Decorating...

Oh yes ! Last room we decorated was our bedroom. One wallpapered wall and the rest painted. We have admitted defeat. We will never use wallpaper again

Due to the uneveness of the walls in this old 16C mountain vicarage- I used really thick plain lining paper- would not even have comtemplated using a pattern, as it would have been a nightmare.

We successfully painted the brick fireplace, which led to painting the rest of the room and £100 for fabric for more cushion covers and throw, plus £50 to seamstress (they are beautifully piped).

This meant the through dining room got painted also.
Yesterday I thought it would be nice if the kitchen main wall was painted the same colour.....keeping a theme. DH did it today and it looks great. The wicker storage baskets didn't look right so they got a coat of watered emulsion and I've got a couple of new kitchen towels in the new colour.

We were only meant to paint the brick fireplace

ah well.... that is the way it goes. You are VERY lucky your DH does the work you ask him to do though ;)... mine has never done any decorating - he never had the time, same for gardening - so count yourself lucky. Just ordered some huge sisal rugs, piped, for the upstairs corridor- hope it will look great.

granjura I am indeed fortunate that my dh is willing to get on with stuff. Of course I help with the painting also.

In a previous 22 year marriage I did every bit of DIY and there isn't much that I can't tackle. On one occasion the lounge ceiling got a coat of white paint before I went to work to start at 9am.... whilst ex h was still in bed where he was still when I got home from work at 5.30 to start making dinner and do the laundry (I had no washing machine).

My dh is well aware how much I appreciate him

I hope your sisal rugs work out well, I love them.

Hihi, looks like you made a good swap there ;) OH is great in so so many ways and a wonderful man, so intelligent, talented and kind- but a gardener, decorator and DIY man he is not. Hey ho.

I think many of us learned to wallpaper at our parent's knee. Even as very small children we had to help scrape off the old wallpaper, paste and watch as the wallpaper was hung. Horribly boring at the time but paid dividends when an ex-husband didn't have a clue!

HATE wallpaper - so only use emulsion.

DH isn't much good at DIY, in fact he is rubbish. From our wedding day, he told me that he could afford to employ someone to do that stuff! Unfortunately, he is very careful with money and only a tantrum will let me have something done - I'm not a very good DIYer xcept at painting...

As granjura says, Hey ho. But I'll keep DH, he's been well run in now after nearly 40 years...

hihi, 45 years here ;) I'll keep him too.

But he is a bit too clever sometimes... the only times I've asked him to help, he made such a pig's ear of it- and I swear that was deliberate ;)

First time I ever papered was our newish house in the 70s when we move to East Leics. Woodchip has now become so hated that houses with woodchip paper are difficult to sell, i was told recently! But it was very easy for a beginner- I did our lounge and my next door neighbour, much older who had taken us, new baby and toddler under her wing (being abroad with a husband working very long hours was tough...) said she would love hers to be done- but her husband just wouldn't do it and she didn't dare. no sooner and it was done, and she painted it... I did her dining-room next. Agghhh Betty, you were such a wonderful friend, and wouldn't have survived without you (sadly long gone now) xxx

Couldn't just paint Grandmattie- this is a 17C old house (Vicarage/farm) and the walls had so many cracks and dents- heavy lining paper hid a multitude of sins, and it looks so much better now. White walls and soft light grey door frames, with a white with hint of pearl grey for doors - looks great. Waiting for the 2 sisal runners before deciding what to do with sills and rough floor boards.

Polish them? so much prettier than painted floorboards. Sill could be some dramatic coulour like sapphire or buttercup, with "drippy" plants...

One of the bedroom has got beams which are not old, but clad with pine- and I want to paint them. Could anyone recommend a very PALE shade of duck egg blue, in satin finish- I could buy when we are next over (with car). Thanks.

I love the image of a white/pale grey combination granjura, will look at that for bedroom.

B&B ;) ? ready.

granjura, if you have a look at Dulux's paint colours and go for the teal colours there are some lovely pale duck egg type colours there. I don't know whether they do them all in a satin finish though.

Very kind, will do, thanks.

I chose a shade from my fabric and B &Q mixed it exactly to match. If you see the colour you want somewhere, even on clothing, you could try taking a photo of it for reference.

The choice of paints here, both Switzerland and France- seems much much less varied than in UK. Do you have a good source of paints Mamie, or anyone else in France (I live less than 1/2 mile from the border)? Will probably buy in the UK in October.

I wanted a repeat of a discontinued paint by Dulux. My nearest B&Q has changed their paint-mixer machine to Valspar, but I found an online paint-mixing source at www.tools-paint.com/the-paint-mixing-room-2799-c.asp.

If you find something the colour you want, you can send them a sample at least 5cm x 5cm and they will match it. Delivery to me was £4.95, but they say to contact them for a quote to "the rest of the world"

They will send you standard colours from the charts of many manufacturers too.