Step 4: All of your preparation is complete and your ceiling is painted so now it is time to move onto the walls. Firstly you will need a clean roller and 2-3 inch brush. Give your wall emulsion a good stir and make sure you have all the correct tools. The first job is to go around the room and give any areas that have been filled a thin coat of emulsion. This is not essential although I find it helps to stop any areas that have been filled from showing through the fresh emulsion. Sometimes the filled areas can give the emulsion a slightly different shade of colour.

The next task is to paint any reveals which is the area around windows and sometimes doors. These areas are usually too small to use a roller on and will need to be painted with a brush. Once this is complete you need to go around the whole room cutting in the edges to the ceiling, skirting boards and door frames. Come down from the ceiling 3-4 inches, and up from the skirting and door frames about the same. Take care when cutting in the ceiling as any coloured paint will show on your fresh white ceiling paint. If you have masked the skirting and door frames you will not need to worry but if you are cutting them in you will also need to take care in these areas.

Once this is done you need to cut in around all the light switches and plug sockets. You are now ready to paint the rest of the walls with a roller. Using the same technique to load the roller as you used for the ceiling pick a starting point and using a w shaped motion to start painting the walls. Remember as you finish each section of wall don’t forget to lay off the paint using gentle up and down motion across the wall.

Once you are satisfied that the room is completely painted you can apply a second coat of paint if it is required. Once you are happy that the walls are covered sufficiently you can remove any masking tape from the woodwork, light switches and wall sockets. You are now ready to start the painting of the woodwork.