Decorating tips.

Get someone in

If you had my husband, you would definately get someone in.

If you're in a new area and don't know any handymen/women do not just get a name out of an advert in a paper. Ask around and get a personal recommendation.

And you can work wonders yourselves with a tin of emulsion.

A bit of paint does wonders whilst you're settling in and if you want to pace the way you put your own stamp on your home. I found that having a tin of paint and handy brush, to do a wall here or a door there, spruced up my house so it looked decent. I would move clutter and unpacked boxes to give space to paint a wall and move furniture into place, and not feel I had to do it all at once. Tackling it a chunk at a time instead of trying to do it all soon had things in order. Within a month, I had a freshly painted sitting room and bedroom, and had started to decide on colour schemes and changes I wanted to make.

Good to hear that you are planning to do up the house over time as I think often you have to be in a place for some time before you really get a feel for it and how you would like it to be. I don't pay people to do things I can do myself, but I have learned to pace myself, especially as I've got older. And before I start any major DIY project, I make sure the fridge and freezer are well stocked, so that I don't have to worry about food shopping and cooking.

I, too, would like to redecorate various areas of the house I moved into 8 months ago. I've never had to do it myself before, but I have a willing friend to help me. One thing you need are dust sheets so you don't spoil the carpet etc. and I received a useful piece of advice about locating the right sort of dust sheets (if you haven't got any already) ..... Buy them from charity shops - ones which aren't suitable for selling as bed sheets - and get flannelette ones as they soak up any spills much better than cotton/polyester fabric.

If you're going to be decorating around yourselves as you settle in I would use a paint pad rather than a roller. You can cover large areas without any splatter.

Thank you for your lovely replies. I should have said that I will be doing most of the work (my DS will probably manage his own room, just about), but these days I have to take my time in doing it. The first thing I have decided to buy is a new cd player as mine hit the bin on moving and I can't paint without a good sing.

I have done my own decorating now for about 40 years so know what to do. I just wanted some pieces of advice, tips others have used that make rooms look a little different. I have looked at a mural for my room but then saw the room decals and wondered about using them instead, like a tree with petals falling etc. Has anyone used these?

Sometimes we get in a rut of just doing the same thing to a new house as we did to the old one and nothing changes. I wanted to make it different. I watch house programmes and buy mags to get tips but thought I'd ask the best of the bunch and see what they say...

I have managed to persuade DH that our sitting room needs doing. We don't decorate too often, this will be 10 years, but when I do, it means new carpets, curtains, sofas etc.

We have a oak veneer dresser which was very `in` when we bought it back in 1986 and that is something that has remained along with a matching sideboard through decoration changes. It looks very nice but I wanted something more modern looking. DH pointed out that we will be getting rid of that, to buy a replacement to put all the stuff in, at great expense.

To keep him happy and I don't mind, we are now going to upcycle it. This means he is going to strip the tops, remove the more ornate bits and replace with plain lines, change the knobs and paint it in a light colour.

If it doesn't work out, we will then buy new.

New knobs on furniture can alter them radically. Also painting them.

We wanted a room to look bigger, so removed a pine dresser top and hung it higher up the wall as far as it would go. It made more storage on the dresser base below, pulled the eye to the wall instead of the dresser top, and I painted it cream to blend with the wall and lighten the room. That room was always a bit dark before and looked small, just that one change has made such a difference.

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rubylady When we have moved I have always made sure that there was one room in the house where you could relax,so I would tend to get one room at least looking welcoming and cosy then close the doors on the others and tackle one at a time.