new flat - where should i start decorating? help in this thread

chanelle2

i'm moving to a new flat which has two bedrooms, one living room, bath, toilet, kitchen and a few storage spaces.

one of the bedrooms will serve as a living room too (already have one living room which is bigger but will need two for the amount of guests we get) but will also be a bedroom/guestroom for when people stay over.

i am thnking of starting with the bedroom as i want to move in asap but have no diy skills in this regards and need help on where to start.

i will be painting the rooms but no idea whether i need to do anything to the walls before painting it my chosen colour. what materials do i need and what do i need to do?

what room would i work on next? any general tips and detailed ones?

chanelle2

i can't change it much because it's a council place but i dont really need to rush on kitchen stuff because i can eat at my mum's as she's nearby and cooks a lot as we have a big family.

the kitchen looks decent. there's new cabinets fitted so really we need to change the flooring, the wall (paint), get some blinds etc. i'd also change the taps but there's no rush for that.

we need to buy all the kitchen appliances as there's nothing there but once again we don't want to do it one go as i dont have much money and need to take it slowly. i can cook elsewhere but would probably get things like a fridge first.

the rooms are all okay. they are empty but the walls need painting although i've been reading about it and it says about sanding the walls and dusting them but i dont quite understand it all and what to buy for it. do i also need to put a white coating first?

the walls are all painted a creamy colour and some other colours, unfinished so would need to do something with that.

27col

I always sorted my decorating priorities according to which room annoyed me the most. I well remember having a grotty bathroom in my first house. It had dark green paint peeling off from a horrible yellow paint underneath. I put up with it for a year before I cracked and the next day the bathroom had been gutted ready for a revamp.
I suggest that you either buy or borrow a DIY book from the library. These books contain a wealth of information and are specially designed for people with no previous experience of DIY.

chanelle2

i'll pop into the library.

any advice i can take for now? stuff that maybe books miss out such as the real way of prepping the walls?

chanelle2

i'll pop into the library.

any advice i can take for now? stuff that maybe books miss out such as the real way of prepping the walls?

ormus

27col wrote: »

I always sorted my decorating priorities according to which room annoyed me the most. I well remember having a grotty bathroom in my first house. It had dark green paint peeling off from a horrible yellow paint underneath. I put up with it for a year before I cracked and the next day the bathroom had been gutted ready for a revamp.
I suggest that you either buy or borrow a DIY book from the library. These books contain a wealth of information and are specially designed for people with no previous experience of DIY.

same general poilcy here.
apart from the fact that if i cant afford to do a room properly, id at least give it a coat of (magnolia?) emulsion for the interim period. (10 quid a gallon stuff). only takes a few hours.

i cannot live with wild crazy awful decor.
i remember one house with yellow walls and black woodwork!:eek:

lee-uk

My tip is don't do the living room first or you'll sit in front of the telly or put off the job some other way. Do it last.

Start in the kitchen because its where you cook and its always nice to have a clean kitchen.

Then the other rooms, second to last the bedroom and then the living room.

Good luck.

sock-knitter

kitchen and bedroom would be my first priority, but you say you'll cook and eat at your mum's so i would do bedroom first, somewhere nice and calming to sleep, would be my priority
if the walls arejust painted, andsmooth already, i'd just paint over them with emulsion, but i'm no DIY expert

botanical

Nowadays emulsion paint is so good that walls don't need much prep if they've already been painted. Fill in any small nail holes etc with some instant filler from a squeeze-out tube and a flat knife then when it's completely dry sand it down so it's flat and well-blended with the surrounding wall. You don't have to cover every tiny flaw in the wall as the paint covers it. And simply scrape any flaky or loose paint off with the edge of a flat knife. Much less messy than sanding the wall! If the edges of wallpaper is loose, then mix up some super string wallpaper paste and stick the paper down. Don't paint over it until it is thoroughly dry.

Then just paint over the walls with a roller and tray or a large brush. With a roller and tray, very carefully pour some paint into the basin part of the tray then 'roll' your roller into the paint then roll the roller on the tracked bit of the tray so it's not too thick and drippy, then roller away. It's surprisingly easy. Emulsion comes in a variety of finishes, matt, satin etc and you can also get 'kitchen and bathroom paint' although I feel these are a waste of money.

Painting all the walls in the flat the same colour can make the flat seem much larger and make the space flow. This creates a lovely canvas to add colour to in the form of books, furniture, lamps etc. You can add small areas of stronger colour to feature walls rather than painting the whole room a strong colour and risking making the room seem smaller or darker.