Painting & Decorating Hints & Tips Reviews

Bought the paint runner system and have to say I got on very well with it.As a professional builder i've tried quite a few over the years and found this to be one of the better ones. It is a bit tedious having to keep topping up cylinder but didn't hinder job too much! Used my own sturdy extension pole which certainly stabilised the ...  Read the complete review

I have just finished painting my large house with the Paint Runner. I must say that it did everything claimed for it in the adverts. It was very clean, no drips and large areas could be covered with one filling. I did the job over several weeks and was able to re use the tool again without problems although care and time is needed in the cleaning ...  Read the complete review

Bought Paint Runner - liked how it sounded. Don't waste your money. The paint needs to be thinned before using, but then it needs at least 2 coats, whereas using a paint pad which doesn't splatter or an ordinary roller which does splatter, you can do the job with one coat of paint. When full, this paint runner is very heavy. only good thing - ...  Read the complete review

Fed up with this English summer I decided to decorate my dining room. Could have got someone in to do it for me, or waited until the family could help, but no, I had to do it there and then while I was in the mood and the house was empty of anyone getting in my way. First tip - if you are going to decorate, don't do it on impulse! ...  Read the complete review

When we moved into our new house, it was quite in a shocking state and if I could have uploaded some pictures of our house last year, you would have said what the heck did we buy it for. Whilst most of the problems were only cosmetic rather than structual. We had ploughed most of our savings into the house and consequently all our other ...  Read the complete review

Now you're not going to like this but I think the key to good decorating is patience. Damn and blast it, but it is. There are lots of other things that will help too but if you're not patient then none of them will really be as effective. If you're the kind of person that can't stand being patient at anything, (or if you just ...  Read the complete review

The kitchen table, the one we eat off every day, was getting a bit tatty, so I decided to strip it and give it a new coat of varnish. Which one to use? A visit to the local DIY showed up Ronseal interior and exterior woodstain. Their slogan is: Does exactly what it says on the tin. (I have stopped using quotation marks etc because they always ...  Read the complete review

Most of us use interior design and decorating to reflect our personality and to make us feel comfortable at home. But how does that work in rented accommodation where the furniture and décor are chosen for you? And how can you personalise your rented space without losing your deposit? Landlords are increasingly savvy and recognise that a ...  Read the complete review

My wife really enjoys decorating, every holiday the kids and I know one room, at least, is for the makeover. There is no major cause for concern on our part because she likes to be left to get on and as long as there is a good supply of tea we can go about life pretty much as normal. I, however, always feel very frustrated/guilty watching her ...  Read the complete review

Name : Special Agent Kano Mission : To paint a 2 bedroom flat completely in 1 long weekend. Tools available : Many costly devices. Grrr. Help : not much – 1 girlfriend who dislikes DIY and wouldn’t help!!! On the third day a father in law who had been trying to convince me not to do it all in one go! As some of ...  Read the complete review

To be honest, I have no idea about coordinating colours, what will and will not work. I also do not have a clue at what should or should not be done when decorating a room. The end result of this is my house has slowly fallen into a condition where decorating was not just desirable but needed and urgently. I really did not know where to start, ...  Read the complete review

I have seen some good paint jobs and some bad paint jobs. One hallmark of a good paint job is for fixtures not to be painted over. Some poorly-done paint jobs often end up with doors that have door handles and other fittings the same colour as the latest paint job. This often leads to hardware like bolts or letter boxes that is difficult ...  Read the complete review

Don’t you ever wish that ‘Changing Rooms’ (minus Lawrence Llewylyn-Bowen) would visit your home and transform your 70’s chintzy living room into an elegant space of tranquil harmony? If that’s what you want, then don’t read any further… …but if you want a few tried-and-tested (but sometimes ...  Read the complete review

I was always told to leave french polishing to the professionals. However I decided to have a go on one of the doors (made from douglas fir) in my lounge. I figured that if it worked I would keep it and if not then I could sand and paint instead. I bought a packet of blonde shellac (dewaxed) from a specialist hardware shop (crockets in ...  Read the complete review

Are you one of those people who are always looking for cheap ways of improving your home? As well as being cheap, does it need to be dead easy too? If that just about sums you up, crackle glazing may well be worth considering. If you’ve somehow managed to miss every DIY and makeover show that’s ever included crackle glazing ...  Read the complete review

We recently decorated our bedroom and are very keen on the minimal, feng shui look. Many of our accessories are oriental, so we thought we would go the whole hog and decorate the whole bedroom in the style. After preparing the walls and painting them in a lovely pale sand yellow colour we had a dilemma of how to 'break the room ...  Read the complete review

Being artistic is definitely not my forte! Give me a set of accounts to balance and I’m in my element (sad isn’t it?) but anything which requires a flair for art – forget it! When it comes to decorating I usually ask my sister and my mom for advice as they are both much better than I am at colour schemes and imagining ...  Read the complete review

After covering half a wall with paint from those little tester pots and getting no nearer a decision on colours, I turned to the internet for help and came across a couple of (I think) helpful sites. http://www.goodhomes.beeb.com/show/content/design_room/ and http://www.dulux.co.uk Both sites offer an ...  Read the complete review

ESP as anyone who regularly sits through decorating programmes knows is Easy Surface Primer. Now there are lots of different primers on the market but ESP is the one they keep using on Changing Rooms, which can be used on any surface. Last year I purchased a tin of this and proceeded to decorate. You paint it on to your surface and a ...  Read the complete review

I know what your thinking.....a paintbrush is a paintbrush isnt it. Thats what I thought, but since moving to a new place i have been doing a lot of decorating. I bought some good quality pain (see my other reviews on the paints) and cheap paintbrushes. The paintbrushes i bought didnt even last a wall in the room i was decorating. I ...  Read the complete review