Painting and decorating a house on an OS budget!

System

I agree with most of the other posters when it comes to not buying cheap paint. I used cheap white from one of the supermarkets to cover a really bright blue before covering with kitchen and bathroom paint. The k&b paint didn't go on to the cheap paint well and when we redecorated a few years later we ended up peeling the layers of cheap white paint off like wallpaper which has left a slightly uneven finish even when sanded and painted.

YORKSHIRELASS - I have natural hessian too - good choice

I've found that B&MS have branded paint for less than the big DIY stores (don't have such a big colour selection but if you're looking for something relatively neutral should have something to suit).

Recently decorated bedroom and had never thought of buying wallpaper on ebay until my SIL mentioned it when she moved into her new house. Because I was only doing 1 wall had loads of choice of two rolls with same batch number and got lovely Laura Ashley paper for a bargain. I know a lot of people swear by good quality brushes and rollers (in fact an employee in a certain DIY store told me not to expect to be able to use the value brushes twice!) but I've never had any problems with the cheapy ones.

Happy decorating!

sugarwalsh

It doesn't matter how good or bad or what colour you go for if your walls aren't prepared properly. My other half is meticulous about this and although it drives me POTTY I have to agree with him. Fill all the holes, clean off any marks if possible, paint over any darker marks, and decorators caulk os by far the best invention in the world when it comes to getting a professional looking job. We use it where skirting boards meet the wall, down the corners, around door and window frames, in the corner of any skirting/frames where there are little gaps. It is genius. Then you just pain over it.

Keep your eyes peeled and don't be in a rush if you are wanting a truly cheap and unique home. We once got Fired Earth Paint at 60% discount because they changed the packaging. Other bargains include Laura Ashely wallpaper at £1.50 per roll - I bought enough to do some feature walls. We also got some Crown paints at £10 each as an introductory offer.

Lighting is, to me, one of the hardest things to find - don't let bad lights let your lovely room down. Scour the aisles of b and q, they often have reduced lights tucked away!

Have fun and be flexible with your schemes - you can make some amazing lookig rooms if you are patient.

MEgan

loracan1

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You could buy a large bucket of white emulsion and then add a strong match pot colour (of the same type) to it to give a "white with a hint of...." effect BUT you need to stir well and keep on stirring regularly to make sure that you get an even colour. Also, keep enough back in an airtight tub for future touch ups to cover scuffs, chips etc.

I've kept paint back for this in old (well-cleaned) coffee jars, means they're sealed and easy to see what sort of condition the paint is in.
Now I have to work on actually labelling them before I forget where they're for.

Leif

Homebase have a buy two, get the cheaper one half price sale. If it's anything like the B&Q 3 for 2 sale, they'll have one can of each of the most popular paints, and no more. Worth a try.

I have Natural Calico in the hall and bedrooms. Lighter colours such as Magnolia lighten rooms, making them seem bigger. Darker colours close them in. Redder colours feel warm, bluer colours feel cold. Both can work.

You might find cheaper paints cover less well, and are less durable. Matt hides marks and imperfections.

Use a brush to cut in at the edges of walls. Use a roller to do the bulk of the wall. Some rollers leave hairs. The best in my experience are microfibre rollers, great to use, and durable. Screwfix sell them cheap. Some prefer rollers on polls, but I prefer a short handled roller frame. Use a trestle for the ceiling. They are not cheap, sadly.

It seems that most oil based wood paint these days will yellow due to new environmental regulations ...

freezspirit

I actually use the normal paint pads on walls and get someone else to do the ceilings with a roller as I get more paint on me than on the ceiling when using rollers.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Spent as much as you can on a good undercoat and gloss paint for the woodwork and pay double treble attention to preparation.

The stuff in my house has gone yellow in a year, because they used cheap £*(@ paint.

inamegajam

I always tint either white or magnolia paint with practically anything that would stain your clothes, even used gravy browning or hair dye before bit at a time to get the right shade. As for wall art I recently saw in Argos catalogue, a metal sort of flower decoration £19.99 each, not going to pay nearly £40 quid on 2, so bought £2.99 jar of Plasticote enamel silver paint & revamped some old plastic flowers, you really cant tell the difference.:D

Leif

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Spent as much as you can on a good undercoat and gloss paint for the woodwork and pay double treble attention to preparation.

The stuff in my house has gone yellow in a year, because they used cheap £*(@ paint.

Even Crown and Dulux gloss paint goes yellow. My ex boss had his house redecorated courtesy of Dulux when the white paint when brown in a few months. He used Crown paint for the redecoration, though Crown and others have had similar problems. The only way I know to avoid yellowing is to buy Sikkens Satura Plus (expensive) or water based paints (which have issues).

elliegreenwelly

Ebay is not that cheap anymore for art/soft furnishings etc as it attracts a global marketplace. Try looking in charity shops for cushions etc.
It is good however for buying designer fabric remnants if you think you could make cushions/blinds yourself. Top tip for art, I recently dressed a house to sell, I used old frames and replaced pictures with wallpaper samples which coordinated with the colours of the room. I wandered in to homebase and got a load of samples for nowt - you can get some great designs now.

sugarwalsh

Re the above - I have framed wrapping paper in my boys room - you can get some really funky designs for not a lot - and some really pretty postcards in my girls room. We have a red frame with red postcards of love in them. Try supermarkets for bargains. This weekend we bought some vases from Sainsburys for £1.50 (reduced from about £10) for our wedding. I have a 'leather' mirror hanging in my lounge. I bought it to go with my gorgeous sofas 10 years ago. £17 in Morrisons and it's still there! It just takes an open mind and a lot of looking around,

Megan