When you are painting a whole room, you should always paint the ceiling first to avoid splashing paint on walls and woodwork. If you are planning to strip wallpaper, leave this on until the ceiling is painted and then any spotting from the ceiling will come off with the paper, rather than being on the bare wallwhere it could later show through paper or paint. Always cover the whole floor with dustsheets (unless the flooring is being replaced at the same time). As a rule, ceilings should be painted white, no matter what colour the walls are being painted. This helps to make the room look bigger and reflects light back down into the room to make it lighter. Once the ceiling is complete, you can then paint the walls, and finally the wood or metalwork in the room.
Painting Ceiling
Dust the ceiling and sand off any loose or peeling paint. If there are smokers in the household, it is also worth washing the ceiling with warm soapy water to remove any tobacco residue or grease. The next thing you need to do, now that all your preparation is complete, is to make sure you can comfortably reach all areas of the ceiling. Either build a movable platform with scaffold boards and trestles (you can hire a small platform if you wish) or buy an extendable handle for your roller. If you decide to use an extension, remember that you will still need a stepladder to be able to reach the deiling to cut in along the edges and around light fittings, etc.
Paint in strips running the length of the room, starting at the wall where the window is. If there is more than one window, start along the wall with the window that lets in the most light. Paint a strip about twice the width of the roller, right the way across the room, then go back and paint another strip next to the first. Make sure the blend the paint where the strips meet. Once you have painted the main body of the ceiling, carefully cut in around the edges and the light fixture. If the walls are to be painted afterwards, you obviously do not need to be so careful when you cut in. Just be sure not to leave ridges of paint at the top of the walls.
Coving and Ceiling Roses
If your room has coving, paint this with a good quality brush after you have painted the ceiling with your roller. Assuming it is going to be the same colour as the ceiling, paint it before you paint the walls. The same rule applies to ceiling roses and any other decorative plasterwork.
Painting Walls
In almost all cases, it is much easier and quicker to paint walls using a roller or paint pad. Starting in any corner, paint strips of wall about 500mm wide, working from top to bottom. Work in this way across one whole wall before moving on to the next. Cut into the ceiling or coving as you go. If you are using a brush, start in the top corner of one wall and paint in squares of 500mm, working from top to bottom. Make sure you blend in the paint where two squares meet. If possible, always complete a whole wall (or even better, the whole...
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