 grit if you're chasing a flawless finish.
8. Pull tape while paint is still slightly tacky to avoid peeling the new edge.

Mistakes that show up in low light

• Skipping primer over filler — flashing patches with a slightly different sheen.
• Cutting in too far ahead of the roller — the brush marks dry visibly different from the rolled section.
• Cheap rollers — shed fibres into your finish coat that you can't pick out once dry.
• Painting onto cold walls or in a cold room — paint doesn't level out and you get roller texture forever.

When to call a pro

Big rooms, staircases, ceilings over 3m, anything that needs cutting in around coving or picture rails — these are jobs where prep takes as long as painting, and a clean sharp line at the cornice is what separates a professional finish from a DIY one. I cover all the painting jobs across West and North London.